"Look who it is, our Bear Hunter! Singer, where the hell is the singer? Sing me the hunter of bears song!" When Lynd entered the special courtyard behind the brothel, he saw the corpulent Robert, his face flushed and reeking of alcohol, embracing several silver-haired, violet-eyed prostitutes from Lys. He immediately spotted Lynd walking in from outside the door and loudly called out to the singer nearby.
As King Robert's command was given, the original version of the hunter of bears song spread throughout the brothel, chanted by the singer's soaring voice.
"Come, come! Sit down and have a drink! My Chief Knight." Robert waved Lynd over, picked up a wine glass, placed it on the table, and said.
Lynd walked over and said, "Your Majesty, you forgot, I never drink."
"Right! You don't drink," Robert nodded and said, "But I am your King, and I command you to have a drink with me."
Although Robert's words were not loud, everyone around the courtyard heard them. The music stopped for a moment, and everyone present stared blankly, as if sensing the atmosphere become somewhat tense. Barristan and the other Kingsguard guarding the area also grew serious, and Jaime's cynical smile vanished, replaced by a look of surprise.
"My apologies, Your Majesty!" Lynd said calmly, "Just as I cannot use magic to change your love for Miss Lyanna Stark, your command cannot change my aversion to alcohol."
"Haha!" Hearing Lynd's words, Robert couldn't help but burst into laughter. He then picked up the wine glass he had offered Lynd, drained it, and said, "Lynd, your words are as powerful as your sword."
"Thank you for your compliment." Lynd replied with a smile.
The tense atmosphere instantly returned to normal, and music and singing resumed in the courtyard.
Robert took a few gulps of wine, forcefully pushed away the Lys prostitutes clinging to him, and waved them off, saying, "Get out! You silver-haired sluts, just like those Targaryen remnants. Tell your madam to get me a new batch from the Summer Isles. I like their dark skin, and it's best if they are rubbed with the fragrant oil, a specialty of our Bear Hunter territory, before they come. That's good stuff." As he spoke, he looked at Lynd with a smile and said, "You're also a hypocrite. To be able to invent such a good thing as fragrant oil, you must have visited brothels quite a bit."
Hearing Robert's words, Lynd felt a bit helpless, as he never expected that the fragrant oil he originally created to relieve Nameria's post-training muscle soreness, after being mass-produced, would become a highly popular bedroom product.
Not only were brothels worldwide purchasing these fragrant oils, but even the homes of the powerful and noble kept them in stock. By now, there were even rumors circulating that these fragrant oils had fertility-boosting effects, causing their sales to increase significantly. To date, the revenue from fragrant oil sales was second only to weapon trade, making it Summerhall's most important source of income.
Although he knew this misunderstanding couldn't be explained, Lynd still tried to clarify, saying, "Your Majesty, this essential oil is mainly used to relieve warriors' fatigue after training, and it's not…"
"Yes! It is indeed for warriors' post-training fatigue. A warrior in bed is still a warrior, right?" King Robert deliberately twisted his words.
Seeing this, Lynd did not continue to explain.
King Robert picked up a slice of fatty meat and ate it, then took a few gulps of wine, wiped his hands clean, and then asked Lynd, "I heard a piece of news some time ago, that when you were campaigning against Tyrosh, Tyrosh presented those two Targaryen abominations as gifts to you. Is this true?"
"Yes." Lynd nodded and said, "At that time, to curry favor with me, the Tyroshi Grand Prince had Viserys Targaryen and Daenerys Targaryen, who had sought refuge with him, sent to me as gifts."
"Where are they now?" Robert asked with a serious expression.
Lynd said in a deep voice, "At that time, I had already sent them to Pentos."
"Give me a reasonable explanation." Robert stared at Lynd and said in a deep voice.
"I am a warrior." Lynd replied calmly.
Robert said angrily, "You truly are an unlikable fellow, just like Ned, stubborn and hard as a rock!"
Lynd smiled and said, "But you happen to attract such rocks around you. Lord Ned is one," he said, pointing to Barristan who stood quietly by his side, "Lord Barristan is also one."
"Yes, and Barristan!" Robert seemed to remember something, raised his wine glass to Barristan, and said, "Come, Barristan, have a drink with me."
Barristan calmly replied, "My apologies, Your Majesty! I am currently on guard duty and am not suitable for drinking."
"I knew it, I knew it, all of you are like this!" Robert pouted and drained the wine he had offered Barristan.
At this moment, the new prostitutes from the brothel were brought in. The women from the Summer Isles, covered in fragrant oil, glowed with an alluring deep olive hue under the firelight. Coupled with their naturally athletic physiques, they possessed a unique charm.
Robert laughed as he embraced these women, then loudly ordered the singer to change the music. The singer immediately changed to another tune, but it was still Lynd's music—the Pirates of the Caribbean piece he had performed in Braavos, though now the song's name had become Storm Hymn.
However, the singer was not using a violin, but another stringed instrument, and due to unfamiliarity with the music, the performance was quite poor.
"That's terrible!" Robert frowned, expressing his thoughts without reservation, then turned to Lynd and said, "This song is said to have been personally written by you and bestowed upon the Storm God Temple in Braavos. I assume the original piece shouldn't be this bad!"
Lynd also answered truthfully, "Of course, this instrument is not suitable for playing this song, and the singer is also unfamiliar with the music, so the performance is much worse."
Robert said as if casually, "In that case, why don't you play a song for me! I want to hear how good that song, said to be specially played for the storm god, truly is."
Everyone around fell silent. It was known that musicians, relative to nobles, were like court jesters, of very low status, even lower than ordinary servants. Yet Robert was now asking Lynd to perform music like a court musician, which was undoubtedly a great insult to Lynd. Let alone a great noble of Lynd's current status, even an ordinary noble would absolutely not tolerate such humiliation.
"Your Majesty, what you are doing is really a bit…" Jaime couldn't help but speak up for Lynd.
Robert directly interrupted him, saying, "Shut up, Kingslayer, you have no place to speak here. Stand there quietly!"
Barristan also stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, you should not treat…"
Robert said displeased, "Enough, Barristan! I just want to hear that song. If he can perform it in the square in Braavos, for those foreign commoners and courtesans, why can't he perform it for his King!"
"Of course I can perform for you." Lynd, on the other hand, remained very calm in the face of Robert's unreasonable request. He motioned to Barristan not to speak for him further, then looked around and asked a prostitute, "Do you have a violin here?"
The prostitute quickly replied, "The madam has one in her room, it was given to her by Lord Joel. I'll go get it for you!"
Having said that, she quickly ran to the brothel madam's room and soon returned with a violin. Perhaps having heard some rumors, Lady Mylis, the brothel madam, also came into the courtyard, nervously watching the quiet scene. She was about to step into the courtyard to say something to ease the atmosphere, but Lynd raised his hand to stop her.
Lynd took the violin from the prostitute, adjusted the strings, and placed the bow on them.
The front of the brothel also seemed to have heard some news, and the previously noisy sounds now fell silent.
As Lynd quickly moved the bow, a passionate melody instantly emanated from the small instrument. Everyone who heard the music instantly felt as if they were plunged into a tumultuous storm. Furthermore, as Lynd played, he incorporated the runic power of the Cloudtop Bell, making the music more easily draw people into that artistic realm, and its range of transmission was incredibly wide, piercing through the brothel, passing through the town outside the city, covering the entire Highgarden Castle, along with the surrounding estates.
Everyone who heard the music emerged from their homes in shock, looking up at the sky, seemingly searching for the source of the music, and quickly became immersed in the artistic realm created by the music, traveling through the tumultuous waves with the melody, enjoying the shock brought by the storm.
As the last note emanated from the violin, this passionate music came to a perfect conclusion. Everyone who heard the music remained immersed in that stirring sensation, taking a long time to come back to their senses.
With a round of applause, the entire courtyard, and even the front hall, were filled with applause. Even applause from within the city could be heard. Everyone was excited and happy to have enjoyed music that seemed to be played by a deity.
"That was f***ing amazing!" Robert directly picked up the bottle on the table and poured it into his mouth, looking at Lynd with immense envy and jealousy, saying, "I should have been out adventuring like you, becoming a legend, instead of sitting on that damned iron chair listening to trivial matters every day. If I could, I would truly trade everything I have now for…"
"Your Majesty, watch your tongue!" Barristan, sensing that Robert was about to speak without restraint again, immediately interrupted him.
Robert also knew there were some things he shouldn't say. Upon hearing Barristan's reminder, he suppressed the urge and swallowed those words.
Afterward, he motioned for Lynd to sit in a chair beside him and loudly ordered for some clear water and fruit juice to be prepared.
Robert looked at Lynd and said, "Tell me about your experiences on the continent of Essos! Although I've heard many bards tell your stories, their accounts are always vague and unclear. It would be more authentic to hear it from you, the person involved."
Lynd did not refuse, and recounted his experiences on the continent of Essos, selectively, with parts involving magic being briefly touched upon.
However, even so, it already captivated everyone around, especially when they heard that Lynd had met the legendary Old Man of the River in Na Sa Star, and also discovered that ancient Nameria was identical to his wife Nameria, they all exclaimed in surprise.
"So your wife took people to Na Sa Star on the continent of Essos, wanting to confirm this matter." Robert seemed very concerned about Lynd's movements, and quickly stated what Lynd's wife was currently doing.
"Yes." Lynd nodded and said, "After she heard me talk about Na Sa Star, she kept dreaming, dreaming of Na Sa Star before it became ruins. She felt it might be a bloodline atavism, so she wanted to go to Na Sa Star to see if she could discover something I hadn't."
"You and your wife are truly enviable, being able to go out on adventures and journeys freely!" Robert looked at Lynd enviously again, then asked, "What happened with Kohor? Did you really unleash a calamity and destroy half the city of Kohor?"
The surroundings immediately fell silent. Everyone looked at Lynd, seemingly waiting for his answer.
Lynd nodded and said without hesitation, "Yes, I did use a calamity to destroy half of their city."
As his words fell, the entire courtyard was filled with gasps. The air here even felt thinner, causing a strange tightness in people's chests.
Although Lynd's answer was simple, it was enough to spark various imaginations among those present. Even if their ideas of a calamity differed, they shared one common characteristic: terror.
Robert couldn't help but exclaim, "No wonder they gave you the title god of calamity. Their faces were filled with fear whenever they mentioned that incident. It seems you really scared them!"
As he spoke, he waved his hand towards Barristan, pointing to the pocket at Barristan's waist. Barristan immediately took out a box from his pocket and handed it over.
Robert took the box, then directly handed it to Lynd, saying, "Here, your performance was excellent, and your story was very entertaining. This is your reward." After that, he said to Jaime, "Now! Take Earl Lynd back. He's too rigid; having him here will interfere with my fun."
Lynd didn't say much, took the box, stood up, bowed to Robert, and then left behind Jaime.
Watching Lynd leave, Robert sighed, then laughed again as he embraced the beauties from the Summer Isles around him, drinking heavily and eating meat heartily.
After leaving the brothel, Jaime brought the horses and led Lynd out of the town outside the city. On the way, he couldn't help but ask Lynd what was inside the box.
Lynd was also curious. He opened the box and found a decree of enfeoffment inside. In the decree, Robert had granted him the islands in the Stepstones that belonged to the Iron Throne, and also bestowed upon him the title of Prince of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea, which nominally gave him the right to rule the Stepstones.
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