Return to Casterly Rock

Two flags, one black and one green, fluttered in the wind in the large square in front of Casterly Rock. The guards who came to greet them were in perfect formation, their spears pointing straight into the sky, looking very imposing.

Besides the guards, there were many lean but fierce-looking tribespeople.

They all eagerly awaited the return of the Lord and Lady of Casterly Rock, having learned that they would be returning that day.

Even before Jon left Casterly Rock to marry Margaery, Adam was already preparing to welcome the couple back. After all, he would have to go to the Wall after Jon returned, and he was thinking about making a good impression before leaving.

This wouldn't normally be considered a difficult task, and with Brynden's assistance, it was even easier.

But two unexpected events complicated matters – the first was the Hand of the King Alester, in Casterly Rock with the King's decree, supposedly to oversee the entire campaign against the Iron Islands from Casterly Rock.

This Lord Hand minister is quite the big shot. He started interfering in various affairs as soon as he arrived in Casterly Rock, such as having his accompanying maesters take over the Casterly Rock provide military rations. If his army hadn't been on its way, even the defenses of Casterly Rock would probably have had to be replaced.

If that's all there is to it, it won't really have much impact on Adam. After all, he'll have to go to the Wall as soon as Jon returns, so this kind of thing isn't something for him to worry about.

However, Alester showed his contempt for Adam at every turn, believing that Adam was morally depraved and utterly wicked for killing Tywin, and that a year on the Wall was not enough to atone for his sins.

Adam could still tolerate this much, but Alester's statement that Jon" lacks honor" and "prefers to associate with bastards" was unbearable for him. If Brynden hadn't intervened, they would have almost gotten into a fight.

The other matter was the arrival of the Mountain Clans tribe.

The first group of immigrants from the Mountain Clans numbered thirty thousand, and their chief told Adam that everyone wanted to welcome Jon and his wife.

A welcoming party of 30,000 people was clearly impossible. Let alone having them wait to welcome Jon, it seemed unlikely that they could even stand there without causing any trouble.

After some negotiation and maneuvering, they finally sent some elders and soldiers to be in charge of welcoming them. This expanded the welcoming procession to more than two thousand people.

Compared to Alester's unpleasantness, Adam quite liked these immigrants from the Mountain Clans; at least they were straightforward and didn't resort to sarcasm.

"Sir, can he really use magic to make it rain?" a blue-eyed Maiden asked.

This blue-eyed Maiden is Sola, who left King's Landing with Haken and returned to the Moon Mountains.

Adam could tell that something was wrong with the girl; whenever Jon was mentioned, she would cheer and get excited.

Even a fool could see that her feelings for Jon were unusual.

Unfortunately, her father was just a tribal chief. Even if Jon bestowed titles upon her to win over the tribesmen, a Earl or something similar would be the highest he could achieve, which would be nothing compared to the House Tyrell.

However, Adam didn't think that was something he should worry about. What he needed to think about now was how to stay on the Wall for a year and then return to Sarsfield to become his Earl. After all, he had personally killed Tywin, and Tywin's son, Jaime Kingslayer, was on the Wall.

In some ways, Jaime is far more terrifying than the White Walkers.

As for whether Jon could truly control the rain, it wasn't just Sola who was asking; his father and several other tribal elders also looked at Adam.

Adam was naturally happy to add divine power to Jon at this time, especially since it was something that actually happened.

"Yes, Miss Sola, the master did indeed stop the rain from falling."

"As expected of Lord Jon," Sola's father Vidor, said with a devout expression, then knelt down in the direction of Casterly Rock.

Other prominent tribesmen also followed suit, and as for the ordinary tribesmen and soldiers, they all knelt down in a large group facing the direction of Casterly Rock.

This reaction startled Adam; it went far beyond loyalty and resembled the attitude of a believer towards a deity.

He was somewhat Jon about how Jon had conquered these Wildlings.

However, in order to appear "more like a member of the group," Adam also bowed deeply in the direction of Casterly Rock.

But just then, a very inappropriate, even somewhat jarring, remark reached everyone's ears.

"He's just a lucky young man. How could he have achieved what he has today without His Majesty's patronage? His Majesty Stannis is the savior chosen by the Lord of Light." Adam turned around and saw that it was Alester who was speaking.

Ever since this guy arrived at Casterly Rock, he's always been so critical. When he saw that there wasn't a trace of Red God worship around Casterly Rock, he started pointing fingers and saying that Jon, as Stannis's subject, should promote Red God worship in the Westerlands.

Adam responded to everything, but nothing came of it. He figured he'd wait for Jon to return before offering his opinions.

Just as he was about to continue trying to smooth things over, a young man from a Mountain Clans spoke up, "Lord Jon has found us a new home; he is our savior. As for your so-called king, we've never even met him. What does he have to do with us?"

"That's right! Lord Jon is our savior!"

This statement immediately gained the approval of many people, and there was even a stir in the crowd.

Adam watched Alester's reaction with bated breath; he didn't want this to happen under Jon's nose before he left.

Fortunately, Alester didn't say anything, only gave a cold snort.

This relieved Adam.

However, Alester's silence did not mean that the immigrants from the Mountain Clans would let him off the hook. A burly tribesman, about his age, spoke up, "If it weren't for me and the lord conquering King's Landing, your king would still be nowhere to be found."

Upon hearing this, Adam's heart, which had just settled, jumped again.

As expected, upon hearing this, Alester could no longer remain calm; his white beard straightened, and he appeared extremely annoyed.

"Who! Who said that!"

"I said it, I, Haken, said it! So what!"

Haken stepped out of the crowd, tilting his head back and glancing sideways at Alester with an air of arrogance.

"You! You deserve to be hanged for saying such things!" Alester strode up to him and roared.

"Hang me? I'll hang you first, you old man!" With that, Haken, clad in heavy armor, was about to walk towards Alester.

The guards surrounding Alester quickly stepped in front of him, and seeing that a conflict was about to erupt, Adam hurriedly stood between the two groups and said, "Lord Haken, this is King Stannis's Hand of the King!"

"What 'royal attendants'? I don't know any of them!" Haken said dismissively, arms crossed.

Adam simply couldn't reason with this illiterate man, especially since he was one of Jon's important subordinates who fought alongside him.

He then looked at Vidor, who was called the elder. Vidor did not seem to have any intention of mediating between the two. He seemed to want to see the universally disliked Alester make a fool of himself.

At this moment, Brynden had gone to the port to greet Jon, and there was no one by his side to help him. Adam's mind raced, and he suddenly spoke up, "Lord Jon's father was the Hand of the King!"

"My lord's father." Upon hearing Adam's words, Haken toned down his aggressive demeanor.

Adam then said to Alester, "Lord Hand, he will be here soon and will handle these matters."

Seeing Alester Haken had finally realized what his position Hand of the King meant, Allist snorted and said nothing more.

Seeing that the conflict had subsided, Adam wiped the fine sweat from his brow. A moment later, a young servant came from the direction of Casterly Rock; he was Adam's brother, Joseph.

"Brother—uh, His Excellency the Duke and Lady have arrived!"

Jon and Margaery sat in the carriage. Margaery sat as still as a statue, afraid to move even slightly—

My body aches and feels numb whenever I move.

However, she remained composed and tried her best to maintain her composure.

Are you still experiencing body aches and pains?

"Hmm." Margaery replied, frowning, when Jon asked her the question.

"Go home, take a hot bath, eat more lemons, and it should get better in about a week."

"My husband knows medicine? But I still hope he'll be gentler next time," Margaery complained.

"Well, I can't help it, my wife is just too beautiful, and I've finally found my job again after losing it for over a decade, so of course I have to savor it a bit!" Jon said matter-of-factly.

"Rice bowl?" Margaery followed Jon's gaze, looked down at her chest, and immediately blushed. She spat at him for being shameless, but couldn't help but move closer.

Brynden, Brynden was responsible for greeting them at the port, rode ahead on horseback and announced as they approached, "My lord, madam, we've arrived at Casterly Rock."

"Thank you for your trouble, Sir," Margaery said gently, which increased Brynden's goodwill towards her.

Jon responded, and through the Raven's perspective, Jon realized that his welcoming party was clearly somewhat unexpected.

If it were just a few hundred people, then a simple appearance on the carriage would suffice. But now there are thousands of people, including the Mountain Clans who have traveled thousands of miles to reach Casterly Rock, so I'll have to give them a proper welcome.

Soon, Jon's carriage stopped on a small hill, no more than thirty meters from the welcoming party, where everyone eagerly awaited the hero who would grant them flat land.

"Can you get down?"

"Yes," Margaery said firmly.

Under the watchful eyes of thousands, Jon stepped down from the carriage and then took Margaery's hand. However, with her body aching all over, almost every step was a test of her willpower.

But when she saw the almost endless welcoming line, her restraint was quickly replaced by excitement.