Chapter 150: 150. Drawing silk from cocoons
Lann ca to this world by crossing the celestial conjunction just to safely bring Alia back ho.
Who knew that the news received at this mont indicated that while Alia was fine, her family seed about to be decapitated...
In Lann’s view, Edd Stark could be considered a good man.
The Demon Hunter had more than once heard the Pri Minister and the King’s quarrels in the convoy heading to King’s Landing, about whether or not to assassinate the two children across the Narrow Sea.
Edd never compromised, whether for the sake of chivalry or personal morality.
In front of the furious Robert, he stood as unyielding as a glacier rock.
Lann didn’t dislike such people; on the contrary, he admired them.
"Let’s go back. Although I believe your father, as the Hand of the King, shouldn’t be unaware of everything, having one more piece of information is always good."
After patting Alia’s shoulder, the two walked down the slope of Steel Street, preparing to return to the Pri Minister’s Tower in the Red Castle.
On the way back, the two saw many vendors, civilians, and street perforrs hurrying out of King’s Landing with their livelihood tools.
Their cheerful, hurried expressions didn’t seem due to anything bad, but rather like they were rushing to earn money or have fun.
Lann rembered the tournant held for the inauguration of the Pri Minister.
Recently, there were no festivals, so this was the only event worth such excitent.
It seed the tournant would take place outside the city.
But even Alia, who loved excitent, was not in the mood to join in; after experiencing many things in the alternate world, her basic self-control had improved significantly.
When nearing the gates of the Red Castle, Lann presented a pass issued by Edd and smoothly returned to the Pri Minister’s Tower.
It was lunchti when Edd once more entered that sowhat empty dining hall, but Alia grabbed her father and pulled him to the corner.
"Alia, don’t ss around!"
Sansa, already seated primly at the table, called out to her sister.
In her eyes, this was just another one of her sister’s antics.
Edd initially thought the sa, rubbing his tired face as he began to speak.
"Alia, if you want to play, you can look for..."
"Lord Jon Arryn’s death was unnatural, wasn’t it, Dad?!"
Edd’s weary expression froze instantly; he even had to pause to regain his composure, looking at his young daughter with disbelief.
"How did you..."
"Never mind that, this place has too many eyes and ears, co with ."
Edd was left bewildered by his young daughter’s words.
’Eyes and ears?’ How could Alia understand such matters?
"Alia, stop bothering fa..."
Sansa tried to halt Alia’s antics, but before she finished, Edd instead turned to Sansa in the dining hall.
"Sansa, you all eat first. I’ll have a talk with Alia."
Then, following Alia’s pull, he was led to the corner outside the hall.
Sansa and the diners were all left in surprise.
Edd loved his children dearly, even if he wasn’t good at expressing it, everyone could feel it.
But now, he wasn’t just going along with Alia; he wanted to... ’talk’ with her?
At the table, Sansa opened her mouth but found no words.
anwhile, Alia took Edd through twists and turns to where Lann was.
It was an inconspicuous little corner.
Lann keenly noticed the slight difference in Edd from when he set out in the morning.
He had a new, ornate dagger at his waist.
The hilt was made of gold-wrapped unknown creature bones, just as valuable-looking as the Lady of the Lake’s Sword Lann carried.
The usually silent Hand of the King first suspiciously looked at the Cat’s Eye Guard assigned to his daughter, then squatted, seriously asking his young daughter.
"How did you know this, Alia?"
Knowing she couldn’t explain clearly, Alia simply pointed to Lann, shifting her father’s attention.
Lann stood against the wall with his arms crossed, shrugging under Edd’s gaze.
"We went out, and because of this sword, we were targeted by a gang of thugs."
Lann thumbed back at the hilt of Aron Dite’s sword, and Edd nodded.
In truth, this sword had been ntioned several tis during his talks with King Robert; a sword that looked exquisite and outstanding was a warrior’s prized possession.
Robert even said he’d buy it for two hundred gold dragons, and that was without seeing the full blade.
"I gave those thugs a lesson; they ntioned a newly knighted person was heavily purchasing good items, and that knight used to be Jon Arryn’s attendant."
Lann shrugged: "I heard from Jorri yesterday that the forr Hand passed very suddenly, leaving you overwheld. The knightly status of this attendant might explain it, but where did all the money co from? I found that suspicious and ca to inform you."
Edd showed little reaction to the first part, rely putting on his habitual serious face.
However, when Lann ntioned they found information about a forr Hand’s attendant, his deanor suddenly beca animated.
"What was that person’s na?"
"Shuofu," Lann repeated, "an attendant of the forr Hand, now a knight in King’s Landing."
"Finally, a clue!" Edd muttered to himself.
Imdiately, he shared all the relevant intelligence about the forr Hand’s death with Lann and the eager Alia.
These two were linked to this matter now anyway, and he was indeed struggling with the investigation alone.
According to Edd, he had already received a letter from the forr Hand’s widow in Winterfell, stating that his foster father was assassinated by the Queen’s Lannister family.
Moreover, the Lannister family planned to murder the King.
This news was crucial for Edd, who was inexperienced in politics, to decisively assu the position of Hand of the King.
Because he wanted to protect his brother, the King—Robert.
But in Lann’s ears, he imdiately sensed sothing amiss.
"Why do you trust the forr Hand’s widow?"
"To , she has done many inexplicable things. For instance, she inford you of the crisis but didn’t leave staff to maintain normal operations within the Pri Minister’s Tower, people who had contact with the forr Hand, who should know sothing. There shouldn’t be a rule that all staff of the Pri Minister’s Tower are replaced when a new owner arrives, right?"
"If it was out of fear of being silenced, fleeing overnight back to the fief, then they should travel light. Why is it that here in King’s Landing, you only learn of an attendant we happened to bump into during our strolls?"
Edd froze for a mont upon hearing this, then defended the forr Hand’s widow.
"Lady Laisa is my wife’s sister."
Lann frowned slightly.
So Edd’s foster father married his wife’s sister?
Alright, that’s dieval nobility for you.
"Kinship isn’t an excuse to cover problems. You surely haven’t t many tis, right? In the vast shadows this matter involves, it’s better not to trust such unreliable relations."
Lann dared to make such comnts about Edd’s relatives because, firstly, he truly cared for Alia’s family.
Secondly, Lann was well aware that in Edd’s eyes, he should seem like soone who t Alia by coincidence, as who could have expected Geoffrey and Alia to have a conflict that day?
So Lann didn’t pose any deliberate conspiracy, instead being a trustworthy outside observer.
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