"Ser Selmy."
"Ser Wester." The old Kingsguard turned his head, seeing the newcomer's face by the moonlight. Although he didn't really know him, Aegon's loyal appearance, always considering the interests of the Night's Watch, still earned him some respect from Barristan – the old man didn't ignore his attempt at conversation: "Why aren't you participating in the wedding?"
...
Strictly speaking, calling Aegon "Lord" or "Ser" were both incorrect ways to address him, because his identity was Night's Watch. And anyone who put on the black cloak was, legally speaking, considered to have given up all status and position, and could never regain it through any other means – this meant that the social status of the Night's Watch was no different from commoners, regardless of what position he held within the organization.
But after leaving The Wall for several months, Aegon no longer felt the urge to correct anyone who called him Lord xx or Ser xx, as he had when he first came out of Castle Black. For no other reason, take Margaery Tyrell and Ser Barristan Selmy as examples – among the people they usually interacted with, there were simply no commoners. If they spoke to Aegon, and Aegon told them "I'm neither a Lord nor a Ser," they wouldn't know what to call Aegon at all.
Now, the resources and influence Aegon possessed already far surpassed that of ordinary knights and even somewhat down-on-their-luck Earls; he could now handle honorifics used by others out of politeness with composure.
...
"Just a farce, aren't you also against this marriage?"
"Who the son of the Lord of the North marries is none of my business; what I oppose is merely the way Your Majesty handles things." The old man in white shook his head: "Marriage concerns the future of a family, it is a matter of utmost importance, how can it be treated so casually – making decisions without even informing the parents, and even starting to arrange the wedding directly?"
"Looking at the scale, this marriage is not casual at all; besides a King's wedding, who else could gather so many nobles from the Seven Kingdoms at once?"
"What's the use of having many guests if the parents aren't present?" Barristan was unconvinced: "If you return to King's Landing and the Hand of the King firmly disagrees with this marriage, what will you do, pack up the daughter and send her back to Riverrun?"
"A respectable person like Lord Stark would certainly not do such an undignified thing." Aegon pondered for a moment and said: "As for disagreeing with this marriage, I think it's impossible. Looking across all of Westeros, how many non-ducal families are there who can be like the Frey – both rich and powerful?"
Rhetorical questions usually imply a negative answer, and Aegon said there were none, but Barristan thought about it and realized there clearly were.
"In the North, there's the White Harbor-House Manderly; in the Vale, there's... never mind, with the 'League of the Righteous' causing trouble, that's all in the past; in the Westerlands, there are quite a few rich ones, but the powerful ones seem to have all been suppressed by Lord Tywin, and now it's the Lannister alone dominating; the Stormlands and Dorne have slightly poor natural conditions and can't support rich non-ducal families; in The Reach, there's the Lord Hightower of Oldtown, and the Redwyne of Arbor... these two families are also rich and powerful, and aren't they also older than the Frey?"
"House Manderly is fiercely loyal to the Stark; marrying the eldest son to them would be a waste of resources; we won't mention the Westerlands, Stormlands, and Dorne; as for the two families in The Reach, Oldtown and Arbor, indeed, in terms of wealth and power, they are not inferior to Riverrun, but where are their lands located? The southwesternmost corner of Westeros, thousands of miles away from the North; marrying them – if something were to happen, they couldn't support each other at all, the alliance would just be empty talk. Befriending distant enemies and attacking nearby ones also has its scope of application." Aegon presented facts and reasoned arguments, refuting the examples Barristan raised one by one, and then changed the subject: "But what about the Frey? Located on a major north-south traffic route, with considerable financial resources and abundant soldiers, marrying them, no exaggeration, not only increases the usable military strength of the North by a tenth but also expands the sphere of influence southwards by hundreds of miles. It not only strengthens the Stark's own power but also incidentally stabilizes the liege status of their former allies, House Tully, in the Riverlands. It's a win-win situation, why not?"
"That makes a lot of sense. Here, have some of the good wine personally bestowed by Your Majesty?" The old Kingsguard grew interested in the discussion with the Night's Watch and moved over, making space on the bench: "If you only look at wealth and military strength, Riverrun is indeed good, but the history of the Frey is really a bit short, and they haven't produced any heroes or great men. The reputation of being nouveau riche is really not appealing."
"Thank you." Aegon sat down, took the wineskin the old man offered, and took a long drink to quench his thirst. Winemaking technology was immature in this era, and ordinary wine could only be considered an alcoholic beverage; getting drunk was quite difficult: "Heh... short history? There are plenty of families in the North with a thousand years of history, but most of them combined are no match for Lord Frey. But does anyone send their children to marry them because of their long history? As for nouveau riche... Ha, who is the biggest nouveau riche in Westeros right now? Three hundred years of history, that's not even half of the Frey's, is it? But as long as his backside is on the Iron Throne for a day, who dares to point at Your Majesty and call him 'nouveau riche'? Might makes right. Perhaps the Frey's reputation is indeed not good, but once tonight is over, by becoming in-laws with the Stark, they will immediately transform into a renowned noble family and escape the fate of being looked down upon."
Although Aegon didn't name names directly, Barristan naturally knew who the biggest nouveau riche he was talking about was. To dare compare House Baratheon to the Frey, this Night's Watch was truly bold, but for some reason, the Kingsguard Captain found himself attracted by the cold, merchant-like perspective and novel way this person in front of him looked at problems... Although he still had things he could refute, he thought about it and felt his own arguments couldn't stand, so he laughed: "I can't argue with you. Even if what you say makes sense, the Stark are after all a ducal family. If possible, wouldn't it be best for Robb to marry a Lord's daughter?"
Hey, if this were a debate, Barristan had certainly run right into Aegon's muzzle. The Night's Watch had already considered this issue. What Robb faced was actually the same predicament as Edmure: "Unless Your Majesty is willing to marry Princess Myrcella to Robb, he only has two options left. The Dornish are located in the southernmost region and probably wouldn't want to marry their daughter to a freezing cold place like the North. That leaves only Margaery Tyrell; she's in the tent, Ser Selmy, why don't you go ask her if she's willing to marry Robb?"
Barristan didn't speak, merely coughed.
...
"Thank you for your concern, Chief Logistics Officer. As for this young lady's marriage, you don't need to worry about it." A soft female voice came from behind, startling Aegon: "However, Lord, you, clearly wearing the black cloak, are intimately familiar with the situation in the Vale and even the Seven Kingdoms. That is truly unusual."
"Cough..." Tens of thousands of people gathered to celebrate, it was too noisy, and Aegon hadn't noticed the girl approaching at all. Fortunately, he hadn't said anything bad about her just now. Hiding his embarrassment, Aegon forced out an explanation: "As the Quartermaster General of the Night's Watch, I need to solicit food supplies and aid from the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms; it is perfectly reasonable to have a good understanding of related information."
Relying solely on watching TV shows and reading novels before transmigrating, it was naturally impossible to have this level of understanding of the situation in Westeros. After arriving in King's Landing, Aegon was able to achieve his current understanding of the Seven Kingdoms through Tyrion's introductions and relevant documents. Moreover, in terms of familiarity... compared to someone like Margaery, born into a noble family with more sources of information, he certainly still couldn't compare.
"Hmph." The girl rolled her eyes at him and didn't speak to him further. The trope of ignoring a beautiful and rich woman and then sparking her interest or even affection is simply impossible in reality – rich and beautiful women aren't that bored. Margaery looked at Barristan, bowed slightly, and greeted him: "Ser Selmy."
Fearless Barristan, perhaps he should be called Disappointing Barristan? Don't look at how impolite Robert was when he yelled at him, but as the Kingsguard Captain, Ser Barristan Selmy had always been one of the King's most trusted people. Someone at the core of power, who could influence the King's thoughts at any time, wasn't someone only Aegon wanted to befriend.
"Miss Margaery." Barristan smiled and nodded at the girl. In the past, as the King's personal bodyguard and advisor, he would avoid talking much with non-Crownlands nobles to avoid suspicion, but after just chatting with Aegon for a while about the current marriage situation among the upper nobility of the Seven Kingdoms, he was in the mood for conversation: "Allow this old man to ask a presumptuous question; if it offends, you don't have to answer – Miss, who exactly have you chosen as your husband?"
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