The True Dragon's Name and the Red Comet

A sleek vessel slowly raised sails emblazoned with the image of twin towers.

It belonged to House Frey.

Given Jon's current circumstances, Old Walder found it difficult to continue discussing a marriage alliance with him.

Instead, he offered some consolation before having someone escort him to the Twins.

However, the old bastard apparently had not given up.

He gifted Jon a fine suit of plate armor, along with two longswords forged from refined steel.

One sword's hilt was set with rubies, the other with sapphires.

That in itself seemed like nothing, but he had Roslin personally help Jon put on the armor.

"Jon... Lord Jon, don't be too sad. Only by taking care of yourself can you avenge Lord Eddard.

"I... I'll wait for you at the Twins, waiting for you to return safely."

Jon looked at the delicate-looking girl and suddenly remembered—wasn't this Robb's aunt by marriage?

Before the Red Wedding, after Robb broke his betrothal, he proposed having Catelyn's younger brother, his own uncle Lord Edmure, marry in his place to strengthen the alliance.

Apparently, Edmure and Roslin had gotten along quite well after their marriage.

And Roslin was one of the kinder sort of girls.

She had known everything before the Red Wedding happened.

But she could not speak of it.

So she could only weep endlessly at the wedding.

After becoming pregnant, she had even prayed that she would bear a daughter, so Old Walder would not kill Edmure.

Jon figured three parts of what she said were true, and seven parts false.

Especially that final sentence: "I'll wait for you at the Twins."

There was an eighty percent chance Old Walder had told her to say it.

The intention was far too obvious.

Perhaps the humility and sincerity Jon had deliberately displayed had earned him some measure of her favor, but not enough for her to offer herself to him.

Jon had a rule for life:

Never underestimate an enemy's strength, and never overestimate your own charm.

"Thank you, Lady Roslin."

Before long, the armor was fully fitted. Roslin then took out a black cloak and prepared to drape it over him.

Jon bent slightly. Roslin's slender arms passed around his neck as she patiently fastened the cloak's clasp.

Throughout the process, less than half a foot separated them!

Jon caught the scent of cloves drifting from her body.

Looking at that lovely face, Jon felt the faintest flutter in his heart.

Of course, it was merely a normal physical reaction. It was still far from love.

That said, Old Walder had already launched two "attacks." It was time for Jon's turn.

Only defending and never attacking was not Jon's style.

Jon remembered that Roslin seemed skilled in music. Seeing that the ship was still waiting and that no one else was nearby, he softly sang:

"I've already fallen in love with you~ Longing to be together..."

Jon's singing made Roslin freeze for a moment. Then her fair face flushed bright red.

"But the distance between us~ Is far too great~"

Roslin stood there stiffly, clearly at a loss.

Especially when the warm breath from the young man's lips brushed across her face. It made her feel as though the roots of her ears were about to burn.

"I can only fool myself, fool myself into letting you go~

"Can I hold you~ Even if only for a moment..."

Jon sang only a few lines, since he could not remember the rest of the lyrics.

But to a medieval girl just beginning to understand love, it was like someone had planted a nuclear bomb in her mind.

Her heart thumped wildly, like a fish freshly dragged ashore, or a rabbit caught in a net.

"Lady Roslin, I hope we meet again." With that, Jon turned and boarded the ship.

"Jon..."

Roslin's hand hung in midair. She froze for a moment, then hurriedly glanced around.

When her eyes met the meaningful gaze of the potbellied man, she became flustered.

Though the potbellied man did not know what Jon had said to his sister, he still reminded her,

"Don't think too much about it. It's just Father's assignment. Go stand over there, then come back after our ship disappears from sight."

"Yes."

Roslin nodded. This had also been part of the temporary plan.

If it had merely been a mission at first, then now she truly felt reluctant to part with the big boy who had sung to her.

After all, he was her first.

And this innocent girl had no idea that Jon's motives for drawing closer to her were not pure either.

She only believed that she had met her destined prince.

"Jon, look. My sister Roslin seems a little reluctant to let you go." Inside the cabin, the potbellied man pointed it out to Jon.

Jon turned to look. Roslin, dressed in blue, stood on the dock like a statue that had waited for a long time.

But he said nothing.

Only the expression on his face kept changing.

One moment longing, the next sorrowful.

When he turned away, he looked as though he had made a difficult decision.

He had sung to Roslin because he hoped to gain a better grasp of developments at the Twins.

Later, he could send ravens into her room and have her gather whatever information she could for him.

To put it bluntly, Jon was also playing with someone else's feelings.

But Old Walder had plotted against him first. He was merely collecting a little interest.

As for Roslin...

If Jon could end the war sooner, perhaps her fate would be somewhat better.

Jon looked at the potbellied man and said,

"My lord, please forgive my rudeness. I still do not know your honored name."

"Ah, my name is Rhaegar."

What the hell?!

Shock flashed through Jon's eyes.

What right do you have to share a name with my father?

The Frey before him was not much to look at.

Big belly, thin legs, and a pointed head.

He looked exactly like an ice cream cone.

Especially when he spoke, a sour stench wafted from his mouth.

After asking around, Jon learned that this Rhaegar Frey was a widower with two sons and a daughter.

Rhaegar Frey continued, "Ha ha, surprised, aren't you?" He pointed at the boy outside, who was only thirteen or fourteen. "That's my son. His name is Robert Frey, and from now on, he'll be your squire.

"The boy is a little frail, but he has a decent head on his shoulders. I hope he can learn a few things from you."

"Rest assured, my lord. I will teach him to the best of my ability."

Jon temporarily agreed to the matter, and the two chatted idly.

After talking for a while, they would occasionally gaze out at the passing scenery.

The ships of the Twins were indeed fast. Before long, they had left House Frey's territory.

It was then that Jon noticed the commoners within House Frey's lands could still live normally. But once they left the Riverlands, he saw vast stretches of burned fields and ruined homes.

The scorched houses and farmland looked like blackened islands scattered across the yellow-green earth.

Without question, these were all Lannister "masterpieces."

Jon truly did not like this world very much.

Lords and knights alike acted without the slightest restraint in their own lands.

Every one of them behaved like a petty emperor.

Once they marched into someone else's territory, they truly stopped treating people as human.

So-called kings were ultimately no more than the strongest lords.

As long as the lesser nobles and lords paid their gold and blood taxes on time, they had neither pity nor concern for the common people.

When power went unchecked, the world became hell!

"This world lacks a king who can unite all beneath heaven!"

That thought surfaced in Jon's mind.

Just how strong were the White Walkers?

And how many were there?

Jon did not believe a disaster that had brewed for eight thousand years could be resisted by a single savior.

He might become the leader, but even a leader had to rely on everyone's strength to survive such a crisis.

But he quickly suppressed the thought.

It was better for a person to stay practical.

First, he needed to find a way to make Robb abandon his claim to kingship.

At least then they would still have a way out.

Night soon fell. Jon and Rhaegar Frey and his son were resting aboard the ship when they suddenly heard a commotion.

Young Robert ran outside first, then shouted into the cabin,

"Father, Lord Jon, come out and look!"

Jon and Rhaegar Frey stepped out of the cabin and saw that a red streak had appeared in the sky above them at some point.

The red trail was vivid and long, coming from the east.

It was like a god had used his fingernail to carve a wound across the night sky.

"W-What is that? Is some disaster about to happen?" a sailor asked fearfully. More people simply dropped to their knees on the deck.

"Disaster has descended! Disaster must have descended!"

"Gods, you know me. I've always been devout..."

"The Seven protect us."

Sailors were superstitious by nature, and such a celestial phenomenon filled them with even greater fear.

One by one, they knelt aboard the ship, clasping their hands to their chests and muttering prayers.

"Father, w-what is that?"

"It's a comet."

Unlike the ignorant sailors, Rhaegar Frey was educated.

He possessed at least some basic astronomical knowledge.

But in his memory, comets were mostly blue or white.

A red comet like this was truly rare.

"Jon, what do you think?"

Rhaegar Frey looked toward Jon, who stood in the shadows.

"My lord, I do not know either. This is simply... it is simply too astonishing."

Of course Jon knew!

Even if he did not know exactly what the Red Comet was, he knew that its appearance signified that certain events had taken place.

For example, the famed "Beggar King" had likely already received his molten gold crown and died in a foreign land.

And Khal Drogo, who had once ridden across the grass sea, had already become a vegetable and been personally killed by his own khaleesi, ending his life.

That khaleesi of the grass sea was Daenerys Stormborn. After dragons had vanished for nearly two centuries, she had hatched three young dragons in flames!

And with those three young dragons as her foundation, she would embark upon a path of power and vengeance.

Of course, dragons would undoubtedly have a tremendous impact on the course of the entire world.

But Daenerys, the Mother of Dragons, was still far away. In the short term, she could not affect the situation in Westeros.

Another explanation Jon knew was that the appearance of the Red Comet signified the revival of magic.

Perhaps he should start paying attention to matters concerning magic.

After all, magic was an indispensable catalyst behind the rapidly changing situation in the Seven Kingdoms.

"Something that has vanished from the whole world..."

Jon once again recalled the words of the female captive from the Mountain Clans tribe.

That description pointed to only two crucial things.

One was dragons.

The other was magic.

Jon decided that after returning from Riverrun, he had to make a trip to the Moon Mountains.

He should gain a great deal there.