The Greenwood Bandits were no match for the Royal Guard cavalry; the outcome of the swift ambush was a foregone conclusion.
Viserys witnessed firsthand the knights' heavy armor rendering their crude weapons useless, and he thought that spears and crossbows were what truly mattered. However, he recalled how European heavy cavalry had fallen to the Mongol horsemen, and he considered adapting their tactics. In the future, he'd equip the Royal Army under his brother's command with light cavalry to work in tandem with heavy cavalry, targeting those Seven Kingdoms lords who dared to rebel. They would be courting death.
Viserys looked up, nuzzling his brother's chin like a kitten. The unwavering belief that he needed to become strong to protect his brother and his kingdom made the young prince impatient to grow up. He didn't want to be like...
He was only able to get out of his brother's embrace when Wintan, Benn, and the others were pinned to the ground, awaiting their fate. Throughout the entire battle, Prince Rhaegar hadn't personally engaged.
The stream was a scene of carnage, with bodies missing limbs and covered in blood, their flesh mingling with the water, turning it red. Rhaegar ordered the bodies to be removed, burned, and buried on the spot.
Viserys watched, knowing that cremation was a Targaryen royal tradition. This reminded him of his brother's cremation after his death, and his fear of the Trident River and Ruby Ford grew worse. The young prince's eyes turned cold, and he thought, Robert Baratheon, don't you dare provoke me. He'd have to step over my dead body before he could even face my brother.
The best brother in the world. There would never be anyone like him again.
The crown prince sensed his younger brother's tension. He knelt down, carefully comforting his younger brother, who might have been seeing the dead on the battlefield for the first time, assuring him not to be afraid.
Viserys tilted his face up, his purple eyes reflecting only the silver prince, his endless source of courage. For him, he dared to be the enemy of the world and dared to reshape the world. He said firmly to Rhaegar, "I'm fine, brother."
A breeze swept through the forest, dispersing the smell of blood. Counting the captives, there were thirty-two.
Viserys squatted down, looking levelly at Wintan, who was being held down. The captured white deer finally realized that the silver-haired Targaryen's eyes were not those of a child at all!
"Do you have many questions?"
Wintan gritted her teeth.
"Let me answer them. Miss." The little prince said calmly, "You thought you were disguised well, but you already gave yourself away when you answered my brother's first question. You said you lived alone in a wooden hut and rarely interacted with people, but the half-eaten deer hanging under the eaves, the meat was fresh, with arrow wounds, was hunted yesterday, wasn't it?"
"You, a woman, couldn't possibly eat that much meat in one day. My brother guessed that a group of men were sharing the meat as soon as he saw the deer when he entered the hut."
"So, my brother and I immediately realized you were from the brotherhood. My first words, about going to Dragonstone, were just a deception to fool you. To give you a preconceived notion: that our group was just passing through the Royal Forest."
Rhaegar gazed at his brother, who answered so smoothly. His eyes were filled with tenderness. What is a meeting of minds? He understood immediately why his brother suddenly wanted to go to Dragonstone. And his brother was clever enough to see the flaw in the prisoner's words, just as he had observed initially. They were a perfect match, their minds connected.
Wintan's face turned pale, her lips trembling. She asked hoarsely, "The scented water you gave me..."
Viserys nodded. "I wanted to leave a scent on you. You know the Royal hounds, right? They're incredibly sensitive to scent. We only let them sniff my hair and a piece of your torn clothing, and they could follow your trail all the way to your lair."
Barristan and Arthur Dayne, who were tasked with protecting him, exchanged glances, each understanding what the other was thinking. They had witnessed the entire process; the young prince had thought of this method of tracking in an instant and put it into action shortly after.
So clever. For a child, currently second in line to the throne, was this intelligence a good thing?
And Prince Rhaegar, had been standing behind him, protecting him. He suddenly bent down, bowed his head, and kissed Viserys's hair with pride and devotion. The sweet fragrance of roses still lingered in the silver strands. Rhaegar inhaled, feeling his heart swell with tenderness, plucking at the strings, emitting a prayer—may the Seven Gods protect his most beloved brother.
However, the brother's intimacy flustered the young prince, who had just mentioned the hounds sniffing hair. He touched the dragon bone hairpin his brother had personally placed in his hair, and looked up at Rhaegar. "Brother, what do you plan to do with these people?"
Rhaegar smiled faintly, telling him that this successful tracking was due to his cleverness and his habit of always washing his hair, so the captives belonged to the young prince. He had the right to decide what to do with them.
The two Kingsguard also understood that Prince Rhaegar wanted the young prince to establish merit at a young age; he doted on his younger brother. Arthur couldn't help but think of the king in history who doted on his younger brother the most, whose name was also Viserys. It was just that his brother, Daemon... was spoiled to the point of coveting the position of heir, the Prince of Dragonstone.
But then again, Arthur had full confidence in Prince Rhaegar's abilities. He was clear-headed and sober-minded, and would be a good king. He would also marry a woman of equal status and have an undisputed first heir, a prince. The Targaryen dynasty would never repeat the same mistakes under Rhaegar's reign.
Viserys, upon hearing this, was very happy. Could he finally have his own people? Although he still needed his brother's help—"Can I borrow a hundred Gold Dragons, brother?" he asked, a little shyly.
Rhaegar told Viserys even more gently that his property was also his.
Viserys thought that everything he had was also his brother's.
With the funds, he was eager to try, and continued his purpose, saying to Wintan and the others, "Did you see that? If the king really sends the Royal Army to encircle and annihilate you, the brotherhood will be vulnerable."
Benn howled, not to underestimate them.
Viserys shrugged, "I know there will definitely be some who escape the net, but, you wait and see, they won't last long. Don't insist on staying on a leaky ship."
This gave Wintan a glimmer of hope. She stared into the little prince's eyes.
The little prince met Wintan's gaze and smiled, saying, "I'm sorry, I genuinely hope that you'll come to like using perfume in the future. You're so beautiful and skilled at archery and riding... you could have another life entirely, like a rose that should bloom in the most suitable place."
Several people's expressions, including Rhaegar's, turned strange. Wintan's face immediately flushed, then paled.
The little prince realized he'd misspoke and waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no, I'm not asking you to be a mistress, don't worry. I'm still so young! I won't be thinking about those things for another ten years!"
Rhaegar clenched his fist.
"I'll give you Gold Dragons. I hope you can open a shop in King's Landing. You can open whatever you like, and I can even give you advice if you need it."
Wintan couldn't believe it! "You... you're pardoning us?"
"Yes. I'm making the decision. I pardon you. But you must never return to robbing people for a living. If you break the law again, I'll have you hanged."
The surviving members of the Brotherhood were overjoyed... but Wintan cautiously pressed, "What do you want us to do in exchange?"
"Smart!" Viserys clapped his hands. "I'm the real owner of this shop, and you'll get a generous salary! I just need to know what interesting things are happening in the city! You can write letters and have the Raven deliver them to me. I'm stuck in the Red Keep and it's boring!"
Wintan knew this was just a euphemism for gathering intelligence. But she didn't mind. The freed men knelt before the young prince, according to tradition, and swore their loyalty. Some were reluctant, but Viserys waved his hand. "Let them choose: the gallows or the Night's Watch."
King's Landing received reports that the two princes had achieved consecutive victories in the spring bandit suppression. Then, Sir Arthur Dayne of the Kingsguard advised King Aerys, requesting that the ordinary civilians residing in the Royal Forest be granted certain rights, such as being allowed to gather firewood and hunt a few deer.
The king, not yet completely mad, listened to the advice. From then on, the Brotherhood could no longer get cover from the civilians, who fully supported the knights, even if they had to pay to borrow firewood.
In the late spring and early summer battles, Barristan killed the Brotherhood's leader, Simon Toyne. The most formidable opponent, the Smiling Knight, was held off by Jaime Lannister's sword and finally fell under the Sword of the Morning, Arthur Dayne.
The Brotherhood of the Royal Forest was thus cleared out.
The returning troops were given a triumphant welcome-back ceremony. The king didn't mention the eldest son's achievements, but lavishly praised his youngest son, rambling incoherently and attributing the achievements of the two Kingsguard to Viserys's command. Even such a shameless distortion of the truth was met with unconditional flattery from his sycophants.
Viserys's sixth birthday was celebrated grandly. Members of the royal family went out onto the Red Keep's terrace, and Viserys heard the cheers: "Long live the King!" The sound was quite loud. However, when his elder brother, the Crown Prince Rhaegar, wearing a low-key light purple robe, also stepped forward, Viserys was pleased to hear the thunderous and overwhelming enthusiastic response.
"Excellent, justice will prevail," he thought contentedly. His brother possessed both popularity and strength. In a few years, as Aerys became increasingly mad, it wouldn't be impossible for him to initiate a Privy Council order for the old king to abdicate.
Viserys lay in bed, satisfied, that night, drifting off to sleep in the velvet embrace. This time, he didn't see his beloved brother ascending the throne. In the chaos, a circular disc appeared before him, reminiscent of entertainment venues in the modern world, yet also showcasing the beauty of mechanical precision: and, it seemed to be a perpetual motion machine.
The unchangeable core point was in the center, supporting the precise perpetual motion machine. Viserys examined it and once again saw his crowned brother, Rhaegar. He was more mature and handsome, leading troops across the Seven Kingdoms on horseback. He was like a new god, and all the decadent old scenes were revitalized with his arrival—the granaries were full, livestock abounded, ports and roads bustled with activity, and in the eyes of the common people, there was only joy and anticipation.
Although the long night was coming in the North, and the White Walkers' Night King would appear as prophesied, Westeros was already well-prepared, united in their defense at the Wall.
Viserys watched with great interest. Yes, this was the little prince's dream. His brother as king, changing the world.
The disc rotated slowly.
Around this core, a circle of squares listed different items: such as, postpartum care for sows and the raising of piglets (with twenty included), or, castration and breeding of boars (with twenty included), and so on.
What is this? A lottery?
Viserys was eager to try, but he wanted to know if the prizes would be awarded immediately.
The entry displayed a supplementary explanation: No, storage type, free to retrieve at any time.
That's good, that's good, otherwise, it would be too bizarre to suddenly have twenty pigs appear in his room.
Viserys looked through all the lottery items, and there were still some good things: high-quality wheat seeds suitable for the local soil, the simple production of penicillin in this era (with a set of glass experimental equipment), the smelting method of Valyrian Steel (requires Dragonfire, must be obtained after getting a dragon), and what he wanted most at the moment: the whereabouts of the Targaryen dynasty's famous Valyrian Steel swords, Blackfyre and Dark Sister.
Viserys stared at that slot, shaking the wheel—the pointer stopped on the pig farming section. And then, there was nothing. The little prince expressed his refusal; he absolutely did not want to become a pig herder. The disc slowly disappeared, and he fell back into a sweet dream.
The next day, as soon as he opened his eyes, the little prince found that new knowledge points had flooded into his mind: how to castrate a boar. He was surprisingly clear about all the steps! And ranked within his mind's consciousness were twenty fine-skinned, tender, white boars that this world didn't have—squeezing and huddling together, grunting, and dangling their things, as if waiting for him to practice.
FUCK! The little prince shook his head desperately, pulling his hair, wanting to forget this scene.
It's a farming novel, after all. And Robert's role is coming up soon; he's the third male lead.