Redd is not interested in any of these reasons. He uses that sword very well and doesn't want to change it.
He was not short of money at all. The trade City-States was scratched by him over and over again, and he had so much money that he didn't even know how much he had.
He also does not need House Velaryon's commitment. His ambition for Westeros does not depend on any family's help.
As for Daemon's last wish, he doesn't even care.
Daemon is his defeated general, and that sword is his trophy. He will not change this fact just because of the request of his widow.
Laena changed his strategy after being rejected many times.
She began to approach Redd more frequently, even following him when he went underground to Dragonpit, repeating her requests while walking in the passage.
Redd lost his patience after being interrupted several times. He asked Douglas to throw the woman on the boat and send her away.
Douglas arranged a transport ship to Volantis and sent Laena away from Valyrian Peninsula early the next morning.
Laena did not resist or cry when he was put on the ship. He just stood on the side of the ship and looked at the figure of Redd standing on the port trestle, with a suppressed and inexplicable emotion in his eyes.
Redd stood on the pier and watched the ship leave the port, then turned and walked back to the castle, continuing his days of drinking tea, smoking, and watching dancers dance.
Laena Although she is not bad looking, her personality makes him dislike her.
There is arrogance in the tsundere, and even disgust for him.
It's not easy to kill the opponent directly, so in Redd's eyes, it's a trouble, and Redd doesn't like trouble.
Laena About two months after leaving, Mesalia sent an urgent letter via raven.
The seal of the letter was double coated with wax, indicating that the sender wanted to ensure that the contents could not be opened or read by anyone during delivery.
Redd took the mailbox off the raven's leg, opened the seal, and unfolded the tightly folded parchment.
Mesalia's handwriting is still round and smooth, but the words are arranged more compactly than usual, and the spacing between lines is compressed to a minimum.
Laena infected Greyscale.
Redd did not react immediately when he saw the news.
He placed the letter on the table, pressed the edge of the paper with his fingers, and read the words again.
Laena infected Greyscale. He never expected.
He almost killed all the Stone Mens of Lands of Sorrow, except for a few who slipped through the net. Moreover, after that war, Redd issued an order that Stone Mens found to be infected with Greyscale must be killed immediately and their bodies burned to ashes.
He is very aware that Greyscale is contagious. Although it is not particularly strong, there is currently no treatment.
The final outcome of the infection is to become a completely irrational being, no different from the living dead, with a severely distorted appearance that looks ugly and terrifying.
To be honest, he couldn't figure it out, how could Laena be infected inexplicably?
According to his previous arrangement, she should return directly from Volantis to Driftmark, without passing by Lands of Sorrow, nor coming into contact with Stone Men, nor entering any area where Greyscale may exist.
Unless she changed her route along the way, or someone deliberately exposed her to the source of infection.
Redd called Douglas, showed him the letter, and asked him to investigate the matter.
Douglas knows the seriousness of the matter.
Greyscale is contagious and difficult to control once it spreads.
The entire Free Cities economy will inevitably be hit hard.
If that happens, it will be a serious dereliction of duty on his part.
His hand holding the letter tightened slightly, and then he raised his head, with a solemn look in his eyes that was weighed down by a sudden burden of responsibility.
He told Redd that he would immediately arrange for personnel to investigate, then turned around and walked out of the castle, starting to sort through all possible relevant clues in his mind.
The reason why Redd asked Douglas to investigate was because he didn't believe it was just a simple accident.
Redd has the ability to save Laena, but he doesn't want to save him. He wants to find out if there is any problem and whether it is the fault of those Red God believers.
After all, the deceased Daemon had cooperated with the believers of Red God, and Red Priestess had many tricks.
A week later, Douglas put the investigation results on Redd's desk.
Redd began to look through the investigation report.
The stack of paper was not thick, but the content on it made him angrier and angrier.
Douglas stood in front of the table and saw that Redd's expression was undergoing a very subtle change - from calm to cold, from cold to a slowly heated gloom that was brewing some kind of explosion.
The dim candlelight illuminated his face, making the lines on his face stronger and deeper.
Douglas couldn't help but move his body back and took two steps back.
He has seen Redd angry and knows that silent gloom is more dangerous than rage.
The investigation report shows that the Red God church is rapidly expanding within Free Cities.
Under his high-pressure slave system, the people's suffering gave birth to extreme beliefs.
A large number of Red Priest lovers and Red Priestess voluntarily appeared in the trade City-States to spread the Red God belief.
The spread is very fast, whether slaves, poor people, craftsmen, nobles, businessmen, sailors, soldiers, etc., all believe in Red God.
The Red God church has even begun to have its own armed forces in Free Cities.
Those Red Priest couples and witches established prayer places in every corner of City-States, preached to passers-by in markets and docks, and used prophecies about "Lord of Light" to attract believers.
Those who live at the bottom, those who are struggling under the taxes and labor of Redd, those who cannot see hope, find some kind of comfort and sustenance in the teachings of Red God.
Red God The church also promises that believers will enter the eternal kingdom of light after death. This promise has great appeal to people living in pain.
Laena has had contact with them.
After she arrived at Volantis, she walked around the port area many times while waiting for the ship to Valyria city.
The monks from the Red God church contacted her while preaching at the dock and introduced her to the teachings of Red God.
Laena did not show clear acceptance of Red God's faith, but she did not refuse to talk to the monks.
During those contacts, someone may have exposed her to a small amount of Stone Men secretly hidden by the Red God church.
Those Stone Men were the fish that slipped through the net in the previous crackdown, and were taught by Red God to hide them in a hidden location in City-States.
Laena became infected with Greyscale during contact.
She herself showed no obvious symptoms when she left Volantis, but the incubation period of Greyscale is very long, and it may take weeks or even months from infection to the appearance of obvious scaly lesions.
Shortly after she returned to Driftmark, symptoms began to appear.