Chapter 32: Jenny Hyde
The next morning, Ian slept soundly until he woke naturally.
Despite a nightmare the night before, he felt refreshed after a full eight hours of rest. His mind was much clearer than it had been the previous evening.
After washing up, Ian was greeted by Rolf, who reported, "Master."
"No, no," Ian quickly interrupted him. "Don't call me master. Just call me Ser Lucien, like everyone else. That's my current identity."
"As you wish, Ser Lucien," Rolf shrugged. "Jenny Hyde, the innkeeper Masha's niece, just knocked on the door."
"How could it be her? Where is she?"
"I told her you were still sleeping, and she left."
"Then go ask her to come back."
"Should we also order some food? We haven't eaten yet."
"Yes, do that."
Rolf acknowledged and left the room, returning two minutes later with Jenny.
Jenny Hyde was a young woman not yet eighteen. While not a stunning beauty, she was quite pretty, especially her eyes, which sparkled with lively intelligence.
She wore a beautiful navy blue linen dress, her long brown hair cascading over her shoulders, with a glimpse of her shapely calves visible beneath the skirt's hem.
This was probably her finest dress, Ian guessed.
"My lord," Jenny curtsied quickly upon seeing Ian, though he could still sense her furtively observing him.
"What did Masha tell you yesterday?" Ian's expression darkened slightly.
"She didn't say much. She just told me to recall how many of the guests who stayed at the inn yesterday were first-timers, and then to report to you this morning."
"Why didn't she come herself?"
"She's in the kitchen. You might not realize, but she's the only cook in this inn. If she leaves, the place can't function properly, so she sent me to be at your service."
"Aren't you curious what I need this information for?"
"Of course I am, but my aunt wouldn't say. She just told me to serve you diligently." Jenny paused, then added with slight embarrassment, "She said you're the wealthiest man she's ever met, a guest of honor to the Triarch of Volantis and even the God-Emperor of Yi Ti. She told me to seize the opportunity, even if it's just for one night, or even once. With your generous spending, it would be enough for us to live well for years."
"So you put on your prettiest dress to serve me, hoping that if you can get into my bed, you'll be set for life?" Ian rolled his eyes.
"Oh, my lord." Jenny's face flushed crimson as Ian exposed her scheme. She muttered in a low voice, "I just didn't expect you to be so young."
Two years younger than you! Ian thought to himself.
"Put those foolish thoughts aside," Ian steered the conversation back to business. He had no interest in dallying with someone like Jenny. "Tell me, which strangers were among the guests who stayed at the inn yesterday?"
"A total of fourteen people arrived at our inn yesterday and stayed the night. Eleven of them we'd never seen before." Seeing Ian's serious expression, Jenny dared not think further and quickly began reporting the information she'd gathered.
"That many?"
"Yes, my lord. That's typical for our location. Most guests are just passing through and want to rest for the night, so there are quite a lot of strangers."
"Then describe these eleven people to me."
"I'm afraid I can only tell you about three of them."
"Why is that?"
"Only three remain at the inn now. The others bought provisions and left before dawn." Jenny explained nervously, "I wanted to come report to you, but this gentleman stopped me. I couldn't very well stop them myself, could I?"
"You didn't explain why you needed to see me," Rolf frowned.
"I didn't know how to say it." Jenny's eyes darted nervously. She'd come with ulterior motives, so when Rolf refused her, she'd been too flustered to speak up.
"It's nothing," Ian interrupted them both. Anyone leaving before dawn was likely just a traveler in a hurry—unlikely to be a player. "Just tell me about the remaining three."
"Yes, of course," Jenny nodded quickly, relieved. "Of the remaining three, one is a sellsword. He's drinking in the common room now. I spoke with him briefly, and he said he came here to try his luck and see if he could find work.
But he doesn't look like a sellsword at all. He's too thin, looks weak, and I feel like even the geese in our yard could beat him in a fight."
A player! That was Ian's first thought.
Because a player's combat ability had nothing to do with their physical appearance. Just as age didn't affect stats in character creation, neither did body type affect the final result.
If that skinny man claimed to be a sellsword, he might actually be a player.
"What other characteristics does he have? What kind of armor does he wear? What weapon does he carry?"
"That's the strangest part! He has no armor or weapon at all. He's wearing a very worn silk shirt, carrying a coin purse embroidered with gold thread, and his face looks like he's wearing cosmetics."
"Tell me about the remaining two," Ian said, suppressing a laugh.
"The remaining two are a master and servant—a middle-aged knight and a page boy of about eleven or twelve years. They booked a private room and asked me for a bundle of straw pallets, presumably for the boy. They're still in their room; they probably haven't risen yet."
Jenny paused, then suddenly remembered, "Oh, and when they first arrived yesterday afternoon, my aunt asked the knight to ride to the Wood family's manor to help Ser Wilde and his men, but he refused without hesitation. The knight said he had to reach King's Landing and didn't have time to play at chivalry with poor knights from the Riverlands."
"Do you know his name?"
"No, he didn't give his family name."
"What about his coat of arms? Does he display one?"
"Yes, he does. There's something on his cloak," Jenny recalled. "It looks like a tower."
"One tower or two?" Ian's first thought was of House Frey's Twin Towers.
"One, my lord. I saw it clearly."
"What other details? The color of the tower, the color of the cloak, what else is on the design besides the tower?"
"The tower is... yellow, and the cloak is black, no wait, red," Jenny scratched her head. "I can't quite remember. I didn't pay particular attention at the time."
"Black and red field, yellow tower," Ian repeated, then asked after a few moments of thought, "Was the cloak you saw both red and black, and in the middle of the black section, there was a yellow tower with four flames rising from it?"
"Huh? So those were flames?" Jenny said reflexively, then realized, "Yes, exactly as you described!"
(End of Chapter)
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