The Death of the Heart

"Your Majesty, Your Highness the Princess."

"Please have a seat, Sir Petyr."

To avoid disgracing the royal family, Selyse had Shireen's face wiped with a hot towel before summoning Petyr, but her sharp Littlefinger still noticed something amiss.

It was clear that the queen was extremely tense, but that was exactly what Petyr wanted to see.

He first accompanied Selyse in giving Jon a good scolding. After all, having worked in the sex trade, Petyr needed to interact with women extensively and understood that conversations between women were mostly meaningless, but full of emotions. As long as one could understand and respond to their emotions, one could quickly close the distance between the two.

"Your Majesty, I will soon be escorting a shipment of military provisions to the front lines. I may see His Majesty then. If you have anything you wish to say to His Majesty, I can pass it on to you." Petyr leaned forward slightly, feigning concern.

"Thank you so much, Sir Petyr," Selyse said quickly. She was deeply moved that Littlefinger was still willing to help her, even though she had caused him to lose a leg.

"Ser Petyr, I hope you can tell His Majesty to believe that House Florent, Axell, was forced to surrender to Jon, that Usurper— "

Selyse kept talking, oblivious to the sarcasm in Petyr's eyes.

After she had finished speaking, Petyr finally spoke up, "Your Majesty, are you still worried about your own family at a time like this? You should be worried about yourself, about your daughter, Princess Shireen!"

"My daughter?"

Selyse glanced instinctively at the spot where her daughter had just been sitting, then suddenly remembered that she felt somewhat ashamed because of the scar on Shireen's face, so she let her leave the room first.

"Your Majesty, almost all of Florent are now on Jon's side. He defeated Axell, and if Axell simply surrenders, wouldn't the entire House Florent be safe?"

But I—

"But your surname is now Baratheon, and so are your daughters'!"

Selyse looked incredulous and unable to accept Petyr's threats.

"Once the support of the House Florent is gone, and if I may be so bold, your position as Queen and your position as heir to Shireen will be in serious jeopardy. Don't forget that His Majesty took King Robert's two illegitimate sons to the front lines." Petyr lowered his voice, hissing like a viper.

"No, no way." Selyse's voice trembled slightly as she vehemently denied it.

At this moment, Petyr made a bold move. He walked up to Selyse and showed her his severed hand, saying, "Wake up, Your Majesty! A man can only survive by holding power in his own hands, otherwise he will end up like me. And do you know Eddard Stark? It was Cersei who bribed the Gold Cloaks, and now she and her children are long gone, fallen to the sword of Ice!"

Petyr told Selyse a heavily modified version of Cersei's story, omitting his own part of it.

He stated that it was precisely because of Cersei's decisiveness that she was ultimately able to place her son Joffrey on the throne.

As for Jon, he was a complete accident.

"Your Majesty, Joffrey is merely a bastard, but Shireen is His Majesty Stannis's own child. Isn't she better than Joffrey?"

"This----"

Selyse was somewhat swayed by what she was being said, and she was in a daze.

Seeing that his words had achieved initial success, Petyr decided to press his advantage.

"Your Majesty, have you considered what will happen after the King returns?"

"Return?"

"Won't he vent his anger over the House Florent's betrayal on you, or even on Shireen? Our Majesty needs a steadfast and powerful ally right now, and aren't Dorne and the Vale stronger than the House Florent?"

"You!"

Seeing him belittle her family, Selyse instinctively wanted to rebuke him, but Petyr didn't care. Instead, he said, "Lysa of the Vale, she's as young as you and has already given birth to a son. If His Majesty the King marries Lysa, he can not only rightfully adopt Robin, but the Vale's army will also be more loyal to him. Sunspear Dorne, if the King marries a woman from House Martell, will they ignore the Southern army?"

"No, Your Majesty, you wouldn't," Selyse said, but her voice grew increasingly weak.

"Your Majesty, tell me now, can we bring the King back?"

"I----"

"We cannot bring the king back now, just as Cersei could not bring Robert back from his hunting trip!"

"This----"

"You can only choose one: your daughter or the king!"

Sir Petyr ----

"It's time to make a choice, Your Majesty!"

Petyr's words grew increasingly hurried, and his demeanor became increasingly aggressive.

Selyse lowered her head, and scenes from the past flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.

When they first met, Stannis was a boy of eighteen or nineteen.

With charcoal-black hair and azure eyes, despite her lack of smile, Selyse fell in love at first sight.

He was the king's brother and a key figure in the conquest of Dragonstone.

He later annihilated the Iron Islands Fleet, becoming the de facto Master of Ships.

Not long after, they got married.

However, there was an unpleasant incident at the wedding—King Robert had an affair with Selyse's cousin on their wedding bed.

This is so rude it's unbearable to watch.

The large but messy wedding bed resembled a clown's costume, ornate yet comical. When Selyse and Stannis arrived at their wedding bed, the blankets on it were rolled up like a jester's hat.

Robert was the king, and no one dared to blame him; it could only be due to the king's temperament.

However, Selyse's cousin became the target of Stannis's complaints, which in turn led to complaints and ridicule of the entire House Florent.

Selyse apologized to him, but Stannis didn't say anything. Unfortunately, as the days went by, Stannis remained indifferent to her.

Especially at that banquet, Stannis openly told her to keep her distance from him, even though he was holding his arm.

But wasn't she his wife? Every wife who accompanied a lord did the same.

Selyse began to try to please him.

She tried hard to have children with him, but after giving birth to only one daughter, he almost never touched her again, as if she had completed a disgusting but unavoidable task.

Selyse believed that she must not have done enough, so she brought Melisandre to him.

He still remembered the look in Stannis's eyes when he saw Melisandre; her long red robes and fiery red hair almost lit up the entire Stone Drum Tower.

Stannis's seemingly frozen blue eyes widened in amazement.

Yes, yes, although that woman also disliked making expressions and wasn't necessarily much prettier than him, Stannis seemed to prefer being with her because she wasn't Selyse.

Melisandre told him he was the savior, and Stannis subsequently converted to the Lord of Light.

However, at that time, Selyse was still happy inside.

At least Stannis made changes through his own efforts.

So even though she came from Brightwater Keep, a place steeped in the atmosphere of the Seven, Selyse changed the object of her prayers to the Lord of Light.

Then Robert died, and Stannis began his quest for the Iron Throne.

The House Florent did everything in their power to help him, even losing several nephews and uncles in the Bitterbridge Mutiny.

Then came the Blackwater, where Uncle Orell was killed in battle.

But afterwards Stannis still didn't hold back in calling him an idiot.

Of course, it was indeed Orell's oversight, but the person is already dead, couldn't he at least say a few polite words?

Alester wanted to secretly make a deal with the Lannister to redeem Brightwater Keep.

Well, after all, it was his uncle who was in the wrong first, but Stannis never gave him the real position of King's Hand of the King the King, instead always making him "temporary" to humiliate his past betrayal.

Then Jon and Margaery were married in Highgarden.

Selyse represented the royal family at the event, and she remembered how long the journey had been; if it weren't for Cersei's Royal Carriage, she might have fallen apart.

Then she saw the Dragon Egg, and the first person she thought of was Stannis; the blue Dragon Egg was just like Stannis's blue eyes.

Melisandre thought her husband would definitely like it.

There are rumors that the ancestors of House Baratheon were actually bastards of the Targaryen, and that they were also Valyrians.

Battle of the Blackwater Stannis often said that if there had been a dragon on the Blackwater, he would have been able to turn the tide of the battle.

Moreover, Melisandre possesses immense magical power; perhaps she could even hatch a dragon?

If that were the case, House Baratheon would be able to completely replace the Targaryen.

Selyse, shameless as ever, sent Aleken to ask Jon for the dragon Dragon Egg, but only received a blatant jerk in return.

When he returned to King's Landing and told Stannis about it, he felt that he had been impolite and lacked the self-awareness expected of a queen.

Okay, okay, for my daughter's sake.

Suddenly, Jon declared that he was the Targaryen, Rhaegar's son.

This earth-shattering news shook almost the entire Seven Kingdoms.

Stannis, of course, did not believe that he intended to quell the rebellion, even though he had previously used the House Frey to replace those positions that should have belonged to the House Florent, and even humiliated the House Florent, yet the House Florent was still the first to respond to his call.

They were even willing to risk the immediate capture of Brightwater Keep.

And then came the news of Axell's rebellion, which neither Stannis believed, let alone Selyse.

But there's nothing we can do; perhaps the House Florent's loyalty has been exhausted.

The House Florent abandoned Stannis, and in doing so, they abandoned themselves.

Since her family has abandoned her, and her husband doesn't love her and might even try to kill her, she has nothing left.

Selyse slowly raised her head, her brown eyes revealing a chilling resolve.

She needs to protect herself and her daughter.

"Sir Petyr, what should we do?"