Petyr Baelish stood on the deck, looking indifferently at the ship's direction of travel. The mist on the sea gradually dissipated, and the bow of the June Flower smoothly cut through the grayish-green water, moving steadily forward... As a line of jagged rocky ridges rose from the sea, the massive figure of the Titan came into view.
This humanoid fortress had stood here for centuries, its stone legs straddling the gap in the ridge, each foot resting on a giant rock of the same black granite texture as the standing ground, perhaps even carved from the mountain rock itself; a green bronze battle skirt was tied around its waist, a bronze breastplate covered its chest, and a crowned bronze half-helmet was on its head, its flowing hair made of dyed green hemp rope, its eyes two caves with large bonfires burning within; one of its hands rested on the ridge to the left, bronze fingers gripping a giant rock; the other hand reached towards the sky, clutching the hilt of a broken sword.
The Titan of Braavos, perhaps the largest humanoid statue in the world, was a magnificent sight in itself, even without considering its military function. But Petyr didn't look at it for long; this wasn't his first time in Braavos. In fact, his great-grandfather was a sellsword from Braavos. It was only later that the sellsword's son—Petyr's grandfather—swore fealty to House Buckler and became a knight, thus adding a Petyr Baelish family to Westeros.
To commemorate the place where his great-grandfather was born, grew up, and learned swordsmanship, his grandfather chose the head of the Titan as his sigil when he became a knight... How ironic, choosing the Titan as the sigil, yet failing to give birth to descendants as imposing as the Titan? If he hadn't been so short and weak, how could he have been bullied his whole life and been given the moniker "Littlefinger"?
"Littlefinger," heh, Catelyn was the first to call him that. Only the Seven Gods knew how much he loved being called that by her; those were such beautiful and warm times, unfortunately...
Petyr shook his head, casting away memories of the past. He knew very well that no matter how tall and imposing he had been born, the moment he decided to compete with Brandon Stark for a woman, he was doomed to fail. This had nothing to do with build or martial skill, but was determined by class. And people cannot choose their birth.
He never dwelled on meaningless things. Rather than being sentimental, what he was now thinking about day and night, trying to figure out, was who exactly was secretly working against him.
If the "Last Will of Ser Hugh" on that paper was the heavy hammer that shattered his ambitions and plans, then the person wielding this hammer was what truly terrified Petyr—never showing the slightest trace from beginning to end, yet at the most crucial moment, striking his fatal weakness in the most deadly way, leaving him not only disgraced but also having all his contingency plans dismantled without a trace!
...
Yes, he was the one who killed Jon Arryn, but the original plan was not like this. He initially intended to lure Cersei into poisoning Jon Arryn. However, that foolish woman failed to get the job done, even when Lord Arryn was ready to confront Robert, arrest her and her brother-lover, and simultaneously mobilize the Six Kingdoms for a full-scale war against Lannister. This forced him to use Lysa, his trump card, ahead of time to help her survive this ordeal.
One step later, Lannister would have been brought down by that old man from House Arryn and wouldn't be able to recover for decades, and Westeros would enjoy peace for decades after a brief war. It was a pity that his wife was dreaming of being with another man without him realizing it... For this alone, Jon Arryn's death was not unjust at all.
...
Yes, he was also the one who killed Ser Hugh, the purpose being to create more smoke for Eddard Stark's investigation and divert the trouble back to Lannister. The operation wasn't complicated: first, instigate Robert, making him grant Hugh a nominal knighthood out of consideration for Hugh having "served the old Hand of the King for many years"; then, use some means to let this young man "make a small fortune," thus having the financial means and equipment to participate in the tourney; finally, whisper a few words in Cersei's ear, making her believe that Hugh might know about her special relationship with Jaime...
Finally, at Cersei's "request," slightly manipulate the outcome of the tourney's opponent selection drawing, and the matter was settled.
Everything was so easy. That foolish woman Cersei took the bait with just a little provocation, actually sending someone like Gregor, who had the Lannister label plastered on his forehead, to kill that young man... Now he didn't even need to waste his breath; that stubborn Northerner Eddard Stark suspected Lannister himself.
There were some minor twists in the plan, but overall, it was still proceeding smoothly. With a little more guidance, the conflict between the lion and the wolf would be on the verge of breaking out. Then, he would act according to the situation, first killing the muddled King Robert, causing infighting among the House Baratheon brothers, and preventing the Six Kingdoms from uniting... Then, he would help whichever side was winning, and his grand plan to rise to power amidst the chaos was about to formally begin!
But the sudden appearance of the "Will of Ser Hugh" destroyed everything. Those notes were definitely not written by Hugh. After arriving in King's Landing, he had never had an affair with that woman Lysa. Even the last few secret discussions about important matters were conducted secretly late at night through a secret passage, hidden from everyone; it was impossible for anyone to discover.
Who on earth could it be?
Cersei and Eddard didn't have such strategy and cunning; Grand Maester Pycelle was just the Queen's dog and knew nothing but acting old and experienced; Renly was clueless about everything, and Stannis was already preparing to gather troops to quell the Lannister rebellion and then become the heir to the Iron Throne. If he knew anything, he would never have watched Jon be killed by him... Could it be Varys?
For reasons he didn't understand, the Master of Whisperers seemed to share his desire to prevent Lannister from being overthrown too early. When Jon Arryn and Stannis began investigating Robert's bastards and the parentage of Cersei's children, Varys, who discovered this earlier, even proactively provided intelligence to Cersei... Throughout the period until Jon was poisoned, the eunuch continuously supplied Cersei with information.
Undoubtedly, in terms of intelligence gathering ability, the Master of Whisperers was indeed superior to him, but... the poisoning of Jon was, from beginning to end, handled solely by himself and Lysa; no helpers were sought. If he was still discovered by Varys despite being so cautious, then Varys was a god, not the Master of Whisperers and a dead eunuch.
Petyr's intuition told him that this matter was unlikely to be Varys's doing, but after agonizing for a long time, he finally decided to blame the eunuch. Besides Varys, he truly couldn't think of anyone else in King's Landing who could have destroyed his plan with such vicious and incisive means—whether he guessed correctly or not, a visible enemy was always much better than an invisible and elusive mysterious opponent.
The Vale of Arryn was originally his ultimate trump card and a place to escape to if things went wrong, but now, thanks to the chaos caused by the Brotherhood Without Banners, it had become a deadly place he absolutely couldn't go to... The only thing worth celebrating was probably that because of this matter, he had unexpectedly escaped house arrest and gained an opportunity to escape to freedom.
After keeping him locked up for so many days, they now wanted him to continue borrowing money for the Iron Bank? These damned great lords were as contemptuous of him as ever.
No matter who won or lost this rebellion war, Westeros was now an extremely dangerous place and he absolutely couldn't return. As for the Iron Bank's money, smart people wouldn't mess with it... Fortunately, he still had a secret asset in Braavos. The money from selling it would be enough for the rest of his life, as long as he quickly got rid of the attendants Robert had assigned to "escort" him and escaped Braavos—with the Iron Throne's current financial resources and Eddard Stark's network and ability, they simply couldn't hire anyone to pursue him and extradite him back to the country.
As for what came next, whether to live the rest of his life in humiliation under a false name, or to find a powerful patron and try to make a comeback, that was a matter for later.
Viserys Targaryen seemed like a good option, but intelligence indicated he wasn't very bright, and it was unclear where he was for now... Wait, he should think about these things later, after settling down. For now, the resentment from all his efforts going down the drain had to be vented somewhere—that fellow Varys seemed to be trying hard to maintain peace in the Seven Kingdoms. Since you've become my chosen imaginary enemy, whether you spread the rumors or not, you won't have an easy time.
As for how... Since he was brought down by rumors, he would use the same method to return chaos to the enemy who brought him down!
...
The wind and waves propelled the June Flower, and the ship beneath his feet steadily and quickly approached the Titan. The seawater was churned into white foam by the hull, and the giant's shadow became instantly overwhelming—they had entered the harbor of Braavos.
Petyr Baelish stopped his thoughts, turned around, and put on a smiling face for the two attendants Robert had sent to "escort" him: "The one who will repay the money in the future is Your Majesty the King, but we, who are here to borrow money, are the masters. As per custom, the Iron Bank must have already prepared accommodation for us. The women of Braavos are world-famous; we can't afford the highest-class courtesans, but slightly lower-class ones are not a problem. Since we're here, we definitely can't miss out. I'll cover all expenses. You two brothers have worked hard along the way; enjoy yourselves."