The Beginning

"Ramsay, you've done the most for us lately. This shipment is your spoils, so you should be the first to receive your reward."

Roose shook his head, his eyes fixed on Ramsay as he praised him sincerely.

Hearing this, Ramsay immediately replied with some trepidation, "For you, Father, and for House Bolton, it's no trouble."

"Mm. Drink!"

Roose nodded and tipped his chin toward the wineglass in Ramsay's hand.

Ramsay looked moved and raised the glass to his lips, taking a hearty drink.

"Mm, it really is good wine, Father. I'll pour you another glass."

After swallowing the wine, Ramsay half-closed his eyes and savored the taste, voicing his praise.

Then he immediately fetched another glass and poured Roose some wine from the same cask.

Roose had kept a close eye on Ramsay. Seeing no sign that anything was amiss, he slowly accepted the glass Ramsay handed him.

Smiling broadly, Ramsay raised the glass he had left unfinished and said to Roose, "For House Bolton!"

"For House Bolton!"

Roose raised his glass in reply, then lowered his head and took a small sip of the fine wine.

"Hm?"

After swallowing the wine, Roose let out a brief sound of surprise, then said to Ramsay,

"Oldtown wine really is delicious!"

"It's an honor for the wine that you like it!"

"By the way, what happened to those four Winterfell cavalrymen?

I want every noble in the North to know that it was their liege lord who plundered them. Even if I was careless and suffered a setback this time, I won't let that little wolf get off lightly."

Roose, who had been tasting the wine, suddenly remembered something and asked Ramsay.

Ramsay smiled without answering. He turned and pursed his lips to whistle. One of the disarmed soldiers who had entered the castle understood and nodded.

A few minutes later, Sam and the three Wolf Guard, all bruised and swollen and bound tightly, were led before Roose.

"Very good! Ramsay, I'll leave this matter to you. I hope to hear good news tomorrow."

Roose knew his bastard son had a talent for torture, so he spoke plainly.

"Also, lock up all the returning cavalrymen except you. Release them once you've verified their identities. Do you have any objections?"

"As you command, Father! I have no objections."

Ramsay nodded very obediently, looking every inch the dutiful son.

Roose gave Ramsay an impassive nod, then headed for his room with his attendants.

Everything here had been arranged. Without Roose's orders, Ramsay couldn't make the castle's guards do anything for him.

It took quite a while for the more than four hundred men under Ramsay's command to be searched and disarmed one by one before they were all allowed into the Dreadfort.

The three supply wagons and nearly four hundred warhorses were placed in the stable behind and to the right of the gate.

The stable could usually hold nearly a thousand horses, but House Bolton's cavalry had suffered heavy losses, so it was practically empty now and had plenty of room.

"Just leave the wagons in the stable. You don't need to worry about them. I'll arrange for people to unload the goods tomorrow.

This is a wagonload of Gold dragons. If you're careless and spill any, even if I skin you alive, it won't make up for the loss!"

Seeing the guards preparing to unload the wine casks, Ramsay frowned and barked at them to stop.

At his voice, the guards reluctantly halted, not daring to provoke the cruel bastard.

"Take those four to the interrogation room."

Seeing that the guards had stopped unloading his wine, Ramsay pointed at Sam and the other three, gave his order, and turned to leave.

The guard captain frowned at Ramsay's blunt tone, but still picked out four guards.

After whispering a few words to them, he had them escort Sam and the others to the interrogation room.

Of the four hundred cavalrymen under Ramsay's command, nearly a hundred had always been with him. The other three hundred were men Roose had left behind.

As they were being detained, the guard captain took one of the cavalrymen aside and had an attendant waiting nearby lead him away.

The attendant and the cavalryman walked through the Dreadfort's winding, damp corridors in silence, their footsteps the only sound.

After turning this way and that for a while, the attendant brought the cavalryman to Roose's room.

"Lord Roose!"

The cavalryman shut the door and immediately bowed.

"Mm. What has Ramsay been doing lately? Has he behaved unusually?"

Roose nodded from his seat, where he had been waiting, and asked directly.

"Lord Ramsay only plundered one merchant caravan during this time, and got that shipment of wine. Perhaps because the wine was so valuable, he was in a good mood, so he let everyone in the caravan go."

The cavalryman thought back over what he had seen before answering.

"He hasn't behaved unusually otherwise. Though he often chats with those four cavalrymen from Winterfell. They all seem to get along quite well."

"Mm. Where did you plunder that caravan?"

Roose considered the cavalryman's words carefully. Nothing seemed amiss, so he continued questioning him.

"Lord Roose, it wasn't recently. It was before the Dreadfort sent a Raven to tell us House Stark had declared war!"

"What? You mean Ramsay brought that wine with him all the way back here?"

"Yes! Lord Ramsay would rather travel more slowly than give up that expensive wine!"

"Idiot! Why didn't you tell me about something so strange sooner?"

Roose, who was usually unflappable, seemed to catch a whiff of conspiracy. He slammed a hand on the table, stood up, and shouted,

"Something's wrong with Ramsay, and there's something wrong with that wine, too. Move!"

Inside the Dreadfort's interrogation room, Sam and the other three were bound to X-shaped flaying racks. Four guards stood beside Ramsay.

"That's enough. Now it's time for me to have some fun. You can leave!"

Ramsay rummaged through the bloodstained assortment of torture implements on the table with his left hand and waved the guards away with his right.

"Lord Ramsay, Lord Roose told us to report back to him regularly, so..."

The four guards exchanged glances. One of them spoke hesitantly.

"Fine. You stay and report back. The rest of you, get out. I hate being watched when I'm having fun."

Ramsay raised an eyebrow and spoke impatiently.

"Yes..."

The four guards exchanged glances again. The one who had spoken seemed to be their leader. He nodded to the others, and the three remaining guards filed out.

"Did you know? A weapon like this is the best for killing people."

Ramsay rummaged around on the table and found a sharp iron spike about the length of a dagger and as thick as a chopstick. He toyed with it in his hand as he spoke to the guard beside him.

"I don't kn—Mmph! Mmph!"

The guard had just begun to answer when—

Ramsay suddenly reached out with his left hand and clamped the guard's mouth into an "8" shape. With his right hand, he drove the sharp iron spike into the guard's neck.

"Mmph! Mmph!!!"

The guard instinctively grabbed Ramsay's left hand, trying to break free and scream.

But as the iron spike punched hole after hole in his neck, the pupils in his terrified eyes gradually widened. His hands slowly went limp and fell to his sides, and his cries grew weaker and weaker.

"So when I tell you to leave, you should just listen and go!"

Feeling the life drain from the guard, Ramsay drove the iron spike one last time into the man's neck, now riddled with terrifying holes like a honeycomb, and left it there.

He grabbed the guard's linen undershirt with both hands and used it to wipe the blood off his hands, smiling as he spoke with a note of gentle persuasion.

Sam and the others were bound hand and foot and had cloth stuffed in their mouths, but they could still watch Ramsay's performance. All four of them felt a chill creeping up their backs.

Thud!

After wiping most of the blood from his hands, Ramsay let go of the guard's body and watched it fall to the floor.

He spread his arms toward Sam and the others, grinned, and said, "Gentlemen, Lord Robb's fireworks plan officially begins!"

Thanks to Great Reader Mei Haoshu for the monthly ticket! I'm starting an app recommendation today. I hope you'll keep voting and reading, and that we can keep climbing together! Many thanks!