House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

King’s Landing, Red Keep.

Viserys looked at Jaehaerys and then at the letter in his hands. He gripped the paper tightly. For the first time in his life, he felt nervous. The prince had always been trained as the future heir to the Iron Throne after Baelon.

Unconsciously, he had always thought he would be king after Prince Aemon’s death, and indeed, his life after that tragic day had been based on that fact. The parties he threw, the banquets and performances, Viserys wanted to be loved as king and had spent his whole life trying to achieve that.

But at this moment, the information that Maekar was bringing Dorne into the Seven Kingdoms caused panic on Viserys’s usually gentle and smiling face. Even a fool could see that if Maekar conquered Dorne through diplomacy, he would hold a large portion of the votes in the Great Council.

Maekar’s bastardy would be but a minor nuisance that would soon be swept under the rug.

Seeing the panic on Viserys’s face, Jaehaerys felt a displeasure even greater than Viserys’s own. The Great Council hadn’t even happened yet, and Viserys was already panicking.

Maekar would be only the first of many, but Viserys looked like a boy panicking because he felt he was losing. This was completely disappointing in Jaehaerys’s eyes. In this regard, the king felt Maekar was countless times better than Viserys.

Maekar was an excellent politician; Viserys was a prince, not a politician.

However, Jaehaerys knew this was his and Baelon’s fault. Both thought it would be a long time before Viserys took the throne. Unfortunately, he was old and Baelon was dead, leaving Viserys without truly knowing how to handle such situations.

"Stop trembling like a woman and calm down," Jaehaerys said in a cold tone. "Panic helps nothing; it will only cloud your judgment and reasoning. Calm down and think of a way this will benefit you."

"Take the credit from Maekar," Viserys said in an uncertain tone, ashamed of even thinking such a thing.

"That would be possible if Maekar hadn’t already thought you’d do it. Why do you think you have this letter in your hands?" Jaehaerys rubbed his forehead and spoke in a tired tone. He no longer had the patience or strength to teach another person.

"Damn you, Baelon, you could have stayed and trained Viserys personally. I no longer have the strength for this," Jaehaerys thought with a touch of melancholy on his face.

"This letter, with the same content, is likely already in the hands of every Lord in the Seven Kingdoms. Princess Mara has allied with Maekar and declared to the world who convinced her of such a thing," Jaehaerys said calmly.

"What you must do is bring the enemies of House Martell to your side and use that to create allies." Seeing that Viserys was still confused, Jaehaerys wanted to bang his head against the wall, but he repressed the urge to kill himself and explained in a dissatisfied tone.

"Does my king not want Dorne to join the Seven Kingdoms?" Viserys asked, confused. In his eyes, Dorne joining the Seven Kingdoms was a very good thing; it would bring great prestige to Jaehaerys, elevating him to the same level as Aegon.

Jaehaerys took a deep breath and felt his fist itch; the urge to punch his grandson was great at that moment.

"Viserys, bringing Dorne into the Seven Kingdoms and making the Great Houses fight are two different things," Jaehaerys said in a calm tone. "As king, you must understand how to balance the Great Noble Houses. Let them weaken each other while you simply watch with indifference."

"A weak vassal is a good vassal."

It wasn’t that Viserys was stupid or anything of the sort, but that was his personality. Viserys was a peaceful man who detested conflict, besides being stout and pleasant. He was affable, generous, and eager to please.

Unfortunately, that did not befit a king. Aenys was a clear example of weakness. No matter how much Aenys tried to show kindness and compassion to Maegor, some people were naturally ungrateful and full of ambition.

Instead of admiring Aenys, Maegor strongly despised him.

The same thing was happening with Viserys, Rhaenys, and Maekar. The more Viserys showed weakness, the more they could gain support from the nobles.

Fortunately for Viserys, he had a loyal brother and the support of the realm, so winning over the Great Noble Houses of Westeros would be much easier. Unlike Maekar, who had to prove his worth before anything else, or Rhaenys, who had to show that even as a woman, she would be a good queen.

Viserys seemed to grow a bit more at that moment; he looked at Jaehaerys with a more determined gaze and spoke in a tired tone. "Do not worry; I know what to do."

"Viserys, if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. It is heavy, and there will be moments when you make difficult choices, but remember to be decisive in your decisions and never let yourself be manipulated at Court," Jaehaerys advised Viserys in a gentler tone.

Unfortunately, Jaehaerys forgot something very important about his grandson: Viserys was a man who trusted his friends deeply. And some of those friends, like Lord Lyonel Strong, were fiercely loyal to Viserys, but they were the minority.

He could never have imagined that the Hand of the King, whom he personally chose, would, with the passage of time and the lack of male heirs, begin to nurture intentions of putting his own blood on the Iron Throne. Not to mention Corlys, who never stopped aiming for the throne for his son and grandsons.

"Go; your brother is preventing a war at this moment, your other brother is conquering a kingdom, and you must battle on your own battlefield," Jaehaerys said calmly and sent Viserys away with a profound expression.

Viserys wore a complex expression and left the room, leaving Jaehaerys and Ryam alone.

As soon as Viserys left, the door opened, and Jaehaerys didn’t even need to look to see who it was. There was only one person who would dare open his door without knocking or even announcing themselves.

Just as he expected, Alysanne appeared before him. Jaehaerys couldn’t help but feel a headache seeing her. He admitted he had underestimated his wife’s power. These weeks had been a complete hell for him, an old man.

Alysanne’s revenge had not stopped. Problems poured out of every hole in King’s Landing, all for him to solve. Some normal, like resolving a simple quarrel, or worse, preventing a fight to the death over a peasant who raped another peasant’s poor goat.

"I see you’re in a good mood," Jaehaerys commented in a calm tone. "Happy for your grandson?"

"Our grandson," Alysanne corrected Jaehaerys. She looked at her husband and saw he was more tired and pale than usual. This brought a mixed feeling of sweetness and bitterness. Despite everything, she loved Jaehaerys, and Jaehaerys loved her.

Surprisingly, Jaehaerys did not deny Alysanne’s words. He took a handful of papers and looked at the content with a complex expression.

"After I stopped underestimating that child, I investigated deeply what he has done over the years," Jaehaerys said; his expression became even more complex. "He is incredible. He doubled House Blackwood’s forces, tripled the economy, and brought prosperity to the House Blackwood fief. All with just three laws."

"Did you already know this?" Jaehaerys asked in an still complex tone.

"Of course; or did you think I would support a fool for the throne?" Alysanne said with a sigh. She looked at the papers in Jaehaerys’s hands and showed a trace of pride.

"He has a vision of the future that none of us can even imagine," she said with a smile. "If you saw the journal Gael showed me, you would see that he would bring nothing but prosperity to our house."

"Why did he have to want to be king? He could have been Viserys’s Hand, and none of this would be happening," Jaehaerys said in an irritated tone.

"Men have different ambitions, Jaehaerys, just as you do," Alysanne said in a soft tone.

"Convince him," Jaehaerys said in a solemn tone. "If he accepts being Viserys’s Hand, I will make him Lord Paramount of the Trident, as a cadet branch of House Targaryen."

Alysanne was shocked by Jaehaerys’s words, but then shook her head.

"He is as headstrong as Aemon and Baelon; now that he has started, he won’t stop until he sits on the Iron Throne." Despite not having spent much time with Maekar, she had seen the full character of her grandson.

Though not an adult, he was a man in full. Not a weak man, but one determined to create an era where everyone would sing his name, just as they sang Aegon’s.

Jaehaerys only let out a sigh and returned to a cold and indifferent expression. "So be it; let’s see if he can sit on the Iron Throne while I am still alive."

Alysanne looked at her husband and just shook her head.

Jaehaerys was similar to Maekar in that aspect; her husband was a stubborn man who believed only his vision could truly be the best possible.

Or rather, it was something every king possessed.

Aegon was like that, Aenys was like that, Maegor was like that, Jaehaerys was like that, and whoever sat on the Iron Throne in the future would think the same thing.

Their worldview was the most correct.

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Note 1: I’m putting off the conquest of Dorne so it doesn’t seem too random. I hope you guys understand.

By the way, I changed Maekar’s photo; it’s in the Photos section of NovelPhoenix

Note 2: I was stressed out by the chaos of my life, so I decided to play a game from my childhood. And, my God, the game was just as good as I remembered. It’s so solitary and empty, totally different from the action and shooter games I usually play.

It’s just me, a mare, and a glowing sword in a world of giants.

Read the advanced Chapters on my Patreon!

/GOTSW

Read my other books:

House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos

Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.

Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard