Viserys sat in the seat of honor, watching Harlan Uthero scramble and stumble out through the doors of the Hall of Nine Voyages.
His equally bedraggled Braavosi attendants hurried after him, still carrying the gift boxes with their worn corners and faded linings-
Even now, those gifts had yet to reach their intended recipients tonight.
The dull sound of the doors closing echoed beneath the vaulted ceiling for a moment before the renewed clinking of cups drowned it out.
At the sight, His Majesty withdrew his gaze, raised his wine cup instead, and chuckled once more.
"That prospective son-in-law of yours is quite a character, Lord Corlys."
He had said the same thing twice tonight.
This time, however, Viserys's tone held none of the barbs that had pierced so deeply before. Instead, he sounded as though he were teasing an old friend he had known for half his life.
His words positively overflowed with sympathy-though its sincerity was probably on par with the restraint Alicent had shown in her jealousy toward Rhaenyra over the past few years.
Corlys's expression was dark. He drew a deep breath and turned his gaze away from the doors, still firmly committed to keeping what he could not bear to see out of sight.
He continued repeating his earlier reminder to himself: the Royal Family was the focus today, and he had yet to put forward his proposal.
Let Harlan disgrace himself. It would simply give everyone an early glimpse of his mediocrity and incompetence, throwing his daughter Laena into sharp relief.
That would also leave others with little grounds to criticize his actions later-after all, it would not be Corlys who broke the agreement first. The former Sealord's son was simply a hopeless case.
Humiliating as today had been, it was not entirely bad-it