"Euron...King?!"
Asha's expression froze, and it took her a long time to utter those words in a hoarse voice.
She glared at Galon fiercely. "What are you trying to tell me?"
Galon didn't answer, but reached out and pushed the letter he had just received on the table forward.
Asha's gaze followed his finger down and landed on the letter.
She trembled all over, her inner unease reaching its peak, and her face showed struggle.
After a moment, Asha picked up the letter.
At a glance, she recognized the handwriting as that of her uncle, Rodrik Harlow.
Especially noteworthy are the several seemingly unintentional, distorted symbols drawn in the corner of the letter—these are the secret code that Asha made with Rodrik Harlow when they were children.
"Father... was killed by... Raven Eyes...."
The meaning of the code message flashed into Asha's mind, instantly causing her to lose her composure.
"Euron...you patricide! I'll kill you..."
"I'll kill you!!"
Asha's eyes widened in fury, and her roar echoed through the dungeon.
Immediately afterwards.
She turned her gaze to Galon, who was blocking the dungeon entrance, and disregarded the difference in their strength, punched Galon in an attempt to break out of the dungeon.
But Galon raised his hand and firmly grasped her fist.
"If you think you can escape by knocking me down, I advise you to forget about it."
"Miss Asha, you should be aware of my strength!"
With a gentle push, Galon sent Asha's body kneeling backward, crashing into the dungeon's stone wall.
The cold walls and the pain gradually brought Asha back to her senses from her initial rage.
She clenched her fist, then relaxed it, then clenched it again... Jing repeated this several times.
Galon observed Asha's actions, thinking to himself, "At least she's still keeping her head up; otherwise, I would have had to put in a lot of effort."
Seeing that Asha had given up on forcing her way in, he glanced at her and spoke again.
"Miss Asha, if I'm not mistaken..."
+
Galon met Asha's gaze and said something shocking: "Your Iron Islands' target isn't the North, but Skaggs Island, or more precisely, the dragons on Skaggs Island!"
A grief-stricken Asha breathed heavily in the room, a look of disbelief flashing in her eyes.
She never imagined that Galon knew the Iron Islands' ultimate goal.
Galon's lips curled up in response.
"Taking advantage of King Robb's southward march, launch a three-pronged attack on the North, and then seize Winterfell."
"Then you can safely mobilize your army, cross the northern border, reach Skaggs Island, and achieve your goal of controlling the dragons."
"The entire plan is meticulously crafted and truly magnificent."
"What a pity, your luck wasn't so good!"
He looked at Asha, who remained silent and still in shock, and asked, "I'd like to ask, is this plan Euron came up with?"
Asha hadn't intended to answer, but noticing Galon's expression, a thought struck her, and she asked in a hoarse voice, "How did you know it was him?"
"If you Iron Islands had known the dragon's whereabouts earlier, would you have tolerated it for so many years?"
Following Asha's lead, Galon deliberately said, "I heard that when Euron was banished by your father, King Balon, he said that as long as he lived, Euron would never be able to return to the Iron Islands."
"But then he came back and even participated in the war to conquer the North, bringing inhumane massacres to the cities of Toren and Seven!"
"Now it seems that your uncle's real goal was never to conquer the North, but to open a path!"
Galon's voice suddenly rose, filled with undisguised sarcasm and coldness.
"A road paved with the bones of my Northern warriors and the Iron Islands—from the Rocky Coast all the way to Seal Bay, then by boat to that frozen island, to fulfill his mad dream—to control the dragons!"
Galon noticed that Asha was trembling all over as if someone had ripped open her inner wounds, and he continued to increase the intensity of his attack.
"Look at this letter, King Ha-I-Euron?"
"I truly feel sorry for you and your father."
"You... even your uncle Victorion, who died in battle, were nothing more than pawns he casually sacrificed."
"You're talking nonsense!" Asha suddenly raised her head, her voice sharp, but the trembling at the end betrayed her inner turmoil.
"Nonsense?" Galon whispered like a demon, "Don't you know best whether I'm talking nonsense or not?"
"Miss Asha, look at this letter. Your uncle doesn't care whether you live or die."
"No—he doesn't even care about the lives of the Iron Islands!"
Galon's eyes flashed, and he took a few steps closer, pinning the cornered Asha against the wall.
He could almost feel Asha's rapid breathing, a mixture of anger and fear, and sneered.
"All Euron cares about is fulfilling his dragon dream, like Aegon V's, to control dragons and then conquer Westeros!"
Galon paused for a moment, admiring the subtle fear on Asha's face and the uneasy look in her eyes, before slowly finishing his last sentence.
"To achieve his insane ambition, Euron would be willing to sacrifice the entire Iron Islands."
What do you think, Asha?
As if struck by lightning, Asha's face turned deathly pale.
"My father is dead; he was killed by Euron."
"He is now going to wager the entire Iron Islands in a crazy gamble..."
Thinking of this, the beliefs that had always supported her—the honor of her family and the value of her being captured—collapsed at this moment.
In an instant, she was overwhelmed by a tremendous sense of betrayal and despair.
A smile crept onto Galon's lips as he looked at Asha's eyes, which were on the verge of collapse, and knew that the time had come.
Galon pressed his fingers against Asha's chin, slowly lifting her drooping head until her eyes met his. Galon's voice softened, but carried a deeper, irresistible force.
"Miss Asha, now you only have two paths before you."
"Either continue to be a sacrifice to Euron's ambitions, sinking into the abyss along with him and the Iron Islands."
"Either... cooperate with me and tell me everything about the Iron Islands—the sea routes, the defenses, which families I can win over, and so on."
His red eyes possessed a strange charm, captivating Asha's gaze.
"And I will help you stop this madman."
"Then...:...you shall sit in the Seastone seat and truly find a way to survive for the Iron Islands!"
Galon threw out the bait, which was also Asha's only lifeline.
Asha looked at Galon, her heart trembling as if struck by lightning.
She smelled the masculine scent emanating from Galon, and a strange shiver ran through her.
Of course, there's also the instinct to survive in dire circumstances.
This instinct made her realize that she was no longer a proud heiress of the Iron Islands, but a woman pushed to the brink, needing to make a choice.
Galon's composure, cunning, and the brutal truth he revealed shattered her old world like a hammer blow.
This also forced her to re-examine the terrible yet possibly only hope man in front of her.
Asha's psychological defenses are quietly crumbling.
She hesitated for a moment, then finally whispered, "What do you want to know?"
Galon smiled, knowing that his cooperation with Asha was secure.
Just as he was about to strike while the iron was hot and extract information, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the dungeon.
"Garon."
Sansa called out to Galon with a slightly anxious tone.
But when she saw her unmarried self and Asha's ambiguous post on the wall, her voice suddenly stopped.
In an instant, Galon felt a chill run down his spine.
The situation immediately became awkward.