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Chapter 236 - Chapter 237 - Back to the North (II)

"Does revenge truly bring peace to a wounded soul? I don't know, but I definitely felt a huge weight lift from my shoulders. The feeling of relief from avenging my loved ones couldn't be more pleasurable." Queen Rhaenys II Targaryen, recalling the moment of her revenge.

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Watching the enormous army marching north again, Cersei clenched her fists and looked at her daughter, who was still sad and disheartened by the rumors, her head bowed.

Recalling this, a somber expression reflected on her face for a moment before disappearing. She smiled gently and spoke in an animated tone. "I had the cooks make your favorite cakes."

However, Cersei's words had no effect on Myrcella. Even though the girl was intelligent and mature for her age, in the end, she grew up as a princess, pampered and praised by everyone.

How could her mentality, determination, and cruelty be compared to Daenerys', who suffered day and night for over ten years in Essos?

Although she was determined to save her brother, regardless of the price, she was, in the end, too young a girl. The rumors, cruel words, and disdain for what she felt and suffered from men were terrible for her young mind.

Seeing this, Cersei took a deep breath and promised herself that she would do anything to kill the men who dared to profane her daughter. "Don't worry, Myrcella, they won't dare to speak of it again."

Cersei couldn't help but be horrified remembering when she heard what happened to her daughter; she hadn't expected Myrcella to be so determined.

"What can you do?" Myrcella finally raised her face and looked at her mother with a touch of resentment. "You always only cared about Joffrey; he was always the most important to you. Tommen and I are just replaceable for your golden son."

Myrcella looked at her mother and began to raise her voice. "Even now, you are preparing to leave Casterly Rock and go to the Stormlands to take care of Joffrey, abandoning Tommen and me!!!"

A loud slapping sound echoed in the room, but Myrcella, now holding her own cheek, showed no fear before her mother. Perhaps in the past, she would have felt fear, but not at this moment.

Although she hated to admit it, she had Aenar behind her, and with the king's support, she herself saw that the servants who once looked at her and Tommen with strange glances had become surprisingly kind.

This showed her the importance of having support. Formerly, it was her father and grandfather who protected her; now, it was their assassin.

Cersei regretted the moment she slapped her daughter's face, but seeing her eyes full of tears, yet determined, the former Queen of the Seven Kingdoms stood up and left. She knew that no matter how much she spoke, her daughter would not change her mind.

"If you go, don't come back!!!!" Myrcella shouted, but Cersei didn't even stop.

"Your brother needs me, Myrcella." Cersei said through clenched teeth. Although leaving her son and daughter in Casterly Rock hurt, she knew that Joffrey might die in the first tower if left alone.

Seeing the door closing, Cersei's words were still present in her mind. Myrcella let out a sad laugh but soon wiped away her tears. Although she felt anger, hatred, and resentment towards Cersei, she had more important things to do, especially gaining power to never again feel the helplessness of the previous days.

"Uncle can help me." Myrcella murmured; she needed power to protect Tommen and herself.

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"Did something happen, my king?" Oberyn asked, noticing that Aenar looked towards Casterly Rock with an amused smile.

"It's nothing, just an interesting fight between mother and daughter." Aenar replied with a smile as he narrowed his eyes. He wasn't happy about making Cersei and Myrcella suffer; he was happy because he saw that the girl was useful and could truly be a good mother to his son.

Although Oberyn didn't understand Aenar's words, he didn't ask and looked at the gigantic army heading north.

"We will reach the North in two months at this pace." Oberyn said with a helpless look. One of the disadvantages of enormous armies was their mobility. Large armies were terribly slow.

If it were a small army, Oberyn estimated they could reach the North in half a month, without risking the horses' lives.

Aenar didn't care; although three months was quite long, he had to bring the enormous army of one hundred and twenty thousand men.

This was because he left the armies of House Lannister, Baratheon, and Tyrell behind.

If all the armies were combined, they would reach a terrifying number of over three hundred thousand men. Just imagining managing such a large army, Aenar felt his body tingle.

Just the steel needed for the horses would be enough to build tens of thousands of armors. Not to mention the food; horses needed water and food, and if anyone knows the slightest about horses, they know they eat a lot.

Just imagine almost one hundred thousand horses together, and you have such a large number of grass and hay that it would make even the Iron Bank fear the food-swallowing monster. This was just the horses; satisfying three hundred thousand men was even more terrible.

Even being rich, Aenar certainly couldn't spend so much money, especially with the Long Night coming. He had to accumulate strategic food and resources for the future.

Aenar couldn't help but lament the stagnation of time. If he were in the modern era, don't say three hundred thousand, even if it were a million people, he could easily pay.

Now, he had to fight an army of Wights with a reduced army because he had no way to feed so many people.

Looking at the horizon, Aenar showed no feeling of helplessness and continued to march with the army with a calm expression. Above him, Caraxes flapped his enormous wings and flew over the army. Just the dragon's presence made the army's morale even higher.

Three days later, when the army was approaching Wayfarer's Rest.

Aenar raised his head and saw three black dots in the blue sky; the three dots were getting closer and closer. A smile appeared on the king's face, knowing it was coming.

With the arrival of the three dragons, all five dragons of House Targaryen were reunited again.

Yes, those who had arrived were Visenya, Rhaenys, and Daenerys, respectively, riding Syrax, Moonfyre, and Balerion.

Caraxes, who was in the sky, enjoying his natural place, looked towards the three dragons and let out a loud and powerful roar, showing his dominance.

The first to respond to Caraxes was Balerion, who showed no weakness and roared back, showing dissatisfaction with the enormous dragon's roar. The dragon's response to the challenger was a look of disdain for the challenger's small size.

Unlike Balerion, Moonfyre and Syrax let out soft trills, acknowledging Caraxes' dominance.

Vermithor ascended to the skies and flew around Caraxes, showing his loyalty to the Red King.

"I don't know how Daenerys manages to control Balerion." Aenar's grandmother, Rhaella, commented with a smile, seeing the five dragons flying around each other in what looked like a spiral.

The scene was more than shocking even for Rhaella, but even so, she couldn't help but feel an enormous sense of pride seeing the dragons, which should have been extinct more than one hundred and twenty years ago.

Minutes later, Aenar looked at the three women before him with a helpless look.

Daenerys stared at him with an intense gaze, as if she would jump on him at any moment. Visenya was even more brazen, not hiding her lustful intentions. Rhaenys was the most normal, just acting like a happy sister after reuniting with her brother.

Aenar ignored Visenya and Daenerys; he focused his gaze on Rhaenys and showed a trace of dissatisfaction in his eyes, something Rhaenys noticed and didn't dare to look at his face.

Letting out a sigh, Aenar asked in a calm tone. "Do you know why I'm angry?"

"Because I left everything in Daenerys' hands?" Rhaenys looked away and replied with an uncertain tone.

With her answer, Aenar simply slapped the back of the young woman's head. "If you know, why didn't you kill Aegon directly?"

Showing a pained expression, Rhaenys touched the back of her head and looked resentfully at her younger brother. She was obviously the older one, and here she was being reprimanded.

"I wanted to make him suffer, but the pain I could cause was inferior to the pain Daenerys could cause…" Rhaenys replied with a disheartened tone.

Aenar couldn't help but sigh, showing a little disappointment, but he wasn't surprised. Rhaenys not being able to control her own feelings was normal. The girl had lived for hatred and revenge her entire life; it was normal for this to happen.

But he himself hadn't expected Rhaenys to become somewhat indecisive because of these feelings.

"Rhaenys, control your feelings so that in the future, in a moment of need, your mind is calm and free from distracting thoughts, ready to make decisions with determination and without hesitation." Aenar advised his older sister in a calm and powerful tone.

"I left Mountain and Tywin Lannister for you to kill." Aenar said, making Rhaenys, who was embarrassed to be reprimanded in front of the entire family, widen her eyes.

"Before killing them, I want you to personally torture them, and after the torture, kill them." Aenar spoke without caring about Rhaenys' expression.

Since Rhaenys had a great deal of accumulated hatred in her mind, Aenar simply let her vent these negative feelings.

"You can only leave when they are dead." Aenar added, looking directly into Rhaenys' eyes, who only nodded her head in an eerie silence.

"I will go with her." Rhaella spoke in a cold tone. "I also have matters to deal with Tywin."

Aenar nodded his head and didn't care; he let both women unleash their rage.

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Note: My power finally came back on a few hours ago. I was without electricity for almost two days. A tree decided to fall on the power pole in my street. On the bright side, I finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

 

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