A butterfly's wings?

The feast was still going. Lyanna had lost her appetite and sighed. "That boy, what was his name again?"

The Blackfish sat across from Lyanna and Ned. He simply could not bear to leave, wanting to play with Ghost. "Petyr. His name is Petyr Baelish. A boy from a small place. His father is something of a friend of my older brother's."

Lyanna murmured in acknowledgment. "Though I admire his courage in standing up for the woman he loves, challenging Brandon was a terrible thing to do."

The Blackfish grew interested. "Is your older brother Brandon that strong?"

Ned nodded too. "Brandon is not only very strong, but an excellent swordsman. Since he turned fifteen, hardly anyone in Winterfell has been a match for him."

"Oh? Not even your castle's master-at-arms?"

"That's right. Even many seasoned knights can't beat him."

Those stronger than him lacked technique, while those with excellent skills fell a little short in strength and stamina... In short, Brandon stood head and shoulders above the rest.

The Blackfish looked thoroughly intrigued. "Then I'll have to cross swords with him."

Lyanna looked puzzled. "Aren't you worried about this Petyr Baelish? He is your family's ward, after all. Brandon might cleave him in two with one stroke..."

The Blackfish drank unconcernedly. "Young people-everyone loses their head over love at some point. Dying in a duel for the woman you love makes a fine tale too, doesn't it?"

Lyanna and Ned were in no mood to talk anymore. As members of the younger generation, few people came to bother them. The occasional one or two who tried to approach fled faster than rabbits at a glare from the Blackfish.

Bored, Lyanna tore bread apart for fun. Ned was busy feeding Ghost-who knew when he had become Ghost's cook. Neither of them brought up Littlefinger again. Dueling to the death seemed quite normal here.

The siblings, who knew their older brother's fighting prowess, Brynden the Blackfish, and almost everyone present today believed that the brave, small, dark-haired boy was certain to die two days later.

Ghost began to worry. Though she personally admired Littlefinger for fighting for love, he really was far too rash and impulsive... If Littlefinger died in the duel, who would manipulate the game of thrones in the future? Wouldn't those sweeping, epic stories be cut short?

But... should I really save Littlefinger? Is it worth it?

In the future, Ned Stark would be beheaded because of Littlefinger's deception, and all his trusted guards would be killed as well, ushering in an age of chaos in Westeros.

Without Littlefinger, Ned would not die, and none of it would happen. Yet she kept feeling that things would not turn out so simply.

Even without Littlefinger in the future, there would still be Cersei, Jaime, and Varys... as well as other schemers who knew the truth. They certainly would not spare Ned as Hand of the King.

If she rashly interfered in the histories of the characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, would she inadvertently stir a butterfly's wings and cause unforeseen changes?

Many people in the modern world had fantasized about returning to the past to change the present and future. But many time-travel films and shows told them that even if history changed, the timeline would subtly adjust toward a predetermined outcome.

Ultimately, whatever you did, however differently the process unfolded, the final result would always be the same. That was called a closed time loop...

Stop, stop... this isn't the time to research theories of space and time. Ghost shook her head hard, dragging back thoughts that had already wandered into outer space.

Even taking a step back, Littlefinger was only a teenager now. He had not done anything yet. She could not watch him die over things that had not happened.

Besides, Uncle Littlefinger in the future Game of Thrones is so charmingly wicked... (×)

When in doubt about outside affairs, consult... a wise man. Ghost decided to seek advice from her temporary professor, Weilisi.

"You're asking what I would choose if I had the chance to change the past?" Weilisi's face, like old tree bark, creased as he rejected the question outright. "What a strange hypothetical. How boring."

"I'm just asking, Master Weilisi. If it were you, and you had the chance to correct a mistake you regretted, would you do it?"

"I have never felt regret. It is weak and useless."

Ghost grew anxious. This old man was far too uncooperative. She stood and paced restlessly, walking back and forth without stopping. Made dizzy by her circling, Weilisi had to surrender. "Explain it more clearly. I'll try to answer."

"Well... suppose you knew of a villain who would kill many good people and do many evil things in the future... but right now, he was still a child. Would you choose to get rid of him now?"

She stressed it emphatically once more. "Just hypothetically."

Weilisi raised his head slightly and began guiding Ghost without betraying anything. "'In the future' is very vague. What specific unit of time are we talking about?"

"Roughly a dozen... a few decades from now? I'm not sure either." In truth, she could not remember the timeline clearly.

Weilisi began to laugh wheezily, before it turned into a bout of racking coughs. He gulped down a cup of water and only spoke slowly after his breathing settled.

"You want to save those good people? In other words, you have chosen kindness and want things to develop in a good direction."

Ghost did not notice that the subject had become herself and nodded happily. "Yes, yes, yes."

Weilisi lowered his head in thought. "You're worried about what he will do in the future and want to stop it at the source?"

Ghost nodded again. "More or less. It would be even better if I could change his thinking."

Weilisi let out a long sigh.

"Ghost, people are very complicated. Completely changing someone's thinking is almost impossible."

"Besides, by what standard are you judging good people and bad people?"

"Let me give you a few examples..." In his low voice, Weilisi began telling Bai Ling a few true "stories."

"There was a farmer who worked hard in his fields to support his family, barely scraping by under heavy taxes. But the taxes kept rising. He handed over his ox, his chickens and ducks, and sold everything in his home that he could... He even sold his wife to feed his children, and had no choice but to rob passing merchants... In the end, the farmer was cut down by a merchant's guards. Was he a bad person?"

"There was an orphan who nearly starved to death when he was born. After someone saved him, he was taught to steal. The person who saved him told the child that stealing was right, and that he would die if he did not steal. But everything he stole was taken away from him. In the end, the child was so hungry he could no longer survive, and chose to kill the person who had saved and taught him."

"Between the child and the person who saved him, who was bad, and who was good?"

Ghost fell silent. She could not resolve moral dilemmas like this. Especially in this world, where such tragedies happened every day.

Was Weilisi trying to tell her that people were complicated, and that she should not simply and crudely define them as good or bad?

But she... really did think Lyanna and Ned were good people, while Littlefinger was very bad. Though Ned would also kill many people in the future, execute deserters, and had even killed the Sword of the Morning Wood in a sneak attack in his youth... Pah, the Sword of the Morning.

Ghost silently apologized to the Sword God of the Morning. She had mixed up the name.

Weilisi saw through Ghost's thoughts at a glance-naive, innocent. Who knew how she had developed this black-and-white outlook? She still harbored goodwill toward this world and its people, and was very easy to deceive.

She was kinder than many humans, nothing like a creature of another kind. Was it because beasts were inherently straightforward?

Weilisi sighed inwardly but showed nothing on his face. "Ghost, people's fates should be decided by the gods above. Everyone is born with their own mission. No one has the right to act on the gods' behalf."

Ghost was at a loss. "But I don't want to watch people I like die..."

Weilisi cut her off. "Do nothing. Leave it for the heavens to decide."

Ghost remained silent, her expression gradually souring. Weilisi had made himself very clear. He believed that whether the future was good or bad, people's fates should be left to the gods-or fate itself-to judge.

Even if she knew cruel things would happen in the future, she could not intervene, because that was the prerogative of the gods above.

But in Ghost's already established outlook, fate was something entirely intangible, and a great man had even said that human determination could overcome heaven. This was purely a matter of worldview and values.

But did she dare tell Weilisi that she did not believe in gods and had no faith? Not even if someone beat her to death!

Though Weilisi was a maester, he wore no maester's chain and was devout in his faith. He loathed nobles beyond measure, almost resembling that terrifying High Sparrow. He really was complicated...

Returning to the incident itself, Brandon Stark had behaved improperly while drunk, disrespected Catelyn, and even caused her injury. That was wrong. Littlefinger had chosen to stand up and defend the girl he loved, and that was not wrong either. (Protecting ladies was a virtue.)

Then why should she agonize over what Littlefinger would become in the future? She should judge the matter rather than the person for now.

She still needed to think it over carefully. Dejected, Ghost left Weilisi's room.