Douglas stood up in panic, and the chair was pushed back by his movement, making a harsh sound on the ground.
He walked around the corner of the table and strode towards the door, his pace getting faster and faster, until he was almost running.
The floor of the corridor was uneven in places due to hurried maintenance. The toe of his boot kicked a raised stone slab and he jumped forward.
He put his hands on the wall to steady his body, and then continued to rush forward, staggering again and almost falling. He rolled and crawled out of the main building of the the Black Wall castle, passed through the inner courtyard, and ran down the ramp leading to the underground Dragonpit entrance.
When Douglas arrived at Dragonpit, he even hurriedly tidied up his somewhat messy clothes.
He used his palms to smooth out the wrinkles on the front of his robe, straighten the skewed belt, and tuck the hair that had fallen to his forehead behind his ears.
He stood at the entrance of Dragonpit, facing the direction of King Ghidorah's landing, waiting for Redd to get off the dragon's back.
Redd first asked King Ghidorah to stay where he was, then called Douglas and asked him to walk alone in Dragonpit with him.
Although Douglas noticed that something was wrong with Redd's attitude today, he did not dare to disobey every word of Redd. He asked his personal guards to step aside, and he carefully followed Redd who was walking deeper into Dragonpit.
The passage is empty and dark, with only an oil lamp emitting light at intervals, illuminating an area.
Corresponding to each lamp is a huge cave, inside which lies a sizable Demon Dragon.
Redd Observe their body sizes. The Demon Dragon left on Volantis is indeed smaller in size than the Demon Dragon left on Valyrian Peninsula.
It's not too long now, and it's not obvious yet. If it takes a long time, the same batch of Demon Dragon will have a big difference in body shape due to different environments.
Along the way, Redd briefly checked hundreds of Demon Dragon's situations. After all, this is half of the Demon Dragon legion's combat strength.
Douglas kept following behind, watching Redd go all the way.
Except for the sleeping Demon Dragon, every awake Demon Dragon will take the initiative to lie down and lower its head after the arrival of Redd to express submission.
Many even took the initiative to come forward and let Redd caress them.
These huge war beasts behaved extremely docilely in front of Redd. Their breaths blew out hot air, and their throats made low, coquettish purring sounds. They crowded in twos and threes at the entrance of the cave, like domestic dogs competing for favor.
Redd looked at the situation of each dragon, and finally turned to Douglas and asked, "Will you betray me?"
This question was very casual, like asking what the weather was like today or what to have for dinner.
But Douglas was already sweating from behind.
He could feel that the thin layer of shirt was soaked with sweat within a few breaths and stuck to his back, cold and heavy.
His breathing became rapid and shallow at that moment, and his heart in his chest contracted suddenly, and then began to beat much faster than normal.
Without hesitation, he bent his knees and knelt on the floor of the passage. The hard and cold touch of the stone came from his knees.
He lowered his head and his voice was hoarse than usual, but he spoke every word clearly, "I have sworn to Seven to be loyal to His Highness to the death."
Redd shook his head slightly. The movement of the head was very slow and very small. It was almost invisible in the dim light, but Douglas saw it.
"Douglas, do you know why I trust you so much?"
Redd's voice echoed in the empty passage, becoming a little blurry after being reflected by the rock walls on both sides, "Because I can see that you are a person without faith.
You value practical interests and are very decisive every time you make a decision.
When I first arrived at Westeros, I was in great need of manpower. You were the first person to swear allegiance to me and surrender to me.
At that time, I was targeted by the whole House Targaryen. You were gambling at that time.
Now it's proven that you made the right bet.
From an unknown and bankrupt knight who was not even officially canonized by the nobles, to now, the noble master who controls hundreds of thousands of troops and hundreds of warships can even mobilize half of the Demon Dragon army.
Now you have no intention of replacing me?"
Douglas's body was shaking a little.
As a human spirit, he knows very well that once the suspicion of a superior arises, it will be a disaster for the inferior.
It has nothing to do with loyalty or not, and nothing to do with what you do. It only has to do with whether you threaten the ability of the superior.
And now, he is the one with the ability to rebel.
He controls hundreds of thousands of troops, hundreds of warships, half of the Demon Dragon legions, controls Free Cities's military power, and has the King Ghidorah scales that Redd personally gave to him.
If he wants to rebel, with the power he currently has, even if he cannot defeat Redd, it will still be enough to make Redd pay a heavy price.
This is the crux of the issue - whether he has the ability to rebel, not whether he has the intention to rebel.
Douglas cannot answer this question and does not dare to answer it.
He could only remain silent.
Because at this time any verbal explanation will be feeble, any excuse will look like a guilty conscience, and any show of loyalty will look like a cover-up.
Silence is his only option.
The silence in the passage lasted for a long time.
Douglas was kneeling on the ground. The cold stone slabs at his knees made his leg muscles begin to ache. His back was completely soaked with cold sweat. The sweat beads on his forehead slid down the bridge of his nose and dripped on the stone slabs, making a very light sound.
He lowered his head and fixed his gaze on the small area on the ground illuminated by the oil lamp. He did not dare to raise his head, move or make any unnecessary noise.
He mentally reviewed everything he had done, every word he had said, and every document he had signed in the past few years, trying to find any evidence that Redd might regard as disloyalty.
He found nothing. But the question was not what he did, but what he had.
Redd's words just now made it clear - he had the power to threaten Redd, and this was his original sin.
When the silent atmosphere made Douglas think that he might be dead, Redd changed the subject and said, "I'm going back to Dragonstone for a while. Over there in Valyria city, you go over and keep an eye on it."
His tone returned to its usual calm and casual tone, as if the suffocating question just now had never been mentioned.
He walked towards King Ghidorah, while leaving his last words. "Douglas, don't let me down."
When Redd rode King Ghidorah away from Dragonpit and disappeared from Douglas's sight, he came back to his senses.
He slowly stood up from the ground. His knees were a little stiff from kneeling on the stone slab for a long time. After standing upright, he supported the rock wall next to him with his hands to stabilize his body.