[THIRD’S PERSON POV]
A full week had completely passed by since the miraculous birth of Aelor.
The passive magical effects originating from the Essence of the Healer had now gradually introduced themselves into the gloomy halls of House Towers.
The diligent servants working throughout the sprawling castle had explicitly noticed that they physically felt much lighter than before.
They felt considerably more at peace during the dark nights.
Furthermore, after sleeping in their humble quarters, they consistently woke up feeling incredibly well rested and full of boundless energy.
The overall dreary environment within Harrenhal just began rapidly changing for the better, and absolutely no one could have accurately figured out exactly why it was happening.
Even the various livestock that existed solely for providing food for the massive castle had miraculously begun to grow a bit thicker and significantly healthier.
The dairy cows began to produce much larger quantities of sweet milk, while the healthy chickens started producing far more eggs as well as building safe nests for their newborn chicks.
“Perhaps the newborn son of Princess Rhaena herself has been personally blessed by the Old Gods? Knowing that the nobles of House Towers are also direct descendants of the First Men… Wait, if I am not entirely wrong, I heard from ancient tales that House Towers actually came from the deep North and were vanquished by House Stark during a bitter struggle. Perhaps the Old Gods decided to bless them now to ensure their ultimate survival,” a gossiping servant of Harrenhal, who was one of the very few dedicated followers of the Old Gods living in the Riverlands, whispered to the other servants.
He eagerly ate a freshly boiled egg that came directly from the chickens in the newly repaired Harrenhal coop.
The rich taste of the food was vastly improved from just a week ago when Prince Aelor had not even been born yet.
“Why in the world would the Old Gods ever bless young Lord Aelor? Is his mother not a true Valyrian? Would it not make much more sense that their fiery gods blessed them rather than the Old Gods, especially since the royal family is still actively practicing their odd foreign ways?” another servant answered with a dismissive sneer.
“It truly does not matter if there is ancient magic involved, or if our new lord is personally blessed by the divine gods themselves, or if this is all just a massive coincidence. Just do your daily jobs faithfully. If they really are blessed by the divine gods, and if we serve them with true loyalty, perhaps we too will be blessed in return. The dark halls of Harrenhal also began to feel significantly less haunted nowadays, and we should be incredibly thankful for that,” a much older and wiser servant then said firmly.
He successfully shut up the two younger men who had been discussing the matter far too loudly at their wooden dining tables.
Meanwhile, the one truly responsible for the miraculous changes happening within Harrenhal was peacefully lying in his wooden cradle.
Little Aelor looked intently upon the black and red dragon egg that was constantly emitting a tremendous heat from within its stony shell.
Aelor had been actively using his unique mystical abilities to diagnose the dragon egg every single day.
He was entirely determined to ensure that his future dragon would not suffer from any kinds of terrible sickness and would absolutely reach the very peak of its ancient race.
After a full week of continuous monitoring and magical diagnosing, Aelor knew that the highly anticipated hatching of his dragon egg was rapidly nearing.
He could physically feel the creature inside becoming exceptionally stronger as it entered its final phase of natural incubation.
He had already successfully cured his unborn dragon of the detrimental biological effects that would have severely stunted its physical growth.
This inherent weakness had been caused by its mother, Dreamfyre, producing an egg entirely on her own without the presence of a proper mate.
While he was busy doing this internal work, Princess Rhaena came inside Aelor’s spacious chambers.
She quietly dismissed the diligent wet nurse who had been watching over the room.
If there was absolutely anyone who had been affected by the Essence of the Healer the most, it was Princess Rhaena herself.
Thanks to the incredibly soothing presence that Aelor’s magical ability naturally emits, along with her constant everyday exposure to her infant son, she had been bathed in its healing aura more than anyone else.
Because of this, she finally began to recover psychologically and physiologically from the immense trauma she had suffered in her tragic past.
She also began to drastically improve upon her own drive for a stable future.
She started to actively build a secure future for her remaining child, slowly reaching her true potential as the formidable head of her new household.
When Rhaena is not spending precious time with Aelor, she is often meeting with her loyal maester and trusted servants.
Together, they slowly and carefully build grand plans for the economic improvement and enrichment of House Towers.
They fully plan to properly utilize the large amount of fertile lands stretching across the vast territory surrounding Harrenhal.
“Hello, my sweet little prince,” Princess Rhaena warmly greeted Aelor.
This was a loving ritual she had faithfully performed every single day over the past week.
Princess Rhaena then settled in to spend some quality time with her infant son, while Aelor happily enjoyed the affectionate company of his mother.
As the two were quietly bonding with each other, a sudden and incredibly loud cracking sound echoed through the stone room.
Princess Rhaena, being an experienced dragonrider who was deeply familiar with this specific sound, immediately scooped Aelor up in her arms.
She swiftly moved him far away from the wooden cradle, standing at a much safer distance just in case the intense heat sparked a dangerous fire.
While she was doing so, more and more sharp cracking sounds began to fill the quiet air.
Aelor stared intently at the source of the noise.
It was his dragon egg.
‘I knew it would hatch any day now, but I genuinely did not expect that it would happen today,’ Aelor thought to himself.
He looked with wide eyes upon his trembling egg, fully aware that his fiercely protective mother was completely ready to shield him with her own body if something horrible or dangerous were to happen during the birth.
After a few more tense minutes of waiting, the scaly shell completely shattered apart.
The dragon egg finally fully hatched, revealing a magnificent creature that Rhaena felt she had definitely seen somewhere before in the royal histories.
‘It looks exactly like the Black Dread.
It is Balerion in hatchling size,’ Princess Rhaena thought in sheer amazement.
Her stunned thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a surprisingly loud and piercing screech released by the newborn dragon.
The tiny beast then looked around the room, appearing to be frantically searching for something.
Finally, its scaled head turned directly toward Princess Rhaena and the small figure cradled safely in her arms.
When it saw the babe, it immediately took flight.
This was something that was definitely not supposed to be physically possible for a newly hatched dragon whose wings were still wet, but it miraculously did it anyway.
It clumsily but determinedly flew through the air and landed squarely upon the shoulders of Princess Rhaena.
It then carefully stretched its long neck forward to make its warm snout gently touch Aelor’s head.
‘It bonded with my son.
A dragon with an identical appearance to Balerion has just bonded with my son,’ Princess Rhaena thought in complete awe.
She looked back and forth between the tiny black dragon hatchling and her son Aelor.
The baby happily stretched his small hands out toward the creature.
The newborn dragon then let out a seemingly satisfied purring noise, while little Aelor responded by letting out an incredibly adorable laugh.