After seeing off the bedraggled nobles in the hall, Liu Qian returned to a room deep within the tower with "Jorah" and Jelena.
"Well done, Chai Yi." Liu Qian looked at the "Earl of Bear Island" beside him, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.
At his words, a smile appeared on "Jorah's" face as well.
She reached into her sleeve, her fingertips touching the smooth, warm ruby.
With a barely perceptible flash of light, the image of the burly northern lord dissolved like smoke, revealing Chai Yi's exquisite face.
This was a crucial part of his plan.
Having "Jorah" openly provoke the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms and proclaim his ambitions would fully ignite their towering hatred for the Exiled Knight of Bear Island, leaving no room for reconciliation.
Moreover, the "Lynesse" Jorah had met on Bloodstone Island, the woman who haunted his dreams, had actually been Liu Qian, transformed using the ruby.
The real Lynesse Hightower had never left Torturer's Deep.
No one in this world understood Jorah Mormont's sick, twisted "love" for Lynesse better than Liu Qian.
As he saw it, Lynesse was the classic sort of woman from his previous life who fell in love with her instructor during military training and her hairdresser while getting a haircut.
Her love was cheap and shallow, like a summer shower, arriving quickly and departing even faster.
When Jorah won glory in a tourney, she could cast everything aside to marry beneath her station.
When Bear Island's wealth ran dry, she could throw herself into another man's arms without hesitation.
Yet Jorah loved such a selfish woman with utter obsession, willingly enduring it all.
All of this stemmed from Jorah's incurable, deeply ingrained "simp" mentality.
He knew better than anyone that Lynesse did not love him, yet he remained