Viserys didn't realize who he'd become right away. A person from the twenty-first century only knew that the car he was in had flipped, he'd lost consciousness, and when he woke up, he wasn't lying in a hospital. No hospital would have deep purple bed curtains embroidered with flowers… He scrambled up, only to find he was shorter! He looked at his small hands and, in disbelief, unbuttoned his pants to check, and found himself bursting into tears realizing he'd suddenly become a four or five-year-old boy!
Calm down, be calm. At least I'm still human.
The skin on these little white hands and short arms was fair and delicate, pampered, was it? His shoulder-length hair was a pale, light gold, and his ethnicity… seemed to be Nordic?
He stumbled out of bed and looked around, horrified to discover the abnormality of this place. Because: he was actually living in a room made of stone! Like a cage with only one window for ventilation! No electric lights! No ensuite bathroom! Was this a European tourist attraction? Maybe, I've just become a lost child?
Don't tell me I'm being kept by a pervert—
The transmigrator examined the ivory silk robe embroidered with gold thread and the loose purple pants he was wearing, with a shiny dragon-shaped brooch pinned to the collar. Well, to put it optimistically, maybe it was a rich, idle parent taking their child to cosplay as an ancient person?
In any case, the first thing to figure out was the location. The small child sized up the room: there were many props that seemed to be from a medieval background, all looking exquisite, especially the bed he was lying on, with thick, deep purple drapes tied with gold tassels, and a fur of unknown origin spread on the bed. This scene was enough to cost a fortune.
Looking up with his small head at the only window in the whole room, it was higher than his current body. But he could drag a few boxes over, stack them, and then step on them.
Viserys looked down at his small hands, gritting his teeth as he walked to the chest, which was even longer than he was when he lay down. There were even paintings on it? Depicting men and women fighting on dragons. Right.
He pushed... but couldn't budge it.
After some thought, he opened the chest and found it was filled with exquisite clothing. But he had no time to examine them. After emptying a few trunks, he finally managed to push the thing to the windowsill, huffing and puffing with all his might.
With something to stand on, he could finally climb up and see what was outside! First, he needed to see where he was... The small child froze the moment he saw the view.
The view was vast. Below, there were shallow red stones, the defensive walls riddled with arrow slits, and he was inside a high tower. Further away, there were tree-lined avenues, streets, a harbor, and countless ships docked... But those ships weren't the yachts one would expect to see in a scenic spot. They looked very... primitive.
He swallowed hard. Squinting, he spotted a giant catapult at the city gate. He was finished. This kind of thing was unlikely to have survived to modern times.
Then he saw a magnificent building, resembling a church, standing atop a hill. Seven shimmering towers, like they were made of crystal, surrounded it. There were people coming and going in the city, and... Just below the high tower, a group of guards happened to be passing by at that moment, armed with spears, short swords, and chain maces, wearing golden robes.
A bad feeling arose. The scenery here, especially the seven crystal towers and the red castle, these iconic buildings... Wasn't this the description of King's Landing from A Song of Ice and Fire?!
"No way," the child mumbled, sliding off the windowsill and plopping onto the trunk. He took another apprehensive look around the room and discovered something else that was strange. Judging by the clothes and the items in the room, the original owner of this body was someone important. But, where were the people who were supposed to be looking after him? Even in modern times, you wouldn't leave such a young child alone! What situation would lead to a child with such small arms and legs being left alone in a room?
Just then, the heavy door opened. The original owner realized that there hadn't been any sound of a lock being opened. So, he wasn't being imprisoned? Good! The thought of adapting to the situation guided him to sit still. He pretended to be oblivious, propping his face up with his hand, and taking the opportunity to observe. There were six people who entered, all women of different ages. Most of them were wearing gray and white robes, and the leader was wearing a blue gemstone necklace. The women came in carrying food and tableware. They acted as though they didn't see the clothes scattered on the floor. They all curtsied to him, then, in silence, placed the items on a low table. They quickly tidied up the trunk and, after doing all of this, repeated their curtsy, backed away, and closed the door.
Still, there was no sound of a lock or a bolt being put in place. Excellent. Although, no one had spoken to him from beginning to end. Moreover, they were afraid, as if taking care of a young child's daily needs was like nervously feeding a fire-breathing dragon.
The transmigrator, who didn't know his name, rolled his eyes at the ceiling. The rich aroma of the roasted meat made him decide to fill his stomach first and then ponder his life.
The table was adorned with raisins, and the roasted meat chunks, seasoned with a thick sauce, were undoubtedly the most "modern" dish. With the mindset of giving it a try, he leaned in to smell it. Then, he expressed his regret that he couldn't wash his hands. There were no chopsticks or forks. These people had only given him a set of small silver spoons of different sizes, and not even a knife—well, giving a child a knife was a dangerous act.
He carefully scooped up a piece of meat with a spoon and put it in his mouth. Thank goodness, it actually tasted good, not like some of the terrible dark ages cuisine.
He continued to devour the onion gravy soup with a spoon, picked up the cup and drank the milk directly, then had two lemon-flavored cakes, as well as some hot white bread made from flour that had probably been sifted several times. After eating all of this, he needed to digest it. He simply toddled around every corner of the room again.
This time, he didn't find any books or written documents. He did, however, discover the toilet... Good heavens! Living in this place, even if he were made king, he wouldn't do it!
Finally, the little beast reluctantly accepted the reality that he might have transmigrated, and that he might even be a character in A Song of Ice and Fire. There was no mirror in the room, so he couldn't see his eye color or face clearly. Anyway, he shouldn't be the young Joffrey… After wandering around alone for a few times, he decided to actively seek answers.
Escaping was easier than he imagined. The child he'd become was like a dreaded plague, and everyone kept their distance. He successfully pried open the door and tiptoed down the corridor. He soon discovered that there were maids guarding the outside of the corridor, and soldiers standing guard in neat rows on both sides. Everyone who saw him turned pale with fright, as if they were about to cry.
Even so, no one stepped forward to hug him or drag him back inside. Seeing their strange appearance, he knew it was impossible to slip away from here. He turned around and obediently retreated back into the room.
The door was closed again. No one came in to ask about him or comfort him.
The situation was complicated, but his advantage was that no one would bother him, nor were there any watchers keeping a close eye on him. So there were many things he could do in the room.
If the door didn't work, he'd go out the window. He immediately pulled out all the clothes, robes, and pants from the trunks, as well as many seemingly precious belts. He tied them all together to make a rope, and added the large bed curtains he had ripped down. The length should be enough for him to slide down to the next level's terrace of the castle. Although there were many floors to the bottom, he might die from the fall… Well, if he died, maybe he'd go back?
Until a crescent moon appeared in the window, and sure enough, no one came in to look after or accompany the poor little boy for the night. According to his plan, he dragged the rope, stepped laboriously on the stacked trunks, and stuck his head out the window to look down. The platform made of light red stone was directly below. If he fell on it... Heh, the blood that flowed out would dye that area red.
Lost in thought, he still observed the key point: He counted from one to six hundred, and another patrol of Gold Cloaks appeared. It would take them ten minutes to walk back.
Tying one end of the prepared rope securely, he let the other end dangle from the window. He spat twice into his palms to steady his nerves. The poor transmigrator straddled the windowsill, looking down. He took a deep breath, steeling himself. Go down, go down. Otherwise, he'd be inexplicably confined here? He had prepared everything he could, including crushing the cookie crumbs into a fine powder to act as a friction-increasing agent—
However, when it came to the actual moment, he hesitated for quite a while, a full ten minutes. He watched helplessly as the Gold Cloaks patrolled past again.
No. He had to try.
When the area below the tower became quiet again, he finally steeled himself, gripping the rope tightly, and let go of the window ledge—
Suddenly, the long-closed door burst open, and a figure rushed inside.
"Viserys!"
The boy, who had just made up his mind, was shocked by the shout and the sudden realization that he understood the name and what it represented. He was terrified—he slipped—Oh, no!
But the next moment, his small arm was firmly grabbed and pulled up.
"Viserys! Don't be afraid, don't struggle." The frightened boy thought the voice was incredibly timely and pleasant.
He looked up, and the night wind swept a few strands of silky silver hair across his face. It belonged to the person who had reached out from the window to pull him up. Their fingers were cold, and their grip was tight, but through the silk robes, it felt strangely gentle.
He was lifted up easily and stood before the window again, then he was stunned.
After seeing the person's face clearly, Viserys was speechless and looked like a fool. He had never imagined that there could be such a stunningly beautiful person in the world!