King's Landing Dragonpit

King's Landing Dragonpit

The White Carriage Palace stopped atop a high slope. Ahead stood a towering domed structure.

Bang!

Before Aemon had time to redeem a card, he jumped down from the carriage and stood gazing at the Dragonpit. "Wow, it's huge!"

It was much bigger than he remembered.

Larger than an ordinary noble's castle, like a low mountain.

"Come on, follow me. I'll take you inside."

Rhaenyra had composed herself and seemed much more cheerful on the surface.

"Coming." Aemon obediently followed.

Across the vast city of King's Landing, the Dragonpit was the most iconic massive structure aside from the Red Keep.

Aemon looked around as he walked, roughly estimating its size.

He couldn't see its edge at a glance. It covered at least nine hectares.

"If it weren't this big, it couldn't hold dragons," Aemon thought, nodding to himself.

Still, he did not think much of the building. If anything, he found it unnecessary.

Dragons were masters of sky and earth. They belonged on the Dragonmont of Dragonstone, not penned up here with their wings restrained.

Rumble...

As the two climbed flight after flight of stairs, the Dragonpit's enormous bronze doors slowly opened.

More than a dozen Dragonkeepers in gray linen clothes, carrying bamboo staffs, emerged.

"Princess. Prince."

An elderly Dragonkeeper with thinning hair bowed and addressed them in flawless High Valyrian.

Dragonkeepers, also known as "Dragon Guard," were responsible for tending and raising the dragons within the Dragonpit.

They were generally trained from childhood among those with Valyrian blood, making them an important organization utterly loyal to the royal family.

"Elder, I've brought him here to familiarize himself with the Dragonpit in advance."

Rhaenyra gave a slight nod and replied in High Valyrian.

The elderly Dragonkeeper stared deeply at the Little Prince for a moment before nodding. "Yes. A royal boy should learn about dragons from an early age."

Rhaenyra forced a smile and walked inside with her head lowered.

Noticing her sudden unhappiness, Aemon thanked the elderly Dragonkeeper. "Thank you for your hard work!"

He spoke in equally fluent, precise High Valyrian without the slightest awkwardness.

Then he hurried after Rhaenyra.

Inside the Dragonpit, the nearly enclosed domed building was dimly lit, relying entirely on wall-mounted torches.

Walking ahead, Rhaenyra continued speaking High Valyrian. "Would you like to see Syrax first, or Dreamfyre?"

Aemon pumped his little legs, trying his best to catch up with her long strides.

There was no need to think about it. The elderly Dragonkeeper's mention of a "royal boy" had stung her.

Rhaenyra was throwing a small tantrum, yet still doing her utmost to restrain herself and look after her little brother.

Helpless, Aemon replied, "Let's see the dragon eggs first."

"Wait a moment. I'll have the Dragonkeepers bring them out."

Rhaenyra's voice was even as she walked through the oval hall as familiarly as if it were her bedroom.

To be fair, she really did look like a princess in that moment.

Having never intended to attend the Name Day celebration, Rhaenyra was not wearing a lavish gown, but a black outfit suited to a Targaryen.

Her trousers wrapped around her straight, slender legs, while a simple underlayer and fitted overdress subtly outlined her curvaceous figure.

Aemon glanced up at her. The collar of her underlayer was embroidered with golden dragon patterns, and around her snow-white neck hung an exquisite necklace set with tiny rubies.

Low-key, but far from ordinary—luxurious with substance.

She's so rich. What a wealthy lady, Aemon could not help envying.

Look at her hands and neck. They were covered in rare ornaments.

Then he looked at his own little hand. His wrist was completely bare.

Bang! Bang!

Before long, the Dragonkeepers carried over a series of furnace-like incubation vessels and arranged them across the hall.

The elderly Dragonkeeper stepped forward, his voice low. "Prince, all the Dragonpit's stock is here."

"Thank you."

Aemon's eyes lit up, and he could not wait to get started.

There were sixteen incubation vessels in total, arranged in a four-by-four square.

Seeing how eager he was, Rhaenyra frowned. "Don't you already have a dragon egg?"

"Mine hasn't hatched. I want to see whether the others are any different."

Aemon smiled and reached out to lift the lid of a Black Steel Furnace Lid.

Click!

Thick white smoke billowed out. The glowing charcoal crackled, and a Green Dragon Egg lay quietly inside.

Before everyone's astonished eyes, he reached in and touched it with his bare hand.

"Discovered an item containing magic. Magic Essence +3."

Rhaenyra hurriedly grabbed him, shocked. "Aemon, you'll get burned!"

As she turned over his little hand, she found only a bit of charcoal dust. There was not the slightest redness or burn.

"Blessed by the gods!"

The elderly Dragonkeeper's eyes widened as he cried out in amazement.

Targaryens could tolerate high temperatures, but usually only candle flames or hot water. This was the first time he had seen someone directly touch a dragon egg as hot as burning charcoal.

"I'm fine, Rhaenyra."

Aemon wore an innocent expression and waved the little hand she was holding.

Rhaenyra was stunned. "You really are different, Aemon."

Could this Little One truly be unafraid of fire?

"I'm still afraid of it." Aemon's gaze flickered.

He had discovered when he was very young that he possessed the bloodline talents of both a Dreamwalker and high-temperature resistance.

But his dreams were always strange, rarely prophetic.

Other than disrupting his sleep, they brought him little benefit.

His high-temperature resistance, on the other hand, had shown itself vividly.

After activating the Bloodline Tab yesterday, he seemed even more sensitive to temperature. Heat did not bother him, while cold made him uncomfortable.

"Daemon really ought to know about this. His jaw would probably drop."

It took Rhaenyra a long while to accept reality, and she became even more despondent.

"It's nothing special. He wouldn't care."

Aemon looked helpless as he offered a few comforting words to the sensitive girl.

They had come here to lift her spirits, yet he had only made her more depressed.

After adding a few more bad words about his father, Aemon stopped dwelling on it and focused on business.

"Discovered an item containing magic. Magic Essence +3, +3, +3..."

The "+3" notification rang out sixteen times in a row as he harvested every dragon egg once.

Reluctantly withdrawing his hand, Aemon summoned the dazzling panel.

Including his own Black Dragon Egg, the number beside the Golden Funnel had reached a delightful figure: Magic Essence: 198

He had made a killing.

"King's Landing really is great. Magic Essence is piling up like crazy."

Aemon beamed, suddenly unwilling to let these "plump dragon eggs" before him go.

If he could... take a few away, even small gains would add up.

At that thought, Aemon looked around and immediately gave up on the idea.

Leaving aside the gloomy Rhaenyra, every Dragonkeeper was staring intently at the eggs. There was no way they would let him take extra.

Aemon temporarily abandoned his little scheme and took Rhaenyra's soft hand. "Let's go see the dragons."

Dragon eggs were ultimately the lesser prize. Dragons were the real prize.

"Syrax or Dreamfyre?"

Rhaenyra asked the same question again.

Aemon pondered for two seconds before answering firmly, "Dreamfyre!"

Rhaenyra nodded and led the way without surprise.

"We'll accompany you."

The elderly Dragonkeeper's expression turned grave as he called over several younger Dragonkeepers.

The she-dragon Dreamfyre was the oldest and largest adult dragon in the Dragonpit.

Her first rider had been Rhaenys Targaryen, the Dowager Empress and founder of the Dragonkeepers, as well as King Jaehaerys's elder sister.

After the Dowager Empress died of old age, Dreamfyre had remained an ownerless dragon confined within the Dragonpit.

Decades had passed, and her temper had grown incomparably violent.

Aemon skipped along, entirely unlike the worried Dragonkeepers.

He even secretly summoned the panel to inspect the cards.

1. Physique +1: "A safe, harmless strengthening of the body."

2. Empty Handed: "Has a certain chance of turning what is in someone else's pocket into what is in your own."

3. Gold-Nosed Rat: "A small rodent with a keen sense of smell and even keener hearing."

One white, one green, and one blue, all gleaming brilliantly.

Empty Handed, let all your votes fall into my pocket.