Elsewhere.
Liana held a ripe apple to Joffrey's lips.
The girl's fingers were pale and slender, carrying a hint of the fruit's sweetness.
Joffrey opened his mouth.
His lips did not touch the flesh of the apple. Instead, seemingly by accident, they brushed Liana's fingertips.
At the sight of Joffrey's wicked grin, Liana snatched her hand back like a startled fawn, two lovely blushes blooming on her cheeks.
"Your Grace... don't..."
"There are so many people around during the day..."
"Call me Joffrey."
Joffrey laughed smugly, savoring the girl's shyness.
He liked Liana.
Though this girl from a brothel was lowborn, she did not wear the same false courtesy that Sansa Stark always did.
Liana's eyes always shone with undisguised adoration and affection for him.
That feeling made him believe he was the true master of Westeros.
"Joffrey..."
Liana's voice was sweet as honey.
"You looked so valiant when you were shooting just now!"
"Just like Prince Aemon the Dragon Knight in the legends!"
"Of course I did."
Joffrey puffed out his chest, feeling as though his short frame had grown a little taller.
"No one in all the Seven Kingdoms is better with a crossbow than I am."
"Yes!"
Liana nodded vigorously, her large, glistening eyes full of trust.
"I heard Lord Lynn once killed an enormous direwolf with his bow in the North!"
"He's a true hero, just like you!"
At the name "Lynn," the smile on Joffrey's face briefly froze.
He did not contradict Liana, but nodded instead.
At the same time, however, an inexplicable surge of guilt and irritation rose within him.
He had already planned who would be his Hand of the King.
That position should have belonged to Lynn!
Lynn had put down the rebellion in the north for him and won him the