Justice 3

The air in the hall had frozen solid.

Viserys's gaze shifted back and forth between his eldest daughter, kneeling and pleading, and his second son.

His lips trembled, the words he spat out weak and muddled: "Rhaenyra... I have already named you... why must you force me to personally..."

"But the world has never truly been convinced, Father!" Rhaenyra's voice rose sharply.

"Now, the entire kingdom whispers in the shadows, tainting the bloodline of my sons with the most vicious rumors!"

"And now that Jae has lost an eye, those hyenas will only howl with greater impunity. How can a One-Eye rule the Seven Kingdoms in the future?!"

She crawled forward on her knees, her gaze burning: "Father, I need you to do it now!"

"Give Jacaerys a guarantee that no one would dare question! He is the undisputed heir."

"The order of succession must also be placed above Aegon and Aemond!"

"Your Majesty!" Lord Hand Otto could no longer stand by and watch. He stepped forward, urgency in his stride, attempting to salvage a situation on the brink of collapse.

"We feel the pain of Prince Jacaerys's injury as if it were our own, but the succession of the kingdom affects the entire Seven Kingdoms. How can we make such a hasty decision while clouded by grief and anger?"

"Furthermore, whether Prince Aemond is truly at fault has yet to be determined by a fair judgment!"

He tried to pull the runaway situation back under control.

"Judgment? A thorough investigation?" Prince Daemon let out a scoff, his tone dripping with mockery. "My dear Hand, how exactly do you intend to be fair?"

"Do you intend to put our children to the question?"

"Or do you plan to drag this out for months, preparing to turn a major issue into a minor one?"

"Daemon!" Viserys let out a weak, angry reprimand.

"I have already made my words perfectly clear, brother," Daemon said, refusing to yield an inch. "Tonight, your eldest grandson, a potential future heir to the Iron Throne, has been blinded."

"Your eldest daughter, the heir to the kingdom you yourself appointed, is kneeling right here, using her son's blood and tears to beg you for a certain future for him."

"And you..." He drew out the tone.

"Are still, hesitating?"

"I... am not..." Viserys's words were completely cut off by a fit of heart-wrenching coughing, and he hunched over.

Aemond merely watched with cold eyes.

His father's frailty and avoidance, his sister turning an eye into a bargaining chip, his grandfather Otto's calculations, Daemon's undisguised incitement, his mother Alicent's desperation...

His gaze slowly swept over every face in the hall: greed, fear, hypocrisy, anger, and the indifference of those who felt this had nothing to do with them...

In the end, he actually let out a low laugh.

The laughter was soft, yet it caused all the noise, arguing, and weeping to come to an abrupt halt.

Every pair of eyes was drawn, involuntarily, to the silver-haired youth.

"So," Aemond began, his voice terrifyingly calm.

"Is this the price you wanted?"

Aemond snapped his gaze toward Lucerys, who had long since lost all color in his face, and said with sudden sharpness: "And you! Lucerys Velaryon! You spineless little thief!"

"It was your hand that held the dagger, and it was you who drove that thing into your own brother's eye socket!"

"Now, you don't even have the spine to stand tall and admit what you've done?!"

"You spineless thing, you dare to do it, but you don't dare to own it?"

Upon hearing this, Lucerys was struck as if by a heavy blow; his body, already trembling from guilt, swayed violently.

He staggered backward, nearly collapsing, not daring to meet the searing gaze of Aemond's violet eyes.

"Aemond!" Princess Rhaenyra shouted sharply to stop him.

"I have been merciful enough! I have not held you accountable!"

"Merciful? Sister?"

Aemond seemed to have heard the most ridiculous joke in the world. The flames in his eyes surged, nearly erupting to burn away every shred of his remaining reason.

"You use a trumped-up charge of murder to accuse me?"

"But, sister, the way you look down from on high, trying to bestow your charity upon me... it truly makes me sick."

Aemond took a step forward and said, "I have my responsibility."

Aemond pointed at the trembling Lucerys.

"But does he not have a single shred of responsibility?"

The Blacks fell into a silence.

The aggressive Aemond suddenly lowered his voice: "One eye... is enough to trade for the future of the entire kingdom?"

He paused, scanning the crowd.

"That is a very profitable deal."

Before the words had even faded, Aemond lunged forward like a striking leopard!

His target was not the sister standing high above, but the waist of the Kingsguard closest to him, who had momentarily let his guard down.

"Clang!"

The sharp sound of metal grinding against metal rang out.

A flash of cold light swept by, and the dagger belonging to the Kingsguard was already firmly gripped in Aemond's hand.

Everything happened within the span of a single breath, leaving everyone with no time to cry out, only able to stare with wide eyes at this insane spectacle.

"Isn't this what you all keep harping on about?! Demanding that I take responsibility?!"

Aemond roared, his voice distorted by extreme rage. Without a moment's hesitation, he pressed the cold, sharp blade firmly against the skin beneath his left eye.

"I will give you exactly what you want!"

"I will take responsibility!"

"An eye for an eye! Blood for blood!"

"Aemond! No! My child!!!" Queen Alicent let out a piercing, harrowing scream.

The blood drained instantly from the faces of Rhaenyra, Daemon, Corlys, and every noble present, leaving behind only shock and disbelief.

They had anticipated resistance, arguments, or even tears from this stubborn youth.

But they had never expected such a tragic, reckless, and self-destructive counterattack!

King Viserys looked as if he had been struck by an invisible hammer; his entire body trembled violently as he lunged up from the throne, only to collapse back down powerlessly.

Shocked by his son's actions, he could only emit a ragged, gasping "Hhh... hhh..." sound from his throat, unable to utter a single word.

Just as the tip of the blade was about to pierce his eyeball, about to brew another irreversible tragedy:

"Stop! Aemond! I beg you... I beg you..."

Queen Alicent knelt on the cold stone ground, her heart shattered, screaming out.

The agonizing wail of a mother, practically weeping blood, slammed hard into Aemond's heart.

His wrist, pressing against his eye socket, faltered for a moment.

In that split second.

Several Kingsguard who had finally reacted lunged forward like tigers, pouncing from multiple directions at once!

They clamped down hard on Aemond's arms and shoulders, using all their strength to wrench the dangerous dagger away and toss it far aside with a loud "clatter."

Then, they pinned Aemond firmly to the ground.

"Hoo..." The Kingsguard who had been disarmed of his dagger was soaked in cold sweat, his heart racing with lingering fear.

If the Prince had truly mutilated himself or even perished, his own fate would be unimaginable.

"Mmph!" Aemond was held down tightly by several burly Kingsguard, his face pressed against the cold floor, his mouth stuffed with a piece of fabric torn from a White Cloak.

The Kingsguard were terrified that the Prince might bite off his own tongue.

Aemond could only let out angry, animalistic whimpers.

Yet, his violet eyes remained fixed on the direction of the throne, glaring at his biased father, the fire burning within them not extinguished in the slightest.

Viserys watched his second son, subdued on the floor yet still struggling, and felt nothing but exhaustion and a throbbing headache.

The shock and trouble brought by this son were even more intense than those caused by his troublesome brother, Daemon!

"St-stuff his mouth tight!" the King ordered with an irritable wave of his hand, his voice heavy with frustration.

As the linen was shoved in deeper, only muffled groans and bitter resentment remained before Aemond's eyes.

Queen Alicent collapsed to the floor, her heart twisting in agony as she watched her son being treated so roughly.

But another wave of relief allowed her to breathe a little easier; at least the worst-case scenario had been averted.

An awkward, suffocating silence blanketed the entire hall.

The situation seemed to have reached a dead end: eyes, accusations, defenses, succession, madness, an eye for an eye...

All the troubles had tangled into an impossible knot.

It seemed it would be very difficult to bring today to a close...