At that moment, time seemed to slow.
Aemond saw the path of Lucerys's incoming dagger, and at the same time, he saw Jacaerys coming around from the other side.
He made his choice.
He turned sideways, dodging Lucerys's straight thrust.
His left hand pulled with the motion, throwing Lucerys off balance and sending him pitching forward.
At the same time, Aemond's right foot precisely tripped Jacaerys by the ankle.
Jacaerys toppled forward.
And right in front of him was the dagger in Lucerys's hand, its blade gleaming coldly.
Seeing his brother fall toward the blade, Lucerys tried to pull back, but it all happened in the blink of an eye.
Time seemed to stand still.
Everyone froze in place, mouths hanging open, but no sound came out.
Joffrey and the girls covered their faces, muffled sobs slipping through their fingers.
Aemond stood there, panting, his eyes fixed on Jacaerys, who had begun to convulse violently.
Jacaerys didn't scream right away.
He seemed not to understand what had happened.
His unharmed right eye slowly, disbelievingly turned to look at Aemond, then at the length of metal now lodged in his left eye.
Then a rasping "Hah... hah..." came from his throat.
The next moment, a scream burst forth.
"AAAHHHH!!!!!"
Jacaerys dropped to his knees. The sound that came from him was no longer human, but a howl of unbearable pain.
His younger brother Lucerys stood helplessly beside him, wanting to touch him but afraid to, able only to claw uselessly at the air.
Blood gushed from around the wound, mixed with a clear, viscous fluid. It ran down his cheek and dripped onto the stone floor.
"No... no! Brother!" Lucerys finally found his voice and rushed to his brother's side, but he had no idea what to do.
Coming to his senses, Aemond shouted hoarsely, "Don't touch it! Don't pull it out!"
He knew that if the dagger in Jacaerys's left eye was pulled out now, Jacaerys would surely die!
Lucerys trembled at the sound. He looked at his brother, writhing in agony, then looked up and pointed at Aemond, furious and helpless.
"You did this! It's all your fault, Aemond!"
"If it weren't for you, my brother wouldn't be like this!"
Aemond felt only irritation. So the fate of losing an eye really couldn't be avoided after all?
Only this time, it was Jacaerys who lost an eye...
"Help! Someone, help!" Rhaenys and Baela screamed.
A rush of chaotic footsteps came from far down the passage, rapidly drawing closer.
The guards were the first to rush in, followed by Princess Rhaenyra, dressed in a nightgown, her hair slightly disheveled.
Prince Daemon Targaryen followed behind her, wearing only an outer robe.
"What happened..." Rhaenyra's words cut off abruptly.
"No!!!" Rhaenyra saw a dagger lodged in her eldest son Jacaerys's left eye socket.
The color drained from Rhaenyra's face.
She staggered and nearly fell, but Daemon caught her from behind.
The next moment, however, Rhaenyra shook off Daemon's hand and rushed to Jacaerys's side.
"My child... my Jae..." Her voice broke apart.
Rhaenyra wanted to touch her son, writhing in pain, but feared something might go wrong...
Her hand stopped in midair.
She slowly embraced her eldest son as he convulsed in agony, feeling Jacaerys's whole body shaking violently.
Her gaze locked on the dagger, then on her son's blood-covered face, his one remaining eye unfocused with pain and fear.
Then she raised her head and roared at the guards, "Fetch the maester! Get me the maester, now!"
The helpless guards behind her hurried away.
Her fury finally landed on Aemond.
"Who did this..." Rhaenyra's voice was as soft as a whisper, yet the temperature throughout the Dragonpit seemed to plummet.
Her purple eyes held a hatred so pure it seemed steeped in poison.
"I didn't do it," Aemond replied firmly, meeting the scrutinizing gaze of his half-sister Rhaenyra.
His elder sister Rhaenyra truly lived up to her reputation in the original story, where people called her the Realm's Delight.
She was stunningly beautiful, and a good person, too.
Though later, she turned dark and let her ass do the thinking.
Still, there was no denying that Rhaenyra, the Realm's Delight in her early days, had a certain personal charm.
Otherwise, in an era when the law clearly favored male heirs, she wouldn't have drawn so many lords of the realm to fight for her and stand by her side, earning them the name the Blacks...
But unfortunately, Aemond was the second son of Queen Alicent, the second son of the Greens.
The relationship between the two of them had doomed them to be at odds.
And he hadn't done it on purpose. He had been trying to avoid this confrontation all along.
He didn't want to inflame tensions between their factions, and he didn't want the eye-loss incident to happen again...
But Lucerys and the others had insisted on harassing him.
He hadn't wanted to fight in the first place.
He had already decided to wait for the adults to arrive and resolve the matter of Vhagar through negotiation.
At the scene, the other children stood in silence, not knowing how to explain this tragedy.
Prince Daemon, however, noticed all the children right away. He saw that Lucerys's right hand was covered in blood...
He understood.
Daemon quietly approached the panicked Lucerys and took hold of his right hand, swiftly wiping away the blood with a handkerchief.
Lucerys looked up at Prince Daemon, somewhat alarmed.
Daemon pressed his index finger to his lips and silently shushed him, then hid the bloodstained handkerchief in his robes.
At that moment, Aemond, unaware of what had just happened, explained to his elder sister, who was holding her unconscious eldest son tightly: "Your son Lucerys pulled out the dagger."
"He accidentally wounded Jacaerys."
Listening to Aemond's explanation, Rhaenyra turned and looked at her second son Lucerys in disbelief.
She saw Daemon standing beside Lucerys, who was clearly terrified.
"Aemond did it," Lucerys said, trembling as his mother watched him.
Aemond looked over angrily. The feeling of being falsely accused sent his blood rushing.
He was partly responsible, but Lucerys had pulled out the dagger, and he had never deliberately tried to kill anyone.
"You filthy bastard! You hurt your own brother, and now you're blaming me!" Aemond shot back furiously.
"I didn't, it wasn't me... Mother, it was Aemond. If it weren't for him, Jace wouldn't be like this..." Lucerys replied, clearly too weak to put up much of a fight.
Rhaenyra had heard her second son's plainly feeble response, and her expression turned uncertain.
But Aemond then noticed that the blood was gone from Lucerys's hand, and Prince Daemon was standing beside him.
Aemond's heart sank.
It seemed Daemon meant to frame him.
Prince Daemon wore a faintly amused, faintly mocking expression as he studied Aemond.
His daughters had already quietly told him what had happened.
Since Jae had already lost an eye and his life was uncertain...
He might as well pin the whole thing on Aemond.
The Greens behind Aemond would have to pay for this.
"It was Aemond!"
"I saw him stab Prince Jacaerys in the eye with the dagger!"
"It was him!" At Lucerys's words, Rhaenys, Baela, and Joffrey chimed in as well.
"You..." Aemond could only feel that there was no way to defend himself.
"You," Rhaenyra turned her head and asked softly, "tried to murder my eldest son?"
Aemond opened his mouth. "You should know perfectly well that Lucerys was clearly panicking just now."
But a cold voice came in response. "I believe only what my own children tell me."
"If it weren't for you, Jae wouldn't be like this."
Rhaenyra remembered that this dagger had been a gift from the Sea Snake to his grandson Lucerys, but she would never admit that her second son had accidentally wounded her eldest.
"Heh..."
Aemond knew there was no point explaining anything to the unreasonable Rhaenyra, so he scoffed.
In her eyes, even if he'd been dragged into it against his will, it was still murder. She really was blaming him for everything.
Prince Daemon slowly walked over to Rhaenyra and crouched down to examine Jacaerys's injury, his movements practiced and professional.
A moment later, he looked up at Aemond, the corner of his mouth lifting in the faintest, coldest smile. "I never thought our Targaryens..."
"Would now produce a wretch who'd try to murder his own kin. How ironic."
He stood up, one hand still resting on his sword hilt, and looked Aemond over. "Boy, you've got a lot more guts than your father."
A great many footsteps sounded nearby.
"I'll kill that bastard!" Rhaenyra suddenly flew into a rage and reached for Dark Sister at Daemon's waist.
At her words, Aemond's muscles tensed, but he realized his sister might just be putting on a show.
"Hey! Don't do anything rash, Rhaenyra!" Daemon held down the sword hilt, stopping the enraged mother. "Jae isn't dead yet."
"What happened!"
"What in the world happened!!!"
King Viserys's roar sounded from nearby.
Clearly, the king had heard his eldest daughter Rhaenyra's angry shouts.
More footsteps came rushing in.
Before you continue