drink-!
Tywin was jolted awake from his sleep. He gasped and sat up in bed, his back soaked with cold sweat. He touched the corner of his eye and found it wet.
" Kevan ——"
Thinking back to the ambush in King's Landing that day, the terrifying flames, like those from Hell, lingered in his mind, becoming a nightmare that devoured his soul.
Sitting on the bed, Tywin was still unable to let go of the scene from that day. Seeing that it was still dark outside, he tried to slowly fall asleep, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what he did after lying down.
Hearing the commotion inside, the servant outside knocked on the door and softly asked Dao, "My lord?"
"Come in."
With a soft footstep, a maid dressed in plain white entered, carrying a cup of warm tea.
As the sound of tea being poured rang out, Tywin suddenly felt the urge to urinate, but he was able to hold it in.
"Open the curtains."
"Yes, sir."
The maid walked to the window, pulled back the curtain, and was about to close it with a ribbon when she was stunned by the sight outside.
"Sir, sir, sir, outside, outside—"
Noticing the maid's unusual behavior, Tywin was about to reprimand her when he noticed a faint green glow emanating from her face, as if awakening a nightmare from his mind.
He rushed to the window and, through the wide window, saw a long, green flame suddenly appear on the sea not far from Casterly Rock.
Tywin took out his binoculars and looked closely. It wasn't a strange phenomenon at all; there were more than a hundred warships that had set fire to wildfire.
Tywin felt a chill run down his spine upon seeing Wildfire. He was well aware of the Redwyne Fleet's passage by sea, and the height of Casterly Rock itself could serve as a lighthouse.
However, he didn't know what Dao's fleet was doing by setting up wildfire a dozen leagues away from Casterly Rock.
Just then, there was a knock on the door; it was Damon.
"My lord, Redwyne Fleet."
"I know, Dao." Tywin tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. "What does 'scholar' mean?"
"The scholar is consulting relevant texts, but he believes it is possible—to be witchcraft."
"witchcraft?"
If it were anyone else, Tywin would probably think they were playing tricks, but he knew that Dao was eyeing Casterly Rock with hostility from Jon, who had seized King's Landing and was about to ambush Kevan. So he felt as if a large hand was gripping his chest.
Back in Casterly Rock, Tywin finally had time to consider the actions of all parties involved.
There's no need to go into detail about Jon's mutiny in Harrenhal. Whenever he thinks about it, he admires Jon's decisiveness and ruthless foresight.
Aside from Jon, who appeared out of nowhere, there are other characters like Renly's assassination, Stannis's takeover of Storms End, and Melisandre's almost sudden appearance beside him.
Stannis's actions were going too smoothly, which made him have to consider the possibility of witchcraft.
Right under his nose, Redwyne Fleet was putting on such a strange ritual, making it hard for him not to think of it as witchcraft.
Tywin stared at the terrifying, even nauseating, beam of light, his teeth clenched, but he was at a loss for what to do, because he had no idea what Dao was doing. What is Jon going to do?
At this moment, Tywin suddenly remembered Adam, whom he had recently sent to Jon's camp to humiliate Jon, so he ordered someone to call him over.
It was nearly dawn, and with the enemy at the gates, few could sleep soundly. Especially when the soldiers who got up in the night observed strange phenomena at sea, the news spread like wildfire, and more and more soldiers took notice of the situation at sea.
Adam was no exception; he observed that the Soldiers were discussing this extensively.
"They set fire to the ship? Why would they do that?"
"Could it be some kind of magic? I heard that Stannis betrayed the Lord of Light and the Seven Gods."
"I don't know Dao ————"
Soldiers didn't know Dao, and Adam naturally didn't know Dao either, but the only thing he knew about Dao was that this sense of fear and unease absolutely could not be allowed to spread in the army.
Soon, Adam came to Tywin and recounted his meeting with Jon to him again.
"He really says he knows how Dao can stop the rain from the sky? This, how is that possible!" the Casterly Rock scholar muttered to himself.
Damion and Damon also exclaimed that it was impossible.
Adam, observing the others' reactions, spoke up: "My lord, I think Jon might just be bluffing. If this really is some kind of witchcraft, then why didn't Stannis have the witch extinguish the wildfire when his fleet was on fire?"
Adam's words made everyone feel enlightened.
Yes, if lighting wildfire could cast some kind of magic, then Stannis's fleet wouldn't have been burned to a crisp.
These words made everyone feel much more relaxed.
Seeing Tywin nod approvingly at him, Adam continued, "Sir, on my way here I noticed that the soldiers are very uneasy about the bastard's actions. Perhaps we should now reassure the troops; maintaining morale is the most important thing."
"Yes, you're right." Tywin looked at Damion and said to Dao, "Have the kitchen prepare more meat today and distribute some drinks to the soldiers as a celebration for our victory over Jon."
"Yes, sir."
At this point, nothing is more effective than letting the soldiers see and feel the composure of the higher-ups.
Tywin also instructed Adam not to tell anyone that Jon had said he could stop the rain.
After all, even the Casterly Rock Soldiers are mostly illiterate, and it would be terrible if they believed it.
Despite making a series of arrangements, Tywin was still uneasy. A person's reputation is not to be underestimated, and Tywin did not believe that Jon had brought in what was arguably the largest fleet in the Seven Kingdoms just to scare him.
But in any case, it's about to rain. If Casterly Rock can catch the rainwater as usual, then we can conclude that Jon is just playing tricks.
Soon, they noticed that as time went by, the clouds on the distant horizon grew thicker and thicker, a dull gray that looked like a thick layer of lead.
This is a sign that rain is coming; the thicker the clouds, the heavier the rain.
In Casterly Rock, the servants responsible for fetching water had already placed wooden buckets in the open air, the densely packed buckets resembling a honeycomb.
The water cellar used to store water was also opened, and Casterly Rock's water cellar still had two-thirds of its water capacity remaining.
Based on their past experience, two-thirds of the water would last for about twenty days, but just one rainstorm would fill the water cellar.
Tywin stepped onto the terrace, his face more solemn than ever as he gazed at the approaching dark clouds and the row of warships still ablaze with wildfire.
Joanna, please help me, don't let our home be taken away.
Tywin prayed silently to his deceased wife, hoping that Joanna, who had already entered the embrace of the Seven Gods, could give him some strength.
How can the dead help the living?
Even if Joanna could hear Tywin's prayers, would n't the people of the Riverlands believe in the Seven Gods?
Didn't they just stand by and watch Tywin's army destroy houses and farmland, and wantonly burn, kill, rape, and plunder?
At this moment, Paxton was aboard his flagship, his eyes wide as he inspected the fleet's ships.
The blinding green light made his eyes water, but he seemed unconcerned. After all, if wildfire wasn't handled properly, the entire ship could be scrapped.
Before they lit the fire, they even put a layer of wet soil under the brazier to prevent it from burning.
But an accident still happened.
Paxton suddenly noticed that the fire on one of the ships seemed to be getting out of control; green smoke and flames climbed up the masts and danced wildly on the deck, and the ship quickly became a giant inferno.
As expected, what I feared most came to pass; despite his extreme caution, one of the ships still caught fire.
"The Sapphire! My ship!" Paxton's face was somewhat grim.
Paxton has loved ships since he was a child. His fleet has nearly two hundred ships, and he can name every single one of them and the captain in charge.
But the wildfire devoured everything too quickly, engulfing the entire ship in the blink of an eye. The dazzling green light and billowing smoke looked like some kind of farcical performance.
Paxton could only imagine that if the Lannister Soldiers saw this scene, they would probably laugh their heads off.
"That stupid bastard! Does he really think he can stop the clouds in the sky like that!" Paxton's eldest son, Hobber, exclaimed.
" It's just a bastard, what can it possibly do?" His twin brother Horas agreed.
The two didn't really look down on Jon; rather, they also admired Margaery.
" I thought that with Renly and Joffrey gone, they might be able to fill in," but then Bastard, who appeared out of nowhere, snatched the spot from the team.
If it were a decent Stark like Robb, they might tolerate it, but they absolutely cannot tolerate Jon, this bastard who appeared out of nowhere.
Although many people in Seven Kingdoms knew of Jon's existence before he rose to prominence, at that time he was known as Eddard's "mistake" or "flaw".
"Sir, look!" Just as the two were complaining, a sailor suddenly spoke up to remind the heartbroken Paxton.
Paxton looked up and saw that the thick, dark clouds overhead were unusually dense, like ink dripping into a clear pond. The clouds were gathering and expanding rapidly, and looked as if they were about to fall down.
His second son, Horas, was also amazed by the thick, dark clouds overhead, and even foolishly reached out to touch them.
Where there are clouds, there will be rain; this is common sense that even a child knows.
"Could it be that Jon really can stop the rain?" Looking at the thick clouds overhead, Paxton had to believe that Jon might actually be able to do something miraculous.
At this time, the wildfires on hundreds of ships were still burning, and the air upwind of the wildfires was distorted by the heat, forming a strange pillar.
The bizarre pillars and the massive plumes of smoke suddenly reminded Paxton of the sea of smoke near the apocalyptic ruins of Valyria.
It seems to rain frequently there, so Jon's method might actually work!