"Second," Rhaenys said, seemingly unfazed by the queen's fall, still keeping her calm and continuing to insist on her terms.
"Please, also allow Prince Aegon to remain on Driftmark and serve as a squire for two years under my husband, Lord Corlys."
"Aegon will grow up alongside Jacaerys and Lucerys, so that they may understand and respect one another."
"This way, there will be no harsh words or bloodshed in the future…"
Prince Aegon, hiding behind the crowd and secretly relieved that the storm had momentarily passed, heard this, and his handsome face instantly drained of color.
Everything that had erupted in the hall tonight—accusations, arguments, blood, vows, marriages—was still burning in the air.
The Black and Green factions had reached the breaking point, and if something were to happen now, they would surely take matters into their own hands…
Aegon screamed like a cat stepped on, completely losing the decorum of the eldest son.
"They're going to kill me!"
"They'll take this chance to kill me for sure!"
"I won't go! Don't let me die!"
"No! Viserys! How can you be so biased! So cruel!"
Queen Alicent seemed to break at the final straw and cried bitterly,
"I've lost my daughter!"
"Are you still a father?!"
Her grief and rage completely overwhelmed her. She wanted to strangle this woman!
This threat struck at her second son's eyes, this woman who had taken her daughter, now trying to claim the eldest son as well, and yet she seemed like a woman who was merciful!
"Alicent!!" Viserys rose, shocked and furious.
Everyone was stunned by the queen's sudden, utterly irrational, and mad action.
Rhaenyra reacted quickly. At the moment Alicent lunged toward her, her hands were already going to seize her by the neck—but Rhaenyra grabbed Alicent by the wrists!
The two women, once best friends and now bitter enemies, faced each other, their breaths audible, their eyes full of resentment.
"Have you not caused enough trouble, Alicent!" Rhaenyra gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on the trembling wrists of the other woman.
"Me?! I'm the one who goes too far?!" Alicent's face was a tapestry of tears and rage, and she spoke with a broken heart.
She leaned forward, her face almost touching Rhaenyra's nose, eyes burning with icy hatred.
"And you! Rhaenyra Targaryen!"
"You always do as you please!"
"You ignore tradition! You trample the laws of the realm!"
"You make all of Westeros pay for your stubbornness!"
"But he always seems to be the one being pursued, in debt!"
"Responsibility?! Sacrifice?! Family?!"
"You speak these beautiful words, thinking to teach others a lesson?!"
"All your duties and sacrifices exist only to satisfy your own desires!"
"And yet you still look at yourself pitifully, as if giving alms and forgiving me!"
"Rhaenyra… is your heart made of iron?!"
Rhaenyra tightened her hold on Alicent's wrists, confronted with this accusation that was a mix of truth and prejudice.
On her pale face, a flicker of confusion and prickling appeared.
It was a deep, raw pain, stripped bare and masked at the same time, exposing the unbearable inside.
She looked at the beautiful face before her, once intimate and sharing thoughts of countless young women, now completely twisted with hatred and tears.
A mix of resentment and a feeling she did not wish to admit herself reached her heart.
She shoved Alicent forcefully and made her stumble.
"Stop your hypocritical act, Alicent Hightower!"
She shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
"You feel tired too, don't you?"
"Hidden behind your so-called mask of justice, judging the situation as a whole?"
"You looked at me with the judging eyes of a mother!"
"You blame me for not following the path set by tradition, good women, and good princesses!"
"Hightower has secretly fueled rumors about the illegitimate children…"
She took a deep breath, her chest heaving violently.
"Whose hands are clean today—yours or mine?"
"Who is nobler than whom?"
The maids quickly stepped forward, holding Alicent, who was nearly unsteady but still trembling with rage and sorrow.
Viserys held the thin shoulders of his wife.
"I hate you, Viserys…"
"I hate you for being so partial."
"I hate you so much… incompetent."
King Viserys was struck like by lightning, his body trembling slightly.
Perhaps… perhaps it had been a mistake from the very beginning to marry Alicent.
He had coveted her youth, beauty, and gentle comfort, but had turned his daughter's best friend into his wife—and the sisters became endless enemies…
He had coveted her youth, beauty, and gentle comfort, but had turned his daughter's best friend into his wife—and the sisters became endless enemies…