The Red Priestess Sinvara

The North, Sea Dragon Point Peninsula, Flint's Finger, Crystal's Scar, Castle Banquet Hall.

"Hahaha..."

"Come on, cheers!"

"Long live our lord!"

As evening approached, House Flint's welcoming banquet began on schedule amid a great clamor. Almost everyone under Eddard had arrived: the Castle Guard, the workers from the Alchemy Workshop, and the families of the castle servants.

A minor noble like Eddard had few nobles serving under him. A knight like Arthur Stone, Captain of the Guards, already ranked among the highest nobility in his service. Moreover, under the influence of House Stark of Winterfell, northern nobles lacked the extreme arrogance of their southern counterparts. Most northern nobles got along fairly well with the common people, though certain houses would not have agreed.

Watching the subjects below toast Eddard, the Red Priestess Sinvara gave him a curious glance. Her pale green eyes were full of curiosity, lending her considerable charm. Essos had many different peoples, with every shade of skin.

Sinvara's appearance was closer to that of the Rhoynar. She was not particularly tall, standing a head shorter than Eddard. Her figure was voluptuous, and the faintly visible cleft of her cleavage seemed bottomless.

Her delicate face and fair skin glowed enchantingly beneath the soft lights. Her high, elegant nose and alluring red lips also made her stand out among the many women, becoming the most dazzling star of the entire banquet.

Noticing Sinvara's gaze, Eddard raised his cup toward her in acknowledgment. He had to admit that this beautiful charlatan had considerable charm. Masse T had even mentioned her to him obliquely in private.

This beautiful Red Priestess was the High Priestess of Volantis, one of the Nine Free Cities of Essos. Among the followers of R'hllor, the Lord of Light, she was one of the foremost figures. When the fur merchant had first learned that she intended to travel to Westeros with him, he had been deeply apprehensive.

"Lord Eddard, I hope you'll be careful. I feel that this former High Priestess seemed to know from the very beginning that I would come here. Although I worship the Lord of Light, I believe there are certain things you can understand. So I still hope you'll be vigilant. After all, you're my most important business partner now. I don't want you turning into someone like House Targaryen's Mad King, who liked burning people at the slightest excuse!"

As Eddard looked at her, those words Masse T had once spoken somehow surfaced in his mind.

"Lord Eddard, why aren't you eating?"

Just then, a sultry voice with a heavy Valyrian accent suddenly sounded beside Eddard's ear. Immediately afterward, he felt a warm, fragrant, soft body press against him.

"Lord Eddard, won't you try this Smokeberry Wine? Shall I feed it to you?"

While Eddard felt her soft flesh pressing against him, another delicate female body wrapped itself around his other side. Along with it came a glass wine cup held up by a small, white-jade hand.

Two beautiful, delicate women were now pressed against Eddard. They looked almost identical. Their silver curls and pale violet eyes revealed the Valyrian blood flowing through their veins. Although their faces bore a few freckles, these did nothing to diminish their beauty and loveliness.

These two silver-haired, violet-eyed beauties were bed slaves Masse T had recently purchased in Lys. He had originally intended to give them to an important figure in the North. Unfortunately, that man preferred to keep a low profile and did not dare accept such bed slaves, which was why the two beauties had remained with him until today.

Masse T had long wanted to give his business partner Eddard a respectable "gift." Unfortunately, these two were the only presentable "gifts" he currently had. Having watched Eddard's reactions all along, Masse T sighed in relief when he saw that Eddard had not refused their service.

Ordinarily, only two maids could stand beside the lord in the seat of honor. But once these two silver-haired beauties began attending him, the middle-aged Head Lady-in-Waiting Aiju and the young maid Wild Rose were pushed aside.

After raising his cup toward Masse T in acknowledgment, Eddard asked one of the twins:

"What's your name? Are you the older sister or the younger one?"

"Heehee, my dear lord, my name is Moli, and this is my younger sister, Bohe. Usually, very few people can tell us apart. Of course, if you were to 'explore' carefully, my lord, you would discover the differences between us."

As Moli spoke, she secretly blew a breath into Eddard's ear, sending a tingling sensation through his heart. The young maid Wild Rose glared indignantly at the two "silver-haired she-devils" beside her master, nearly grinding her teeth to pieces.

However, that feeling lasted only a moment before the power of Eddard's Golden Eye suppressed it. Eddard's body and soul were different from those of ordinary people. Because he possessed two souls, his desires were also considerably stronger than most people's.

Thus, to prevent his desires from affecting certain judgments and actions, he had programmed a setting into the Golden Eye similar to a "Forced Calm Technique," allowing it to marshal the power within his body to suppress emotional agitation.

After signaling for the two silver-haired beauties to attend him from behind the throne, Eddard raised another toast toward Masse T, who returned it with anxious deference.

Masse T had been watching Eddard's movements from nearby. His admiration for Eddard had now grown beyond measure. Although Moli and her sister were not peerless beauties, with their Valyrian blood and status as twins, Masse T believed few men could refuse their intimate attendance.

Yet Eddard, a hot-blooded young man, had actually restrained himself. This completely overturned Masse T's understanding. It also prompted him to reassess Eddard and resolve to put away certain underhanded little tricks, lest they affect his standing in Eddard's eyes.

Thump, thump, thump...

While everyone was heartily drinking ale and wine, a series of knocks came from Eddard's seat. They looked toward the sound and saw him tapping the tabletop with a large silver drinking cup.

Once everyone had turned their eyes toward him, Eddard rose straight from his chair. After sweeping his gaze around, he addressed them:

"My dear officials and subjects, you are all the most important parts of House Flint. Tonight, we have gathered here to welcome our honored guests. I hope you will all eat and drink to your hearts' content. House Flint will only grow better in the future, and Crystal's Scar will become the most prosperous city in the Seven Kingdoms."

Eddard spoke loudly. Guided by the power of the Golden Eye, his voice carried outward as though amplified by a loudspeaker. His resounding declaration echoed through the hall, drawing everyone's gaze to his face.

"Now, all our mines have returned to normal operations and can supply our lands with a steady stream of ore and dragonglass. In the near future, I will establish more workshops and production lines. Then everyone will have more opportunities to work and earn more pay, instead of risking your lives fishing, hunting, or mining as you did before. Later on, you won't even need to till the land."

Eddard's words instantly left everyone before him dumbstruck. It took them quite some time to recover, and once they did, an increasingly loud discussion followed.

"Lord Eddard, if none of us need to till the land, who will you have do it? Surely not slaves and those laborers? Didn't you say they would gain their freedom once they had completed enough labor reform?"

Just as the discussion threatened to become a flood bursting through a dam, a voice suddenly rose from the crowd. The speaker was one of Eddard's guards, named Straw. His words once again turned everyone's questioning eyes toward Eddard.

"Crystal's Scar will manufacture machines that can till the land. Later, we will also manufacture machines that can harvest grain. These things are emerging little by little. Our population will also grow, and our city will grow larger. The reason I never explained these things to everyone before was that I wanted you to witness them with your own eyes. Only then would you believe that I could accomplish what I said."

As Eddard spoke again, everyone recalled many things, such as the establishment of the Alchemy Workshop and the first appearance of Magic Energy Number One. These things had indeed emerged little by little, just as Eddard said.

"A friend of mine once said that this world is full of all kinds of secrets. As long as we can master one of them, we can acquire endless wealth. And I happen to have mastered such a secret. In the future, more wondrous things will appear in Crystal's Scar, and they will make our lives better and better. In the future, you will live like nobles, residing in houses built of stone, eating delicious food, and drinking better wine and ale."

When Masse T heard the first half of that statement, he looked at Eddard in some surprise. He had indeed said those words, but as far as he remembered, he did not seem to have said anything like that to Eddard.

"Long live our lord! Long live our lord!"...

As Eddard finished speaking, cheers suddenly rose from every corner of the banquet hall. The excitement he had stirred in everyone erupted along with those cheers. They shouted at the tops of their lungs, pouring out all the excitement in their hearts.

Eddard had not offered them empty promises. He had already taken the first step toward accomplishing these things. He had shown them hope and a future. His words tonight would be more effective than any publicity and would soon spread to every corner of Crystal's Scar.

Perhaps in less than another month, Eddard's declaration would spread throughout the Sea Dragon Point Peninsula. In the future, it might travel even farther and wider.

Eddard did not particularly care how places outside House Flint's lands viewed him. What truly required his attention now were the subjects under his rule. They were his foundation and his hope for the future. Their innate sense of belonging to House Flint would make them the cornerstone of Eddard's great undertaking.

The banquet reached its peak with Eddard's declaration. Everyone cheered excitedly, drank heartily, and offered their thanks. They were all grateful to have a lord like Eddard, and they also celebrated the good fortune that had placed them under House Flint's rule.

Meanwhile, the Red Priestess among the crowd stared at Eddard in shock. Since becoming a Red Priestess of the Lord of Light, Sinvara had encountered all kinds of people: the poor, the rich, monks, sorcerers, and rulers. All these different people fought and killed for all kinds of purposes. To achieve their own ends, they would deceive and seize without restraint to obtain what they wanted.

Without exception, however, these people were all utterly selfish. Few would help others for the sake of their own interests. Sinvara had seen those who enjoyed excellent reputations on the surface but were filthy and vile in secret.

Thus, Sinvara simply could not imagine a lord allowing every common person to enjoy the same exceedingly wealthy, noble life as himself. Such a scene existed only in myths and legends.

At that moment, Sinvara no longer possessed her initial composure and dignity. For some reason, unusual spasms began passing through her body. Had anyone stood beside her, they would have noticed that her eyes remained fixed on the fire in the hearth.

The flames continued burning. From any direction, they looked like nothing more than perfectly ordinary flames. But in Sinvara's eyes, they were "divine revelations" containing fragments of the future.

The followers of R'hllor, the Lord of Light, had always believed that flames contained revelations from their god. To obtain such revelations, they would even resort to evil magic and sacrifices. Yet all high-ranking red priests knew that only priests truly favored by the Lord of Light could receive "divine revelations" without making sacrifices.

"After the Long Summer, when the stars weep blood, Azor Ahai shall be reborn in the Land of Smoke and Salt, awaken dragons from stone, and end all strife in this world!"

Sinvara murmured these words amid the crowd. Her eyes were unfocused, and her expression was exceedingly complex, filled with excitement, disappointment, confusion, and joy. Within the vision, she seemed to have seen many things and understood many things as well.

"Edd Flint, will you be that legendary 'Child of Destiny'?"