Rhaenyra was silent for a moment, then slowly withdrew the hand held by him, his voice was a little dry:
"Father will not agree. Alicent is about to give birth. If it is a boy..."
"Then let him agree." Redd's tone was still calm, but the edge in his words was clearly revealed.
Rhaenyra raised his head suddenly, a trace of horror flashed in his eyes. "What do you mean?"
Redd looked directly at her without evading. "If he doesn't agree, I will make him agree. If necessary, use force."
The air seemed to freeze.
Rhaenyra's face became paler, not because of discomfort during pregnancy, but because of shock and disbelief.
She stared at Redd, as if she was meeting this man for the first time - the man who would gently caress her belly late at night and listen to the child's movements, the man who would say "our child" with a soft light in his eyes.
"You're crazy," she murmured, her voice almost inaudible. "That's my father... the king... and you want me to use force against my father?"
"I didn't ask you," Redd corrected, "it was me.
If we get to that point, I will be the one to do it, I will be the one to intimidate, and I will be the one to bear all the infamy and hatred."
He leaned forward and pressed Rhaenyra's shoulders with both hands, making her unable to avoid his gaze. "Rhaenyra, listen to me.
Your father has been consumed by fear and suspicion.
He is afraid of me, afraid of Daemon, afraid of Valery's home, and afraid of anyone threatening his Iron Throne.
His only support now is Otto and Alicent, as well as the unborn child.
He will not proactively confirm your inheritance, ever.
He will keep delaying and waiting until Alicent gives birth to a boy, and then he will naturally abolish your position."
"What will you do then? What will we do?"
Redd's voice was deep and powerful, "Daemon will be the first to jump out and support the baby, because then he will have the opportunity to be the regent and gain power."
Otto will add fuel to the fire, because that is his grandson.
The Valery family has too much to take care of themselves right now, and Rhaenys would be unable to do so even if he wanted to.
You will be completely marginalized, become a 'married princess', and lose everything."
Rhaenyra's lips were trembling, and turbulent waves surged in his violet eyes - fear, anger, struggle, pain... countless emotions intertwined together.
"Then what should I do?" She finally spoke, her voice hoarse, "Go to Dragonstone and watch you send troops to attack King's Landing?"
Watch your dragon burn my father's Red Keep?
Watching my relatives die in the war?
What then? I'm sitting on Iron Throne, and I'm burdened with the curse of parricide?"
She broke away from Redd's hand, propped herself up and sat up straight, with a rare stubbornness on her pale face. "Redd, I know how cruel this world is, and I know that power needs to be exchanged for blood.
But that's my father! No matter how cowardly, hesitant, or sorry he is to me... he is my father after all! I can't do it... I can't..."
Her voice was choked, tears welled up in her eyes and slid down her cheeks.
She wiped it off with all her strength, but the more she wiped it off, the more she wiped it off. Finally, she could only turn her head away to prevent Redd from seeing her losing control.
The cabin fell into silence, with only the sound of waves lapping against the hull and the suppressed sobs of Rhaenyra.
Redd looked at her quietly, not in a hurry to comfort or persuade.
He knew that this was a hurdle that Rhaenyra had to overcome on his own.
She is not hesitating whether to have power, but struggling whether to seize power in this way.
After a long while, he spoke again, his tone much softer than before. "Rhaenyra, I didn't say we should take action now. I said 'when necessary'."
Rhaenyra did not look back, his shoulders trembled slightly.
"Let's do another thing first." Redd continued, "Publicly ask your father to fulfill his promise.
In the names of the two of us, we formally propose to him that your identity as the crown prince be publicly confirmed at Great Council or a gathering of nobles in the near future.
Give him a chance and let him make his own choice."
"What if he refuses?" Rhaenyra asked dumbly.
Redd was silent for a moment. "If he refuses... it means that he has already made his choice.
At that time, we will decide what to do next."
He did not mention force coercion again, but both of them knew that it was still the last resort.
Rhaenyra finally turned his head, his eyes were red and swollen, and the tears were still wet.
She looked at Redd. In her purple eyes, in addition to pain and struggle, there was also an extremely complex emotion - gratitude? guilt? or something else?
"Aren't you afraid?" she asked, "If you really go that far, you will become what Seven Kingdoms calls a 'parricide', an 'accomplice of the usurper,' or even worse."
Redd smiled faintly, with a hint of ridicule in that smile, whether it was a mockery of fate or a disdain for the so-called "reputation": "My reputation in the East is not very good either.
Annexing city-states, controlling Iron Bank, crushing rebels... They call me 'Dragon King', 'tyrant', 'monster from the east'.
One more 'parricide' makes no difference."
He reached out and gently wiped away the wet tears on Rhaenyra's cheeks, his movements surprisingly gentle. "But you will become the queen."
The real queen, the legitimate queen that no one can question.
Our child will become the crown prince and inherit everything Iron Throne and I have in the East.
At that time, all the infamy will disappear with the wind, and only the history written by the victors will remain."
Rhaenyra looked at him, and the struggle in his eyes was gradually replaced by another kind of light - not relief, not acceptance, but a deeper and more complex emotion that was indescribable.
She held Redd's hand with a strong force, as if confirming something.
"Give me a moment," she whispered, "let me... try to accept this possibility.
Not now, not right away, but... I'll try to think about it."
This is the biggest concession she can make. Redd knows that for Rhaenyra, who grew up in Red Keep and still has the last trace of fantasy about her father, this is already a huge leap.
He nodded, gently pulled her into his arms, rested his chin on the top of her hair, and felt the trembling in her body gradually calm down.
"Okay. I'll wait for you."
Outside the cabin, the night ship continued to sail towards Dragonstone.
The sea breeze was still cool and the moonlight was still bright, but the two people in the cabin knew that something had quietly changed.
The door leading to Iron Throne in Rhaenyra's heart is being pushed open little by little by Redd.
And behind that door, there might be her father standing, blood standing, and countless things she once cherished.
Will she choose to cross over?
No one knows the answer. But at least for now, she is willing to try to think about it. That's enough.