What an eventful six or so years it was... for the kingdoms of Westeros, that is.
Deaths after deaths and then new management... just like that.
Ronan summarized it simply, even when his passing of the time was actually quite different from the rest of the Realm.
Pretending to be a baby, then a toddler, and now a little boy wasn't exactly easy. Fortunately, he had his own improvised VR game to kill time.
Then again, leaving shit in the butt and drenching oneself in pee isn't anything fun.
Even when you feel like some spoiled lord whenever someone else wipes and cleans it out for you.
The breastfeeding was something else entirely.
Sucking on his mother's was pretty awkward and very Sigmund Freud... but the substituting wet nurses were a treat.
Of course, what followed was the crawling around on all fours... then the waddling... and then walking on two feet...
Like those of his age, he also drooled... he babbled... he imitated... then talked...
To reinforce his cover some more, he explored not just the corners of this castle but also the trees, the hills, and trailed behind birds.
Admittedly, those latter parts were more fun to do. Exploring his inner child... in a child's body at that.
It also helped that Runestone and the landscapes of the Vale were very aesthetic... as long as it wasn't covered by unpredictable Winters and plagued by mountain clan attacks.
Fortunately, the more indoor activities are exciting to do too.
Like spotting the runes of the walls and armors... and reading up on what the maester needs him to learn.
And that's not because he was some bookworm nerd into esoteric calligraphy. He was far from it.
It's just that the page in his head makes it so worth it.
Heaven Rewards Diligence. Which is as advertised.
As long as he puts effort into something, he gets rewarded... so maybe this page was Heaven itself.
Take his praised and quick mastery of the Old Tongue and High Valyrian for example.
Which are rewards from reading books of those languages, over and over and over... cause they sure were hard as can be.
But repetition was key. And as long as he puts in some effort, he will be able to make progress.
For that kind of diligence, something was due.
And in the end, he's eventually able to master the contents of what he's read.
Granted, that was not all there is to it.
Aside from assisted mastery, the page dishes out its heavenly reward. Which is content and knowledge that is better and very much improved from what was mastered.
Writing it out in its empty spaces for him to learn even further... which is logistically weird given that a single page literally fits an entire book's worth and more.
Of course, given that it's a reward, it doesn't stay imprinted in the page for long as the texts dispersed out from it... and merges into its surrounding space, which is literally his mind.
Meaning that he had those improved knowledge swirling about in his head... waiting for him to digest and master again.
Quite complex of a cheat, isn't it?
In any case, the gist is that it is an aid for diligence... and gifts out much better gains to further be diligent about.
A cycle of progress and improvements is what this cheat offered to him.
Just like how it was for the 'Booklets of Old Tongues'. Sort of an Old Tongue to Common Tongue dictionary that was a common read for Royces, who are required to remember their heritage as First Men.
With some samples like 'magnar' is lord, 'skagos' is stone, 'sygerrik' is deceiver, and 'woh dak nag gran' means squirrel people.
Accordingly, with that booklet... Ronan read, re-read, and twisted his tongue when reciting such a coarse, harsh, and clanging dialect.
However, as soon as he was finally able to speak it like his main language, it was all worth it... cause the page literally awarded him with a book's worth from a booklet.
'A Book of Old Tongues' is what swirled in his brain and is what he then transcribed into form after asking the maester for paper and ink.
A broken pen is better than the sharpest mind, after all. And he found that it helped quite a lot in mastering these new contents.
So... as if possessed by First Men who wanted to bring their culture to the modern age, he spelled out new Old Tongue phrases and what they meant in Common Tongue.
Making the elderly scholar understandably suspicious of its validity... but under Lady Rhea's orders, his notes and notes of papers were compiled and bound.
Making for a much heftier assignment for future Royce heirs to memorize. A headache that was birthed.
By Rune and Stone. His pen name that was attached in case they curse him in his grave.
And yeah... he is kind of a published author in this world, which is a much better writership standing than his last.
By virtue of the page's new improvement cycle, he could even go further and make 'A Book of Old Tongues, Volume II'.
Then again, it was such a waste to use this goldfinger to just be a glorified historical linguist. Nor did he just want to stop at side hobbies like doodling and painting...
Ronan had other plans... far better plans for a more exciting future he had in mind.