Family

Inside Tidepool Island, Queen Alicent's chambers.

Inside the room, the flickering light of the fireplace cast a glow upon the taut face of Lord Hand Otto.

"Aemond! Do you have any idea what you have actually done?" Lord Hand Otto's voice was thick with suppressed rage.

The actions of his daughter and grandson left him feeling deeply powerless; this would ruin the plans he had laid to secure the throne for his daughter's eldest son, Aegon.

Meanwhile, upon hearing her father's reprimand, Queen Alicent remained silent, using a handkerchief to wipe the wounds on Aemond's face.

"Does it still hurt?" the Queen asked with pity.

"It doesn't hurt, Mother. With you here, I feel no pain," Aemond said softly.

Aemond turned his head to look at Lord Hand Otto. "And besides, Grandfather, I have already said it: it was not I who blinded Jacaerys."

"Who would believe that?" Lord Hand Otto said in a low voice. "Even if it were as you say, that Lucerys drew the dagger first, everyone present now claims that you were the one who did it."

Silence spread through the room.

Aemond felt helpless. This was a case of suffering in silence, unable to voice his grievances.

"I believe you. I also saw everything that happened, Aemond..." A soft, timid voice spoke up.

Everyone turned their gaze toward her: Helaena Targaryen.

Queen Alicent's daughter, the sister one year older than Aemond.

She was born with extraordinary beauty, innocent and pure.

Her silver hair cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall, and her violet eyes seemed to hold the stars. She had inherited her mother's beauty, possessing a tall figure and fair skin.

Aemond looked at Helaena. Is this the sister the original owner of this body had always harbored a deep love for?

Helaena noticed the gaze Aemond was directing at her.

The burning, yearning look made her cheeks flush, causing her to quietly lower her head.

"Helaena, were you present at the time?" Lord Hand Otto asked, somewhat surprised.

Queen Alicent also wore an expression of disbelief. How could her daughter, whose temperament was as gentle as a lamb, have become embroiled in such a matter?

"I... I saw it in a dream..." Helaena kept her head low, her voice as thin as a mosquito's hum.

"It was Lucerys who took out the dagger first..."

Upon hearing this, Otto clutched his forehead, took a deep breath, and was left completely speechless.

Lord Hand Otto turned his gaze toward his daughter, Queen Alicent.

Alicent remained silent.

Aemond understood in his heart that this was Helaena's gift as a Dreamer, the ability to see truths invisible to mortal men.

At this moment, an ill-timed scoff rang out.

"Tch."

Everyone looked toward Aegon, who had made the sound.

"If you ask me, they're right—a brother who wants to murder his own kin."

"Besides, Aemond's nature has always been so antisocial and aloof, hasn't it?"

Aegon looked at Aemond after speaking, but Aemond couldn't be bothered to acknowledge him.

Lord Hand Otto stared at Aegon in silence; sometimes he truly wondered what exactly was inside his eldest grandson's head.

Lord Hand Otto fought back the urge to slap him across the face to knock some sense into him.

Queen Alicent suppressed her fury, glaring at her eldest son for siding with outsiders against his own blood.

Aemond did not care about Aegon's words.

He knew that his eldest brother had spent his childhood leading Jacaerys and his lot in mocking and ridiculing the original Aemond, saying he wasn't fit to ride a dragon and was only suited to ride a pig...

Thinking of this, the humiliation felt by the original owner of the body surged into his heart once more.

This was his own brother, teaming up with those nephews to bully and torment his own flesh and blood.

And yet, upon arriving at Tidepool Island for Lady Laena's funeral, the original Aemond had still naively longed to play with Lucerys and his group...

Aegon deserved his share of the credit for Aemond eventually becoming a complete kinslayer.

Aegon did not notice the gazes of those around him. He cast a glance at Aemond and the head-bowed Helaena, then spread his hands. "What kind of brothers have I been saddled with?"

"And this freak of a sister..."

Bang. Before he could finish his sentence, Aemond slammed a heavy fist into his face.

"You can mock me all you want. I don't care."

"But I will not allow you to speak of Helaena that way..." Aemond's eyes flashed with a fierce light as he pointed a finger at him.

Having taken the punch, Aegon was furious and wanted to strike back, but he froze when he saw the murderous intent in Aemond's violet eyes.

The brother before him might no longer be the target he could bully at will...

Thinking of what had happened today, Aegon's nature—bullying the weak and fearing the strong—made him shrink back, terrified that his brother might do something drastic.

Helaena, who had been keeping her head bowed, looked up to see Aemond standing up for her. She covered her mouth with her small hand, ripples of emotion stirring in her eyes.

Aegon dared not fight back, complaining aggrievedly, "Mother, Grandfather, did you see that? This brat..."

"Smack!" Before he could finish his sentence, Queen Alicent's hand had already struck his face.

"Mother! Why are you hitting me too?!" Aegon clutched his face, his voice thick with tears.

Tonight, he hadn't done a single thing, yet he was being subjected to a combined assault from his mother and brother.

"They are your younger brother and sister! As the eldest son, not only do you fail to protect them, but you also kick them while they're down?" Queen Alicent rebuked him angrily.

Immediately after, an enraged Alicent grabbed her eldest son Aegon by the collar.

"At that time, where were you?"

"Me?" Aegon was bewildered.

Alicent backhanded him with another slap.

Aegon finally burst into tears: "Why are you hitting me again?!"

"When your brother was being swarmed by five people, where were you!" Alicent snapped, exposing the truth.

"If you had been there, perhaps you could have prevented this tragedy!"

Ultimately, she still cared about her eldest son's dignity and refrained from saying things like "if you hadn't been in a maid's bed."

Aegon dared not speak again, terrified that his mother would land another slap.

Aemond watched the scene with cold eyes.

Suddenly, Aemond turned his head to look at his sister, Helaena.

Helaena looked back at him with gratitude in her eyes.

But upon seeing Aemond looking at her, Helaena lowered her head once more.

Lord Hand Otto broke the stagnant atmosphere: "Aegon, I don't care how you view your brother and sister."

"But remember, Aemond and Helaena are your closest kin."

"No matter what happens in the future, you must stand by their side."

Faced with his grandfather's admonition, Aegon nodded blankly.

Queen Alicent also calmed her anger and released his collar.

Just then, the door was gently knocked upon.

Otto frowned slightly. "Enter."

The King's Attendant entered and whispered, "Lord Hand, His Majesty has ordered everyone to gather in the Great Hall."

The attendant then leaned in and whispered a few words into Otto's ear.

After listening, the deep frown on Otto's face eased slightly.

Once the attendant had withdrawn, he said wearily, "The boy... he didn't die."

"Thank the gods..." Alicent let out a sigh of relief.

Aemond remained silent, though he, too, felt a sense of relief.

If Jacaerys had died, the situation would have been completely beyond repair.

Lord Hand Otto muttered with a bitter smile, "But the price... that is always unavoidable."

"You two... prepare yourselves."

"Let's go." He pushed open the door.

Outside, standing as the Queen's sworn protector, Ser Criston Cole of the Kingsguard bowed his head respectfully.

Yet, his gaze flickered toward his student, Aemond, a trace of imperceptible admiration flashing in his eyes.

This prince had actually done what he had wanted to do but dared not: he had nearly killed the bastard of that strumpet Rhaenyra.

Aemond noticed Cole's gaze.

This man had once been Rhaenyra's sworn protector and had shared a brief affair with her.

But love had turned to hate, and his mind had long since twisted.

Aemond looked down on such people, yet he had to admit that Cole was an indispensable kingmaker for the Greens.

In another room.

Rhaenyra sat by the bedside of Jacaerys, who had lost his left eye. Watching her son, whose wound had just been stitched by the Maester, she wept uncontrollably.

Only Prince Daemon, Lord Corlys, and the children were in the room.

"Mother, it was all my fault..." Lucerys sobbed.

From her second son, Rhaenyra learned that it was Lucerys who had drawn his dagger first, which had led to the accidental injury of his older brother.

Her fury burned within her, yet she had nowhere to vent it...

When such a thing happens to one's own child, what mother could bear it?

"Mother... I don't want to be blind..." Jacaerys muttered in his sleep, having drifted off after drinking poppy milk.

Rhaenyra could no longer hold back, and her tears broke like a dam.

"Mother, beat me, execute me! I didn't want this to happen..." Lucerys wept bitterly.

The other children also shed tears in silence.

"This matter was Aemond's doing," Lord Corlys said, taking the lead in setting the tone for the situation.

Rhaenyra fell into silence.

Even though she loathed Alicent, her former best friend who had climbed into her father's bed.

The conscience remaining in her heart told her that the responsibility lay with Lucerys; while Aemond was also at fault, he was not the primary culprit.

Daemon saw her hesitation and said in a deep voice, "The Greens must pay a price for this matter to be settled."

Rhaenyra looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears.

Daemon felt a pang in his heart at the sight, then continued, "For instance, take this opportunity to ensure the Greens lose any qualification to contest the throne with you."

Corlys added the crucial point, "Rhaenyra, listen to us."

"We will use this incident to force the King to make a decision."

"Jae has already lost an eye. What we must do now is ensure the throne will be his."

"Don't forget, Vhagar has been claimed by Aemond. The Greens must be made to pay for this..."

Hearing this, the hesitant Rhaenyra finally nodded.

This was never really about her second son, Lucerys.

The root of all this was Aemond, who had gone to claim Vhagar without authorization, leading to the current situation.

Jae could not lose his sight in vain; it would be better to use this to solidify his right of succession.

And then there was Vhagar...

The oldest and largest dragon in existence had now been claimed by Aemond.

Today, the Greens must compromise; they must pay the price for this.