The Wails of Aegon

"Brother~~"

At the sight of Rhaegar, Helaena's eyes lit up, and she called to him pitifully.

Rhaegar glanced at her, his voice unreadable. "Did you get bullied again?"

"Aegon wants my bracelet..."

As if she'd found someone to rely on, Helaena burst into tears, her childish voice full of grievance.

"I can see that."

Rhaegar nodded and rolled up his sleeve, showing off his own bracelet.

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

Helaena's little head rocked from the blow. She bit her lip and glared at Aegon, angry but afraid to speak up.

"You're still glaring at me? Just wait. I'll teach you a lesson later."

Aegon scolded her, then turned to Rhaegar and reached for his bracelet. Shamelessly, he said, "Give me your bracelet. Helaena and I can each have one, and I won't take hers."

Looking at Aegon's chubby little hand, Rhaegar smiled.

Before it could reach the bracelet, he grabbed it.

"Y-you... What are you doing?"

Aegon's face changed. He questioned Rhaegar, his voice uneasy.

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

As he spoke, he yanked his arm back, making Aegon stumble and topple off Helaena.

Aegon landed on the wooden planks with a soft cry and tried to scramble up on all fours.

Thud—

A foot planted on his back, pinning him hard to the floor.

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

Feeling the pain, Aegon tried to threaten Rhaegar by bringing up Alicent, but Rhaegar cut him off.

Rhaegar straddled him, twisted his arm behind his back, and asked, "You twist your little sister's fingers, so I twist my little brother's arm. That's fair, isn't it?"

"No, I'm sorry! Let me go!"

Aegon shrieked repeatedly.

Rhaegar twisted his arm for a while, but couldn't stand Aegon's ear-splitting wails.

He pulled off Aegon's deerskin shoes, took off both yellowed socks, and stuffed them into Aegon's mouth.

"They're your own socks. Don't be picky!"

Rhaegar gave him a kindly smile, then grabbed him by the hair, stood up, and dragged him outside.

He'd given Helaena a bracelet to conceal the truth.

Afterward, he'd had another one made.

It was right there in his cabin, ready to give to Aegon.

As she watched Rhaegar drag Aegon away like a dead dog, Helaena got up from the floor and stood there, dazed.

She wanted to follow, but terrifying, fragmented images surfaced in her mind.

"Fire... Watch out for the flames..."

Helaena shuddered and burst into frightened tears.

Her loud crying brought a maid on night patrol running over.

Rhaegar dragged Aegon all the way to his cabin.

Under Aegon's frightened gaze, he threw him inside and shut the door.

Rhaegar sneered. "I gave Helaena that bracelet. When you take her things, you're disrespecting me!"

"Now I'm going to show you what it costs to disrespect me."

Rhaegar pretended to search under the bed, but actually took the replacement fake bracelet from his spatial bracelet.

He waved it in front of Aegon and said, "Do you like it? It'll be yours soon."

The sailing ship cut through the sea, its cabins cold and damp.

As a royal vessel, each cabin had a brazier for warmth.

The brazier's bottom was lined with charcoal, separated from the middle by an iron plate that offered good protection against fire.

Rhaegar opened the brazier and took out the iron plate.

Red-hot charcoal was exposed to the air.

He tossed the fake bracelet into the coals.

Steel conducted heat extremely well. It was glowing red in no time.

Using a rag to lift the steel bracelet from the coals, Rhaegar smiled as he approached Aegon and beckoned. "Come here, my dear little brother."

"No! You can't do this to me! Father won't allow it!"

Aegon had already spat out the socks. Horrified by the glowing red steel bracelet, he collapsed to the floor and scrambled backward.

Thud—

Rhaegar kicked him in the chest, knocking him down.

He crouched, bringing the steel bracelet close to Aegon's face.

"You like it, don't you? I said I'd give it to you, and I always keep my word."

Dodging Aegon's flailing hands, Rhaegar held his head high and kept pressing the bracelet down.

The maid carried Helaena, who had cried herself unconscious, to Alicent's cabin.

Ignoring Harrold's attempts to stop her, she pounded on the door.

Noticing the little princess unconscious in the maid's arms, Harrold, a man of many years, changed expression. "What happened?"

The maid was so frantic she could barely speak, and kept knocking.

Creak—

After a string of knocks, the cabin door soon opened from the inside.

Alicent appeared in her nightdress and immediately saw Helaena unconscious.

A sense of foreboding rose in Alicent's heart almost at once.

Alicent took her daughter from the maid's arms, her voice tense. "What happened? How did Helaena lose consciousness?"

"The princess cried until she passed out. 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?"

Hearing that her son was involved, Alicent grew even more frantic and questioned the maid intently.

The maid shuddered and said quietly, "The princess said to watch out for fire. I don't know what she meant."

Seeing her daughter unconscious, Alicent's eyes widened as her sense of foreboding reached its peak.

"Look after Helaena."

She left her daughter in the maid's care and said to Harrold, "Ser, something must have happened to Aegon and Rhaegar. I'll look for Aegon. You go to Rhaegar's room."

With that, she hurried outside.

After taking a couple of steps, Alicent stopped.

She remembered the time Rhaegar had been pinned into a cake on his birthday.

Alicent's pupils widened. She turned around and said, "I'll go to Rhaegar's room. You look for Aegon."

Perhaps sensing that her son was in danger, Alicent headed straight for the place that had come to mind.

The ship was only so large. She hurried through the dim corridor, where the cabins prepared for the royal family were close together.

She had just reached another corridor when she heard Aegon's utterly heartrending screams.

"May the Seven protect us. Protect my child."

Alicent's face changed dramatically. Praying for the gods to protect her, she ran frantically toward Rhaegar's cabin.

The cabin door was shut, but Alicent found strength she hadn't known she had.

She took off her high heels and kicked the cabin door open.

Inside, Aegon had been cornered. He was begging for mercy at the top of his lungs, his face streaked with tears and snot.

Rhaegar stood with one foot on Aegon's back, holding a red-hot steel bracelet in his bare hand and waving it beside Aegon's cheek.

Seeing her son being tormented, Alicent roared in fury, her eyes blazing. "Stop! Let him go!"

Rhaegar turned and saw Alicent storming toward him.

Before he could react, she shoved him over and gathered the sobbing Aegon into her arms.

Clang—

The steel bracelet rolled across the floor, leaving a black scuff mark on the wooden planks.

Seeing this, Alicent grew even more furious and shocked.

She cursed Rhaegar at the top of her voice. "You lunatic! Aegon is your brother, and you tortured him with a bracelet heated in the fire!"

Rhaegar got up from the floor and rubbed his sore backside. His voice was cold as he said, "I'm not Aegon. He can abuse his little sister, but I won't hurt my little brother."

He picked up the steel bracelet from the floor. Its scorching heat didn't burn him.

Pointing at the terrified Aegon, Rhaegar mocked him. "A coward who only bullies little girls because he's older. He's got less courage than a mouse."

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