Dragon egg

His body was his own, and Baelon felt that it was in fantastic shape!

His cries were weak, and after just two, he felt a little dizzy from lack of oxygen, but he felt nothing like he was dying or would not live to see tomorrow!

This was wonderful news!

It meant that his birth had directly changed the crown prince's fate of dying after a single day in the original show, rewriting the Dance of the Dragons and the balance of power in Westeros.

In that case, perhaps his arrival had changed the fate of this body's mother, too!

Baelon struggled to open his eyelids and turned toward the birthing bed.

He was not particularly looking forward to experiencing his mother's embrace for the first time or anything. He just wanted to act out a television scene.

Ah, the classic scene should come next, right? The weakened mother smiles gently, says, "Let me see the child," and lovingly takes the baby into her arms.

He remembered bringing a little stool over to sit in front of the television as a child. That was always how it went.

He opened his eyes wide, and blurry patches of black and white filled his vision.

A mosaic obscured everything before him. He could see nothing clearly.

But... it's so quiet on the bed.

Has she passed out from exhaustion?

Very likely.

After all, childbirth really was a terrifying ordeal, especially with medical conditions like those in the Middle Ages.

Baelon tilted his head and stared unblinkingly at the birthing bed. Strangely, the haze in his eyes faded little by little.

The world gradually became clear.

First came the colors.

Pale green, bright red, silver, vivid purple-brilliant, vibrant, full of life, like high summer.

A few seconds later, his brain made sense of the picture.

The gauze curtains were as green as the clearest lake water, soft and light, flowing in the wind like a murmuring stream, like willow branches in spring.

Baelon could see through the curtains to the vivid red birthing bed.

Blood flowed across the white sheets like a burning fire.

He saw silver hair as pure and bright as moonlight, and amethyst eyes, wide open and lifeless, staring straight at him.

Do people keep their eyes open when they faint?

No.

Anyone who saw the scene on the birthing bed would understand that the woman was dead.

Baelon Targaryen had arrived in this world, and his first fleeting glimpse was of someone lying rigid and dead on a blood-soaked bed.

Her belly had been cut open, her entrails spilling out.

This was the mother who had carried him.

The warm stench of blood washed over him, making Baelon's stomach cramp and his throat retch uncontrollably.

He closed his mouth, swallowed his saliva, and stared straight at the bed.

A face neither loving nor gentle, etched with terror, contorted with pain, utterly pitiful.

Viserys noticed that the swaddled child was motionless and shouted in alarm, "Mellos, come look at the child!"

People in the birthing chamber crowded around at once. Concerned faces broke up and obscured the view of the blood-soaked bed.

But the smell of blood seeped everywhere, drifting through the gaps between them and into his nostrils.

Baelon closed his eyes, and cheerful yet eerie mechanical music suddenly rang out in his mind.

[Ding, ding, ding-congratulations, congratulations!]

*?*

It's my cheat.

But congratulations?

Congratulations for what?

[Congratulations on your successful reincarnation, host!]

[Matching you with a cheat! Please wait!]

An inexplicable anger rose inside him with nowhere to go. More laughable still, he did not even know what right he had to be angry.

This should count as a textbook case of crocodile tears, hahaha, Baelon thought.

His stomach spasmed, and he finally retched uncontrollably, but his newborn stomach had nothing to bring up. It only left the birthing chamber in a panic.

Baelon himself was not alarmed. This was normal, a classic scene in novels.

When a novel's protagonist killed someone for the first time, he always had to throw up.

Meanwhile, at the tourney grounds.

Knights from various regions and houses fought fiercely, spilling blood and competing for glory.

Cheers resounded through King's Landing.

Queen Aemma Arryn died amid the cheers.

Baelon Targaryen was born amid the cheers.

The birth of the kingdom's heir and the queen's death were both matters of state that had to be announced throughout the Seven Kingdoms.

Attendants brought the king's instructions to the lords of the Seven Kingdoms, who were still watching the tourney.

Upon receiving the news, the lords put away their smiles and adopted somber expressions. One by one, they rose silently and followed the attendants from the stands.

Rhaenyra looked back, her heartbeat quickening involuntarily. The empty stands were unsettling.

Even her uncle Daemon Targaryen, fighting valiantly in the arena, could no longer hold her attention.

I wonder how Mother's delivery is going...

But Rhaenyra soon found out.

Or rather, once hundreds of black birds took flight into the bright sky, even the most distant lords of the Seven Kingdoms found out.

After giving birth to her son, Prince Baelon, Queen Aemma had left those she loved forever, her soul departing for the Stranger's realm.

Rhaenyra did not know how she had changed out of the red silk gown she had chosen especially to welcome her little brother's birth and into a solemn black robe.

She pleaded every way she could, and finally received her father's permission to see her mother one last time.

Of course, that had to wait until the Silent Sisters had stitched Queen Aemma's nearly bisected body back together and made certain her remains were barely presentable.

A shroud tightly wrapped the queen's stitched body.

Although the queen's soul had gone to the Stranger, the body she had left in this world had to be burned in dragonfire according to House Targaryen's customs.

For a time, the entire Red Keep was plunged into bustle and grief. They had to entertain lords from every region, prepare the queen's funeral, and care for the newborn prince.

When Baelon woke again, he was momentarily unsure what day or hour it was, his mind heavy and muddled.

This little body seems a bit fragile. How did I fall asleep in the middle of throwing up?

He had not even had time to inspect his cheat, the most important thing for anyone transported to another world.

While he was still lucid, Baelon rallied himself and concentrated on the system.

[Host: Baelon Targaryen

(Average adult value: 5)

Strength:

Agility: 0.2

Constitution: (+1)

(The host will not contract any of the 241 diseases the gods have scattered among mortals, including pox, blood plague, erythema, and epilepsy.)

Charisma: 6 (+5)

Hair as bright as silver foil, purple eyes. Congratulations on randomly obtaining the rare skin-"Show-quality Targaryen"!

Charisma +1

The host has automatically acquired and equipped the top-tier title-"Targaryen crown prince"!

Charisma +5]

[The most suitable cheat has automatically been matched to the host-the Pet Battle Training System!]

Aside from charisma, these stats are so pathetic...

The high charisma was understandable.

Targaryens had Valyrian blood flowing through their veins and could ride dragons. On top of that, he held the status of a prince ruling over the Seven Kingdoms.

The title of "Targaryen crown prince" alone gave an infant the authority to command countless adults as soon as he could speak.

But Baelon frowned.

What does it mean, diseases "the gods have scattered among mortals"?! Can gods control disease? Do they have such tremendous power?!

Right!

The gods in this world control life and death. They can resurrect the dead!

After a long while, Baelon shook his head and suppressed those thoughts.

Gods were not something he could consider at this stage. Focusing on his cheat was more practical.

An icon had appeared beneath the translucent system panel. He opened its description.

The system could provide a trial space that he and his pets could enter. It contained 100 floors, each with different monsters.

He had three challenge attempts each day. Whenever he and his pets cleared a floor, they could obtain gold coins and loot dropped by the monsters.

More importantly, his pets could gain buffs!

If the host died in a stage, one attempt would be consumed.

[Currently available stage: Death Forest, stage one

Stage monster: White wolf

Challenge attempts: 3

Special bloodline detected. Pet type has been fixed as-dragon.

Buff pool locked!

Available buffs (choose one of three):

1. Field of Fire · blue lv. 1: Dragonfire temperature +2%

2. Colossus lv. 1: Size +3%

3. Razor sharp lv. 1: Damage inflicted by claws +5%]

Percentage buffs-the premium stuff! And all three buffs from the first stage are pretty good.

As expected of a cheat matched specifically to me!

Targaryens could tame dragons. Adult dragons could reach a hundred meters in size, and their dragonfire could melt steel.

Dragons are already nuclear weapons. Give them a nice helping of system buffs on top of that, and won't they be invincible?!

And this is only the first stage, yet the buffs are already so powerful. If I clear all 100 floors...

Suddenly, Baelon could hardly sleep. His future was too bright for him to sleep.

He really could see how his whole life would unfold at a glance. It was dazzlingly bright, a proper overpowered protagonist's opening.

He clenched his fists in excitement. Suddenly, the blood-soaked bed and those lifeless purple eyes flashed through his mind.

Baelon's excitement faltered. He paused, then comforted himself that this was a normal psychological reaction.

While browsing Zhihu in his previous life, he had come across an educational post saying that an ordinary person should not sleep within twelve hours of first confronting a bloody scene involving a corpse, to prevent secondary psychological trauma.

But this little body had let him down! He had retched uncontrollably a couple of times, closed his eyes, and fallen straight asleep.

Baelon silently pulled the fist he had unconsciously stuffed into his mouth back out, his thoughts wandering.

The obstetric forceps he had seen on Zhihu and the fetal vacuum extractor he had seen in a film should help with difficult births.

Perhaps because he had traveled to another world, his memory was exceptionally good.

Even knowledge he had long since forgotten after leaving school and short videos he had happened across were all vivid and perfectly clear.

The problem was that he only knew the shape of obstetric forceps. He knew nothing about their pressure points, curvature, structure, or the precise methods of using them.

He would have to find a group of maesters to experiment together. Starting with cows and sheep suffering difficult births, they should be able to gradually refine a working pair of obstetric forceps.

Oh, right! Training midwives needs to go on the agenda, too.

If untrained midwives rashly used forceps, they might instead harm the pregnant women and their babies.

Still, although forceps will take time, I can deal with puerperal fever once I'm a little older!

Who would have thought that this disease, which killed countless pregnant women, could be prevented simply through proper disinfection?

As long as he distilled alcohol, he could not only improve pregnant women's survival rates, but also allow more knights wounded on the battlefield to survive.

Now, only one final problem remained.

How could he explain a child possessing so much unknown knowledge?

Although Targaryens were synonymous with sorcerers in the minds of many in the Seven Kingdoms, and no one dared defy Targaryens riding dragons.

But a thought struck Baelon, and he immediately found the perfect excuse.

Ah!

A dreamer!

As the prince in Viserys's prophetic dream, wouldn't it be perfectly normal for my prophetic dreams to be a little different?

Tap, tap...

Light footsteps sounded.

With a creak, the wooden door opened a crack, and a fierce wind slipped through the gap.

Brushed by the cool wind, Baelon looked toward the sound. The newcomer was a girl of eight or nine.

Silver-haired and purple-eyed, with a red dragon embroidered on her black robe and a black cloth bundle in her arms, she was probably his full sister in this life, Rhaenyra Targaryen.

Rhaenyra walked to the cradle and crouched beside it, gazing at him silently with reddened eyes. Two similar pairs of purple eyes met.

In the silence, time passed, minute by minute, second by second.

Only the ghostly howling of the sea wind through the gaps in the stonework was particularly piercing.

Baelon began to feel that something was wrong.

It's the middle of the night, just a boy and a girl alone in a bedroom. Isn't staring at me like this without saying anything a little scary?!

His mind kept flashing through the all-too-common tales of royal brothers slaughtering their own kin in every dynasty of his previous life. The more he thought about it, the worse it seemed.

A little brother whose birth had caused their mother's death-did Rhaenyra see him more as a brother or an enemy?! What was more, the moment this brother was born, he had robbed her of her position as heir.

And he, a future overpowered protagonist, was currently a baby who could not even control his bowels or bladder, a feeble creature that even a cat could kill single-handedly.

In an instant.

Baelon curled his lips into an innocent, toothless smile.

He gently grasped Rhaenyra's finger where her hand rested on the edge of the cradle, trying to awaken her sisterly affection.

Sis, sis, sis!

I'm your silly, adorable little brother!

Rhaenyra came back to herself and slowly opened the cloth bundle. Baelon widened his eyes, ready at any moment to bawl at the top of his lungs and draw someone over.

He grumbled inwardly, What kind of lousy royal family is this? There isn't even a maid in the baby's bedroom!

Rhaenyra took an enormous Dragon Egg out of the bundle.

Its tiny scales shimmered with brilliant golden light beneath the candle flame. It was the most beautiful jewel Baelon had ever seen in either of his lives.

Its dazzling radiance was blinding.

Rhaenyra placed the Dragon Egg in Baelon's cradle, gently lifted her little brother's hand, and laid it on the egg. "This is the Dragon Egg I chose for you, Baelon."

"One day, a great dragon will hatch from it and protect you."

"I'll protect you too, my little brother." Rhaenyra stroked Baelon's head and whispered, "I swear."

The Dragon Egg felt warm and hard against his palm, and Baelon froze for a moment.

He had scared himself for nothing, judging Rhaenyra by his own petty infant mind.

He sighed inwardly and tightened his grip on Rhaenyra's finger.

The subtle influence of his previous life's education and culture had made him briefly overlook the fact that kinslaying was a grave crime in this world, and there were few cases of people killing one another over the throne.

Unlike the royals in his previous life's history-how could you expect to inherit the throne without sacrificing a few brothers and nephews first?!

His soft fingers tightened around Rhaenyra's little finger. She could no longer hold back and began to sob quietly, tears streaming down her face.

Baelon did not know how to comfort this child who had just lost her mother. He could only watch her quietly, his fist wrapped around Rhaenyra's finger.

The candle flame crackled and flickered. Indistinct voices came from the doorway, breaking the silence.

Rhaenyra hurriedly wiped away her tears, composed her face into a stern expression, and stared sharply at the door.

The moment the two maids appeared in the doorway, she seized the initiative and snapped, "Where did you go?!"

One maid held silk swaddling clothes in her arms, while the other carried a hanging cradle. Both froze on the spot, their faces turning somewhat pale.

The younger maid stammered, "Princess, we went to fetch the hanging cradle and swaddling clothes needed for the night."

When night came, they had to move the prince into a cradle suspended in midair to prevent rats, cats, and other such animals from climbing inside and biting him.

"And you left Baelon here alone?!" Rhaenyra demanded.

The older maid hurriedly admitted their fault. "We were negligent..."

"We watched the prince all day without even blinking. We weren't slacking off at all!" The younger maid defended herself indignantly. "We only left for a little while to fetch things, just a little while..."

Rhaenyra's expression was cold and stern. "What are your duties?!"

The older maid, the one with strands of white in her brown hair, spoke. "To care for Prince Baelon. From the moment the baby is born, we must never let the cradle out of our sight."

"It was our mistake. Please forgive us this once."

Her expression was earnest. "You know, as does everyone in the castle, that I never made mistakes before, whether I was caring for you or doing my work."

Before Rhaenyra could speak, the younger maid rushed to defend herself. "But Princess, with the queen's passing, everything in the Red Keep has been thrown into chaos."

"During the day, whenever we fetched belly bands, soft silk caps, little feather cushions, and such, one of us always stayed to keep watch."

"But with night coming, the prince needed fresh swaddling clothes and had to sleep in the hanging cradle, so we..."

Anger rose in Rhaenyra, and she shouted, "Enough!"

"Ser!"

As her voice fell, a tall knight in white armor and a white cloak stepped through the doorway, nearly filling it entirely.

The maids immediately fell silent.

Rhaenyra commanded loudly, "Baelon's life matters to the kingdom. Whatever your reasons, nothing justifies leaving the prince alone in his bed!"

"You left without permission. You will forfeit a year's wages! Take good care of the prince from now on. If this happens again, you know the consequences!"

"Yes!" the two maids replied meekly, their eyes lowered.

Baelon frowned slightly. He did not understand this era's criminal law and knew little about Western history, so he could not judge whether Rhaenyra's punishment was appropriate.

But he knew one very basic thing!

You could not casually punish and offend essential servants like cooks. Once you did punish them, at the very least, you could no longer let them serve you personally!

After punishing the maids, she was still letting them care for him personally?!

A newborn baby?!

Was she really that afraid nothing would happen to him?!