Aegon's Wailing

"Brother~~"

Seeing Rhaegar's face, Helaena's eyes lit up, and she called out pitifully.

Rhaegar glanced at her, his voice revealing no emotion, "Bullied again?"

"Aegon wants my space bracelet..."

As if finding a protector, Helaena burst into tears, her childish voice filled with unspeakable grievance.

"I can see that."

Rhaegar nodded, rolled up his sleeves, and revealed his own space bracelet.

Aegon didn't care about that. He tapped Helaena on the head and warned, "I'm your brother, not him. Don't call him brother."

Helaena's little head shook from the tap. She bit her lip and glared at Aegon, daring not to speak out.

"Still glaring at me? Just you wait until I teach you a lesson later."

Aegon scolded, then turned to Rhaegar, reaching out to touch his space bracelet. He said shamelessly, "Give me your space bracelet. Helaena and I can each have one, and I won't snatch hers anymore."

Seeing his chubby little hand, Rhaegar smiled.

Before the hand could touch the space bracelet, he grabbed it.

"You... what are you doing?"

Aegon's expression changed, and he asked guiltily.

Rhaegar smiled, "Since you like space bracelets, I'll give you one too."

With that, he pulled his arm back, causing Aegon to stumble and fall off Helaena.

Falling onto the wooden planks, Aegon let out a small cry and scrambled to get up using his hands and feet.

BANG--

A foot stepped on his back, pressing him down hard.

"Ah! What are you doing? Let me go, or I'll call Mom..."

Feeling the pain, Aegon tried to threaten Rhaegar by invoking Alicent, but was forcibly interrupted.

Rhaegar flipped over and straddled him, twisting his arm backward. He asked, "You twist your sister's fingers, and I twist my brother's arm. Fair enough?"

"No! I was wrong, let me go!"

Aegon screamed repeatedly.

Rhaegar twisted for a while, unable to stand Aegon's ear-splitting wails.

He took off Aegon's deerskin shoes and stuffed his yellowed socks into his mouth.

"They're your own socks, don't be picky!"

Rhaegar smiled kindly, then grabbed Aegon's hair, stood up, and dragged him out.

He had given Helaena a replacement space bracelet.

Afterward, he had another one custom-made.

It was in his cabin, perfect for Aegon.

Watching Rhaegar drag Aegon away like a dead dog, Helaena got up from the ground and stood there blankly.

She wanted to chase after them, but fragmented, terrifying images flashed through her mind.

"Fire, beware of the flames..."

Helaena shivered and burst into tears.

Her cries were so loud that they attracted a maid on night duty.

Rhaegar dragged Aegon all the way to his cabin.

Under Aegon's fearful gaze, he threw him inside and closed the cabin door.

Rhaegar sneered, "The space bracelet was a gift from me to Helaena. If you steal from her, you're disrespecting me!"

"Now, I'm going to make you understand the price of disrespecting me."

Rhaegar pretended to search under the bed, but in reality, he took out the fake replacement from his space bracelet.

He dangled the fake space bracelet in front of Aegon and said, "Do you like it? It'll be yours soon."

The sailboat sailed on the sea, the environment cold and damp.

As a royal ship, each cabin was equipped with a heater for warmth.

Firewood was placed at the bottom of the heater, with a layer of iron in the middle, providing good fire resistance.

Rhaegar turned on the heater and removed the iron plate in the middle.

The red-hot coals were exposed to the air.

He threw the fake space bracelet into the coals.

The steel bracelet had excellent thermal conductivity, and soon it was glowing red.

Using a rag to cushion it, Rhaegar took out the steel bracelet and walked towards Aegon with a smile, beckoning, "Come on, my dear brother."

"No! You can't do this to me, Father wouldn't allow it either."

Aegon, having already spat out the sock from his mouth, looked at the fiery red steel bracelet in terror, collapsed on the ground, and retreated repeatedly.

BANG--

Rhaegar kicked him in the chest, pinning him to the ground.

He knelt halfway and brought the steel bracelet close to Aegon's face.

"Don't you like it? I said I'd give it to you, and I will."

Avoiding Aegon's pushing hands, Rhaegar tilted his head and kept pressing the steel bracelet down.

The maid, holding a crying and unconscious Helaena, ran to Alicent's cabin.

Ignoring Harrold's obstruction, she beat hard on the cabin door.

Noticing the unconscious little princess, the elderly Harrold's expression changed: "What's going on?"

The maid was too distressed to speak clearly, and kept knocking.

CREAK--

Under a series of knocks, the cabin door quickly opened from the inside.

Alicent appeared at the door in a nightgown and saw the unconscious Helaena at a glance.

Almost instantly, a sense of unease rose in Alicent's heart.

Alicent took her daughter from the maid's arms, saying nervously, "What happened? Why is Helaena unconscious?"

"The Princess cried herself unconscious. Before she fainted, she kept repeating the names of Prince Aegon and Prince Rhaegar," the maid replied fearfully.

"Aegon! What happened to Aegon? What does Rhaegar have to do with it?"

Upon hearing that it involved her son, Alicent became even more flustered, staring intently at the maid.

The maid shivered and whispered, "The Princess said to be careful of fire. I don't understand what she means."

Seeing her daughter in a comatose state, Alicent's eyes widened, and her unease reached its peak.

"Watch Helaena."

Handing her daughter over to the maid, Alicent said to Harrold, "Sir, Aegon and Rhaegar must have encountered something. I'll go find Aegon, and you go to Rhaegar's room."

With that, she strode out.

After taking a couple of steps, Alicent stopped.

She remembered the incident last time when Aegon was pushed into the cake during Rhaegar's birthday.

Alicent's pupils dilated, and she turned back, saying, "I'll go to Rhaegar's room, you go find Aegon."

Perhaps sensing her son was in danger, Alicent headed straight for where her heart led her.

The ship's cabins were all within a small area, and the few cabins prepared for the royal family were not far from each other along the deep corridors.

As soon as she reached another corridor, she heard Aegon's incredibly piercing scream.

"Seven Gods, protect my child."

Alicent's face changed drastically. Muttering prayers for protection, she ran towards Rhaegar's cabin like a madwoman.

The cabin door was tightly shut, but Alicent found strength from somewhere.

Taking off her high heels, she kicked the cabin door open with one foot.

The sight that greeted her was Aegon, cornered and begging for mercy at the top of his lungs, tears streaming down his face.

Rhaegar had one foot on Aegon's back, holding a glowing red steel bracelet in his bare hands and swinging it near Aegon's cheek.

Witnessing her son being tortured, Alicent roared with fury, "Stop! Let him go!"

Rhaegar turned his head and saw Alicent approaching aggressively.

Before he could react, she forcefully pushed him over and embraced the wailing Aegon.

CLANG--

The steel bracelet rolled onto the floor, leaving a dark scuff mark on the wooden planks.

Seeing this, Alicent became even more enraged.

She yelled at Rhaegar, "You lunatic! Aegon is your brother, and you're torturing him with a heated bracelet!"

Rhaegar got up from the ground, rubbing his sore backside, and said coldly, "I am not Aegon. He can abuse his sister, but I will not harm my brother."

He picked up the steel bracelet from the floor; the intense heat did not burn him.

Rhaegar pointed at the terrified and stunned Aegon, sneering, "A coward who only bullies little girls by virtue of his age. He's braver than a mouse."

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