Unexpected Interlude

Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Aemond saw the trajectory of the dagger Lucerys swung, and at the same time saw Jacaerys flanking him from the other side.

He made his choice.

He sidestepped, dodging Lucerys's direct stab.

With a pull of his left hand, he threw Lucerys off balance, sending him stumbling forward.

Simultaneously, Aemond's right foot precisely tripped Jacaerys at the ankle.

Jacaerys fell forward.

And right in front of him was the gleaming dagger in Lucerys's hand.

Lucerys, seeing his brother falling towards the blade, tried to pull back, but it all happened in the blink of an eye.

Time seemed to freeze.

Everyone froze in place, mouths agape but unable to make a sound.

Joffrey and the girls covered their faces, stifled sobs escaping through their fingers.

Aemond stood panting, his eyes fixed on Jacaerys, who had begun to twitch violently.

Jacaerys didn't cry out immediately.

He seemed not to have understood what had happened yet.

His good right eye slowly, disbelievingly, rolled towards Aemond, then towards the piece of metal protruding from his left eye socket.

Then, a "Hck... hck..." gasp escaped his throat.

Immediately after, the scream erupted.

AAAAAHHHH!!!!!

Jacaerys fell to his knees, his voice no longer human, but a howl of extreme agony.

His brother Lucerys stood beside him, helpless, wanting to touch but afraid to, only scratching futilely at the air.

Blood gushed from around the wound, mixed with some clear, viscous fluid, sliding down his cheek and dripping onto the stone floor.

"No... no! Brother!" Lucerys finally found his voice, rushing to his brother's side, unsure what to do.

Aemond, regaining his senses, shouted hoarsely, "Don't touch it! Don't pull it out!"

He knew that if the dagger was pulled from his eye now, Jacaerys would surely die!

Lucerys flinched at his voice, looking at his suffering brother, then looked up, pointing at Aemond with furious helplessness.

"It was you! It's all your fault! Aemond!"

"If it weren't for you, my brother wouldn't be like this!"

Aemond felt only irritation. Had he ultimately failed to avoid the fate of losing an eye?

It was just that this time, it was Jacaerys who lost his eye...

"Help! Someone, help!" Rhaenyra and Baela screamed.

A rush of disordered footsteps surged from the distance of the passage, quickly approaching.

The first to rush in were the guards, followed by Princess Rhaenyra, wearing a robe with slightly disheveled hair.

Behind her followed Prince Daemon Targaryen, draped in an outer garment.

"What happened..." Rhaenyra's words cut off abruptly.

"No!!!" Rhaenyra saw a dagger lodged in the left eye socket of her eldest son, Jacaerys.

Rhaenyra's face instantly lost all color.

She stumbled, nearly falling, but Daemon behind her caught her.

But the next moment, Rhaenyra threw off Daemon's hand and rushed to Jacaerys's side.

"My child... my little Jace..." her voice was somewhat broken.

Rhaenyra wanted to touch her pained eldest son, but feared causing further injury...

Her hand stopped in mid-air.

She slowly embraced her writhing eldest son, feeling him tremble violently.

Her gaze was fixed on the dagger, then on her son's face, half-covered in blood, his one good eye unfocused from extreme pain and fear.

Then, she looked up and roared at the guards, "Fetch the Maester! Hurry and fetch me a Maester!"

The helpless guards behind her scrambled away.

Her rage finally fell upon Aemond.

"Who did this..." Rhaenyra's voice was so soft it was a whisper, yet it caused the temperature in the entire Dragonpit to plummet.

In her purple eyes, it seemed as if the purest, most venomous hatred was forged.

"It wasn't me," Aemond stated firmly, meeting his half-sister Rhaenyra's scrutinizing gaze.

His sister Rhaenyra, as expected, was praised by the world in the original work as the "Light of the Kingdom."

She was beautiful, truly beautiful, and quite kind.

Even though she later turned dark, letting her ego get the better of her.

But undeniably, the early Light of the Kingdom, Rhaenyra, did possess her own charisma.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to attract a large group of lords to fight for her and stand by her side in an era where male heirs were prioritized for succession, earning them the name "Blacks"...

But unfortunately, Aemond, as the second son of Queen Alicent, the second son of the Greens.

Their relationship was destined to be irreconcilable.

And this matter, he hadn't done it intentionally; he had always wanted to avoid this conflict.

He didn't want to escalate the conflict between the two factions, nor did he want to repeat that incident of losing an eye...

But Lucerys and the others insisted on pestering him.

He didn't want to fight in the first place.

He had already planned to let the adults handle it and resolve the matter of Vhagar through negotiation.

At the scene, the other children were silent, unsure how to explain this tragedy.

Prince Daemon, however, noticed all the children immediately. He noticed Lucerys's right hand, stained with blood...

He understood.

Daemon quietly approached the flustered Lucerys, grabbed his right hand, and quickly wiped away the bloodstains with a handkerchief.

Lucerys looked up at Prince Daemon with a frightened expression.

Daemon placed his index finger on his lips and silently "shushed" him, hiding the blood-stained handkerchief in his robes.

At this moment, Aemond, who hadn't noticed this scene, explained to his older sister Rhaenyra, who was tightly holding her eldest son, "Your son Lucerys drew the dagger."

"He accidentally injured Jacaerys."

Rhaenyra listened to Aemond's explanation, turned her head, and looked at her second son Lucerys in disbelief.

She saw Daemon standing next to Lucerys, and Lucerys was clearly terrified.

"Aemond did it," Lucerys said, trembling as he looked at his mother's gaze.

Aemond looked at him with some anger. This feeling of being framed made his Blood Essence surge.

He was responsible, but Lucerys drew the dagger, and he never intended to kill.

"You filthy bastard hurt your own brother, and now you're slandering me!" Aemond retorted angrily.

"I didn't, it wasn't me... Mother, it was Aemond. If it weren't for him, Big Brother wouldn't be like this..." Lucerys weakly retorted.

Rhaenyra had already heard her second son's weak reply, and her expression became uncertain.

But Aemond immediately noticed that the blood on Lucerys's hand was gone, and Prince Daemon was standing beside him.

Aemond's heart sank halfway.

It seemed Daemon intended to frame him.

Prince Daemon looked at Aemond with a half-smile.

His daughters had already quietly told him what happened.

Since young Jace had already lost an eye, and his life was uncertain...

It would be better to push all the blame onto Aemond.

The Greens behind Aemond must pay the price for this incident.

"Aemond did it!"

"I saw him stab Prince Jacaerys's eye with the dagger with my own eyes!"

"It was him!" As Lucerys spoke, Rhaenyra, Baela, and Joffrey echoed his words.

"You guys..." Aemond felt utterly unable to defend himself at that moment.

"You," Rhaenyra turned her head, her voice very soft, "intended to murder my eldest son?"

Aemond opened his mouth, "You should know perfectly well that Lucerys was clearly panicked just now."

But a cold voice came, "I only believe what my own children say."

"If it weren't for you, young Jace wouldn't be like this."

Rhaenyra remembered that this dagger was a gift from the Sea Snake to his grandson Lucerys, but now, she would never admit that her second son had accidentally injured her eldest son.

"Heh..."

Aemond knew it was useless to explain to the unreasonable Rhaenyra and sneered.

In her eyes, even if he was forced to participate, it was still murder. Everything was being blamed on him.

Prince Daemon slowly walked to Rhaenyra's side and crouched down to examine Jacaerys's injuries with professional and skilled movements.

A moment later, he looked up at Aemond, a faint, cold smile on his lips. "I never expected that we Targaryens..."

"Would now produce a scoundrel who wants to kill his own kin. How ironic."

He stood up, his hand still on the hilt of his sword, his gaze sweeping over Aemond. "Boy, you have more guts than your father."

Not far away, the sound of many footsteps approached.

"I'm going to kill this bastard!" Rhaenyra suddenly lost it, reaching for Dark Sister at Daemon's waist.

Aemond's muscles tensed at the words, but he realized his sister might just be putting on a show.

"Hey! Don't be rash, Rhaenyra!" Daemon pressed down on the hilt, stopping his furious mother. "Little Jace isn't dead yet."

"What happened!"

"What in the hell happened!!!"

King Viserys's roar echoed from not far away.

Clearly, the King had heard his eldest daughter Rhaenyra's furious shouts.

More footsteps surged forward.