Loving Each Other

A cloud layer composed of thick smoke appeared in the southern sky.

The drifting black dust obscured the sun, as well as the red comet that streaked across the sky.

Joffrey looked up at the ominous gray curtain.

Then he coughed twice, and a burnt taste rose in his throat.

Why are things always so bad for the Lannisters?

The cause was a large, dilapidated shack outside the muddy gate.

Those houses built from rotten planks and rags were densely packed against the city walls, serving as ready-made ladders.

The beautiful and kind-hearted Queen Cersei gave the residents a full day to move their property.

They hired them to demolish other people's houses, and their wages were settled directly with the items that were taken.

As for those who are unwilling to leave...

So James led his men and set it on fire.

Tyrion wasn't much better off.

All the vendors started calling him "the deformed little monkey who only eats and doesn't excrete".

As Chancellor of the Exchequer, who hadn't been in office for very long, Tyrion Lannister issued a series of orders as soon as he took office.

This is not allowed, that is not allowed.

They replaced more than a dozen chamber of commerce agents and requisitioned all the merchant ships in the port, sinking them and piling them up on the riverbank.

What was sent out was still a bunch of IOUs.

What's even more incredible is that Renly's scouts have already appeared at the edge of the Kingsguard.

Without saying a word, the little devil began to imitate his sister's behavior and set a fire as well.

To test the effectiveness of the wildfire, he even got a few cans of "fruit" from the Alchemist Guild and threw them into the forest to set them on fire.

"Now Lord Renly will have to train his horse to eat ashes."

The three Lannister siblings gathered together happily, laughing heartily at their feat.

Then, early the next morning, Cersei came to complain.

"Jokeh! Arrest Tyrion right now!"

"He's going to sell your brother to the Dornish!"

Joffrey sighed.

Then he started fiddling with the crossbow in his hand.

Made in Mil, it is covered with exotic patterns, and its ingenious mechanism can fire three arrows at once.

"I think it could be called the 'Joffrey Repeating Crossbow'."

The little devil, who had been invited to dinner, said with a grin that he had sent someone to deliver this thing yesterday.

But Joffrey simply aimed and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

Click, click, click.

Each sound made the little devil's eyelids twitch.

"Uncle," Joffrey finally spoke, "we're a family, we should love each other and not always be fighting amongst ourselves."

Tomman was fat and weak, and the fawn he kept was female, which Joffrey arranged for him to marry off to his big white deer.

But after all, he is my younger brother whom I grew up with.

Sending Tommen to Dorne is like a lamb entering a snake's den.

Imp is a complete defeatist strategist; the situation is far from that point.

So Joffrey picked up three crossbow bolts and pretended to load them.

"What news is it that I don't know now?"

Tyrion kicked his legs restlessly in his chair.

The expression on his big face changed several times before he finally broke down, gesturing wildly as he began to explain with a pained look on his face.

For example, I recently discovered while checking the accounts that even though Little Finger is dead, he is still everywhere.

The Wang family's chief steward of the four treasuries, accountant, and surveyor, even the head of the mint, and so on, down to the port master, tax collector, and agent...

Throughout King's Landing, every position related to money was filled by people he had placed there.

In just a few years, this guy completely changed the entire kingdom's financial system.

"Based on the 100,000 gold dragons he casually promised at the Eyrie, I dare say that more than half of the royal family's debts were embezzled by him."

Tyrion blinked his uneven eyes.

"So what?" Joffrey's tone was tinged with impatience.

It's a lie; there must be something they're hiding from him.

"It's wartime now, why worry about these things? Your most important job as Chancellor of the Exchequer is to mobilize all funds for the war effort."

"Hurry up and tell me honestly, what's making you so nervous?"

"We only needed to hold out for another twenty days until Lord Tywin's army arrived—"

"My father isn't coming," Tyrion interjected.

Joffrey nearly fainted.

"Not coming?!"

Tywin is the most important one.

Only when he arrives will the defenders of King's Landing have the confidence to stand firm, and only then will the hesitant lords completely side with him.

Joffrey's voice rose slightly: "Didn't Grandfather write before that he had already entered the Reach?"

Tyrion looked up, utterly despondent.

That's exactly why.

"So when he received our letter, he thought it was too dangerous to travel the Golden Road across the Reach, as Renly and the Tyrells could trap him in the middle at any moment."

"Turning back onto Hejian Avenue would be too much of a waste of time."

A bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"So my father simply led his troops south and went directly to attack Jinshu City."

Joffrey fell silent.

It seems that the family's self-serving behavior has a traceable origin.

Cersei often compared herself to "Tywin Lannister of King's Landing," which shows just how ruthless and shameless she is.

"I will rule this land, or I will watch it turn to ashes."

This wasn't Tywin Lannister's quote, but he's probably capable of similar actions.

The siege was probably just a pretext. Under his indulgence, the soldiers in the western border were like iron-willed people on the ground, burning, killing, looting, and capable of anything.

In addition, there were conflicting accounts surrounding the Sanlu milk scandal.

A lord like Eddard, who had the North firmly under his control, could mobilize all his vassals with a single command, sending them south in a grand procession to defend the king.

But Robb's army had not yet left the Neck Marsh.

The valley cavalry were also dawdling.

The only reinforcements we can count on now are the scattered forces of the Hejian region.

While Horst and Blackfish were still around, the Tullys had a modicum of prestige.

But the Duke was bedridden, and Blackfish volunteered to go to the Great Wall. Now Edmure is in charge.

Blackwood and Brecken have been sworn enemies for centuries; if one comes, the other won't.

Walder was known as the "Landlord Frey who arrived late".

As for the families closest to King's Landing, Morton of Girlspring and Darryl of Darryl are the renowned Targaryen Royalists.

The Hean of Harrenhal maintained strict neutrality.

These families even have to pay Joffrey for a little bit of food, and they're extremely hesitant to send troops.

Gods, do you expect Edmure to bring them here?

Joffrey was more inclined to believe in himself.

"How many men did the Martell family promise you?" he blurted out.

But then he quickly shook his head.

"No, that won't do."

"Stannis's navy is at Dragonstone, and the land route is cut off by the storm."

"Besides, Toman is so young, this would be completely harming him."

The little devil jumped off the chair, walked to the table, and poured himself a glass of wine.

"Little Tommen is worth 20,000 men, and Prince Doran is only willing to send his soldiers to the frontier."

"If we want them to actually launch an attack, we have to hand over Gregor as well."

"And I also want my father to confess in person the crimes he committed against Princess Ilya and the children back then."

Joffrey rolled his eyes.

"Then this marriage alliance is completely useless. Why did you come up with such a terrible idea?"

"I was just grasping at straws when I was desperate," Tyrion said, taking a big gulp of water. "Cersei told you about this, right?"

"Good nephew, now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you anymore."

"You're too good to me."

"So your mother wanted to kill me."