At this time, Casterly Rock still had a thousand soldiers and two thousand new miner recruits, which was approaching the safety line of the Casterly Rock garrison.
Even Alyssane Lefford repeatedly begged him not to continue sending Soldiers elsewhere.
Daven reassured Mrs. Lefred that he would increase patrols at night and even personally inspect the city walls and outposts, which calmed her down.
That afternoon, Daven, as promised, inspected the walls of Casterly Rock while observing Jon's camp in the distance, while the officers guarding the city gave him a reconnaissance report.
"Sir, there's much less smoke coming from the enemy's camp today than yesterday. They must have moved some of their troops away last night." The officer who spoke looked to be almost fifty years old and appeared quite old.
Daven noticed the other person's cloak—blue with gold pillars—and concluded that he must be from a collateral branch of the Lefford family. After all, someone who could serve as an officer in Westeros was definitely not of commoner origin.
He was accompanied by a young man of about seventeen or eighteen. Judging from their features, the two were undoubtedly father and son.
"So how many people do you think are still in that Bastard military camp?"
"Sir, I don't think there are more than five thousand men! And judging from the flags, it's basically just his own army left."
Daven nodded, feeling much relieved.
He looked at Rayford beside him and thought that if Rayford were to guard Casterly Rock, or even inherit Casterly Rock, then the pressure on Casterly Rock would be much less.
At least I won't be bothered to leave the Soldiers behind.
"What's wrong with that? It's all Rayford anyway." Daven thought to himself. Just then, the Casterly Rock maester rushed over and almost tripped over his own grey maester's robe because he was walking too fast.
"Jazz!"
The scholar approached Daven and solemnly presented him with a letter.
Daven glanced at it and saw that it was a golden letter tube, which made him feel as if cold water had been poured into his stomach. The previous letters from Casterly Rock had all asked him to mobilize his troops. He hoped that this one would be something else.
Daven took a deep breath to calm himself down, opened the letterbox, and couldn't help but widen his eyes.
The word " Iron Islands " stands out in the short letter.
The letter stated that the Iron Islands had invaded the Cragspire area, with over three hundred Longships alone. Not only had nearby Branded City sent troops to support them, but Tywin also requested Casterly Rock to send as many troops as possible.
"Seven Hells, those damned pirates!" After confirming the orders in the letter, Daven clenched the letter tightly in his hand. These were Tywin's orders, and he had no choice.
Daven looked down at the military camp. It should be mealtime by now, but there was very little smoke rising from the chimneys. There were definitely not five thousand people below the city. This made Daven finally make up his mind.
" Sir Daven? Why are you transferring the troops again?" The next morning, Lady Lefred received this bad news almost as soon as she opened her eyes. She simply had her maid quickly wash up before coming to Daven's side.
" Sir Daven, we now only have five hundred soldiers and a thousand miners still in training, which is by no means enough."
Faced with Leiford's concerns, Daven helplessly said, "Madam, if our enemy still numbered over 20,000, it certainly wouldn't be enough, but now our enemy has less than 3,000—" Daven lied and continued, "Most of them are already exhausted Riverlands... " Soldiers, believe me, even with only the remaining Soldiers, I can defend Casterly Rock for you, for the Westerlands.
————
Daven had to tell Rafer about the Iron Islands, explaining that if the Ironborn ravaged the region, Casterly Rock would be caught in a pincer movement, making the situation even worse.
At this point, Daven remembered Tywin's advice: "If necessary, you can have more contact with Mrs. Lefred."
As a man, how could Daven not know Dao? Tywin thought for a moment and then said, "Don't worry, Madam, I will increase the patrols around your castle tonight."
Seeing Daven say this, Leferd breathed a sigh of relief. Dao: "Then—I'll make sure the kids go to bed early tonight."
—Late at night, Daven lay on Mrs. Lefred's bed, with portraits of Mrs. Lefred and her deceased husband still hanging on the wall.
The family of four looked especially warm and loving.
When Daven saw the painting on the wall, he felt that his husband, Leo Lefford, was watching him, which made him very uncomfortable, so he looked away and looked at Mrs. Lefford beside him.
She was fast asleep, leaning against her own shoulder and arm, and sucking on her thumb like a baby.
Daven adjusted his sleeping position slightly, trying to fall asleep again, but he just couldn't fall asleep; something just didn't feel right.
Especially the recent barrage of orders from Tywin made him feel that someone else was actually in charge of Casterly Rock.
In short, it's not the Tywin I remember.
The more Daven thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. He suddenly decided to send someone to Casterly Rock to ask if there was anything wrong with the series of orders.
From Casterly Rock to Casterly Rock, there is only one Sarsfield in between, and the three forts are connected by a wide and flat road. If light cavalry were sent there, the round trip would not take much time.
Yu should send someone back to Casterly Rock tomorrow to ask Tywin.
Daven took a long breath and then exhaled the stale air from his chest. He wanted to fall asleep as soon as possible, but suddenly felt something pressing against him from below.
Gently shifting his body, Daven scooped the object out and discovered it was a small piece of fabric. The room was too dark, so he used the moonlight outside to get a closer look and saw that it was fine linen embellished with lace.
Noble ladies and young ladies alike favored this material for their underwear. Daven noticed that Mrs. Lefred's underwear was adorned with several small pearls, which were the culprits that made him feel uncomfortable.
Daven gently tossed her fine linen underwear to the foot of the bed, trying to fall asleep again.
But just as he drifted off to sleep, he suddenly opened his eyes. As if he had heard something, Daven looked towards the direction outside the city, his brows furrowed, and he listened intently.
Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps sounded, and a young man's voice rang out from outside. "Sir! The enemy has begun their attack on the city!"
"What!"
Daven could no longer care about Mrs. Lyford, who was still sleeping with her arms wrapped around his. He suddenly pulled his arm away, and Mrs. Lyford woke up with a start.
She opened her eyes and saw a strong, shirtless body sitting up.
Just as Daven got up, he suddenly felt a chill on his back, followed by a burning pain.
Daven stood up and looked back at Mrs. Lefred, who was half-crouching there naked, holding a dagger in her hand.
The blade of the dagger was stained red with blood. Daven touched his back, his hands covered in blood.
"Woman! What are you doing!" Daven roared angrily, like an enraged lion.
How could he not see that the woman who had just been having sex with him was trying to assassinate him?
However, she had never practiced using swords, and her attack only cut Daven's skin but did not injure any vital organs.
"Ah—" Mrs. Lefold knew that Dao had failed in her first attack and would have no chance next. She screamed and lunged at Daven with her dagger in hand.
However, the size difference between the two was like that of an antelope pouncing on a tiger.
Driven by the pain, Daven reacted with increasing sharpness. As Lefford lunged forward, Daven's fist came at him.
Daven punched Mrs. Lefred in the face, knocking her to the ground.
Mrs. Lefred in pain, her whole body trembling. She slowly rose and spoke with pale lips: " Casterly Rock belongs to my son, Leo and me. No one can take him away!"
"Nobody's going to steal your Casterly Rock!" Daven snapped, feeling that the woman in front of him was somewhat unreasonable.
Although he had thought about it in his mind, he did not actually carry it out. Moreover, replacing the main branch with a collateral branch was a major decision that required the joint consultation of many people.
"Hmph, you don't," Mrs. Lefred said, her usual gentle and lustful demeanor replaced by a chilling coldness. A strand of hair clung to the corner of her mouth, making her look like a terrifying female ghost crawling out of the water. "But that old man and his son can't wait any longer!"
It turns out that disagreements have also arisen within the Lefford Family.
The collateral branch believes that as long as they help Tywin defend Casterly Rock and contribute to its protection, they can replace Leo's son as Earl of Casterly Rock in the future.
When a collateral branch replaces the main branch, the main branch will definitely not have a good ending. In order to consolidate her position, the collateral branch's two children will probably not live to adulthood.
As the matriarch, Alyssane Lefford naturally did not want to sit idly by and wait for death. Since they wanted to fight for the inheritance by protecting Casterly Rock, she would assassinate Daven and open the city gates!
It's a pity that it's not easy for a woman with absolutely no martial arts skills to even get close to Daven, let alone assassinate him.
Even if Daven were unarmed, she wouldn't be someone a woman with a dagger could assassinate.
"Foolish woman!" Daven, having learned the details of Dragon's whereabouts, felt even more strongly that those letters could not possibly have been sent by Tywin.
I must send someone on horseback to Casterly Rock to inquire.
"Damn it! You should be dead, you stupid woman!" Daven cursed angrily, still not satisfied, and kicked the naked body hard.
Leiford groaned as he was hit, and the Soldiers ' urgent voice came from outside again: "Sir, the enemy has begun attacking our mountain fortress, and there are people everywhere!"
"People everywhere?! How is that possible!"
Daven couldn't understand it. Shouldn't there only be five thousand people still besieging the city below?
But the wound on his back was still bleeding, and the moment the lining of his cotton coat touched the wound, he grimaced in pain.
He had no time to think too much about the situation now; he could only quickly get into battle and hold off this wave of attacks.