Not Brandon the Builder.
This was Brandon Snow, the bastard brother of the King in the North when Aegon the Conqueror invaded the North.
He had once planned to assassinate Aegon, but with guards constantly at Aegon’s side, he had no way to get close.
Then inspiration struck.
Aegon’s strength came from his dragons.
Simple.
All Brandon had to do was kill the dragons.
The North’s predicament would be solved at once!
Aegon had guards, but his three dragons were out in the wilderness.
The dragons had no guards!
And the dragons themselves were hardly vigilant.
They simply sprawled out in the open and slept!
What a perfect opportunity!
And so Brandon Snow planned to sneak across the river alone and assassinate all three dragons by himself.
Baelon could only call him invincible.
…
Two old women stood there with wicker baskets strapped to their backs, their feet bare.
Two pairs of thin, misshapen feet.
Baelon glanced at the knight.
“What happened?”
“These two have been lurking around the gate, acting suspiciously!”
Baelon turned to the old women and asked patiently, “Is there something you need?”
The one with neatly combed hair steadied herself and forced down her fear.
She stammered, “My lord, I’m Merri from Crossing Elm Village, and this is Sharon. We… we came today to sell a few clumps of Moonbloom.”
Merri was so nervous that her thoughts were running wild.
She had heard songs praising Prince Baelon for his kindness and generosity.
She had always been bold by nature.
Just a few scraps she had heard from wandering bards had been enough to stir her curiosity.
They said several red factories had risen outside King’s Landing.
People from King’s Landing and the surrounding countryside could earn copper coins by cutting reeds, carrying or digging mud, and growing flowers.
Merri was tempted.
It took her two days to persuade Sharon, who had been thrown out of her home by her son and daughter-in-law and was now forced to sleep in the pigsty.
At dusk, the two dug up several clumps of Moonbloom, strapped on their baskets, and set out under cover of night.
Sharon kept wanting to turn back along the way.
Merri was just as frightened, but she never let it show.
She had visited King’s Landing when she was young and still vaguely remembered the road.
After daybreak, the two asked for directions as they went and finally reached the perfume factory.
There was a line of people, some carrying flowers in their arms, others balancing loads of them on shoulder poles.
Merri and Sharon exchanged a glance and saw the same delight in each other’s eyes.
It was true!
Even Sharon’s aching legs seemed suddenly cured as she hurried toward the line, only for Merri to grab her and pull her back.
“Our flowers have wilted. We probably won’t get much for them like this. Let’s find some water and give them a drink.”
With some water, the Moonbloom gradually raised their heads again.
In the end, their eleven clumps of Moonbloom earned them one copper star.
Sharon was beside herself with excitement.
“One copper star!”
“We can buy some oats to take home!”
Then perhaps her son and grandson would call to her warmly again and let her sleep on the floor inside the house.
As if already picturing the joy and astonishment on her family’s faces, Sharon’s eyes crinkled with happiness.
Even the bone-deep ache that had made her feel as though her whole body were falling apart seemed to vanish.
…
Merri spoke very quickly.
Perhaps because she was frightened, she kept stumbling over her words and repeating herself.
Baelon was beginning to tire just listening to her.
He looked at Poddo. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Poddo thought for a moment.
“I remember now.”
“Crossing Elm Village. That’s the village with three elm trees crossing one another at the entrance, right?”
Merri froze.
She instinctively protested, “No, no. There are only two elm trees at the entrance to our village.”
Poddo nodded.
“Crossing Elm Village is about a day’s walk from here.”
Moonbloom was a kind of wildflower native to Westeros.
It produced large, moon-white blossoms that opened at dawn and closed after midday, with a faint, delicate fragrance.
The perfume factory bought all kinds of flowers, spices, and wood throughout the year.
By now, most people in King’s Landing had taken to growing flowers in broken wine barrels and cracked clay pots, then selling them to the perfume factory for a little extra household income.
Because space inside their homes was so cramped, however, most of the flowers did not grow particularly well and fetched little money.
Still, they cost almost nothing.
All it took was digging up a few handfuls of soil outside the city, picking a flower cutting, and tending it for a few months before it could earn them some coin.
How was that any different from getting money for free?
Farmers from the nearby villages, meanwhile, sometimes carried wildflowers from the countryside to sell and could earn several copper coins at a time.
It was already noon.
Thinking about it, didn’t that mean these two old women had set out in the middle of the night?
Baelon asked helplessly, “What have you eaten since last night?”
Merri froze.
Her tongue, so quick a moment ago, suddenly failed her.
Sharon raised her head.
Baelon sighed.
Thousands of years of history from his previous life had left him with the instinctive belief that an emperor stood supreme.
How could he tolerate another man snoring beside his own bed?
That was why he could not stand seeing anyone other than the king, even the Hand of the King, sitting on the throne.
How could just anyone sit on the Dragon Throne?!
But the influence of his previous life did not stop at matters of royal authority.
Ideas like the ruler being a vessel borne up by the people, governing with restraint and compassion, and improving the lives of ordinary folk had also taken deep root in his mind.
What kind of good emperor was a man who could not give his people decent lives?
And perhaps the strongest influence of all was his instinctive dislike, as a transmigrator, of the great aristocratic clans.
What self-respecting transmigrator became emperor and didn’t take on the aristocratic families?!
Oh.
Him.
The currently incompetent Baelon Targaryen still needed a political marriage just to reclaim the largest dragon.
In this world, one side would always end up dominating the other.
Velaryon had three dragons.
Targaryen had only two, and only one was fully grown.
So who was the true master of Westeros, Velaryon or Targaryen?!
Baelon passed a plate of white bread from the table to Ser Uther.
He tipped his chin toward the women.
“Eat something first.”
“We can talk while you eat.”
Merri accepted the plate in a daze.
She wiped her hands on her clothes, then pinched a piece of white bread between her fingers.
So soft…
They were really letting them eat it!
Baelon continued, “What happened after you sold the Moonbloom? Why didn’t you go home?”
Merri’s dry eyes lit up.
Sharon slowly rose to her feet and, still somewhat dazed, picked up a slice of bread.
“I heard you were hiring some kind of perfumer here!”
Courage suddenly swelled in Merri’s chest, and her voice came out loud and clear.
“Prince, I want to try.”
Baelon raised an eyebrow.
Had he just stumbled into a royal job interview?! The source of this chapter is g.com.
Still, he liked the old woman’s courage.
“Why do you think you can do the job?”
Merri hurriedly began listing her qualifications.
“When I was young, I grew a rosebush, and I grew it so well that everyone in the village knew about it!”
Though the rosebush had later died in a fire.
“And my nose is very sharp!”
“I can smell Moonbloom from fifty or sixty paces away!”
The more she spoke, the more confident she became.
“I can even tell two onions apart by their smell!”
“Everyone in the village calls me ‘Dog Nose.'”
Merri even scrunched up her face and sniffed like a dog, trying to make the Prince laugh.
Baelon lightly tapped a finger against the table.
Merri swallowed and waited anxiously.
Baelon said, “If what you’re saying is true, then you can certainly join the perfume factory.”
“Poddo, have someone take her for a test.”
Poddo nodded, walked to the doorway, and called out.
Two workers immediately hurried over and led Merri and Sharon away.
Merri quickly gathered up the bread, stuffed some into Sharon’s pocket and the rest into her own, then offered the clean, empty plate back with both hands.
“Prince, your plate!”
Ser Uther accepted it with both hands and laughed.
“Prince, you owe Steward Poddo a plate of bread now.”
Poddo’s solemn expression did not change.
“Everything I possess belongs to the Prince.”
“Merri!” Sharon called as they left the room, her hoarse voice suddenly regaining its strength.
She had thought earning even one copper star by selling flowers was already a blessing from the Seven.
But now Merri might actually become a perfumer!
She looked at Merri with envy, her voice tinged with jealousy.
“Merri, don’t forget about me once you make something of yourself!”
“Put in a word for me and help me get a good price!”
The black-clad worker glanced back at them.
Merri frowned and snapped, “Don’t talk nonsense!”
Sharon reluctantly fell silent, but after a moment, she spoke again.
“You took two more pieces of white bread than I did.”
“The Prince said it was for both of us.”
“You know I have more mouths to feed. You only have your daughter-in-law, one grandson, and one granddaughter.”
Merri glared furiously at Sharon and shoved her hard to the ground.
“Stop following me!”
“Go back by yourself!”
Merri hurried after the man in black, leaving Sharon behind.
That wretched old Sharon!
What a waste of pitying her!
She could go back and sleep in her pigsty!
Sharon wailed as she scrambled to her feet.
An armored boot stepped past right in front of her.
She looked up.
A noble lord dressed in armor.
Sharon instantly fell silent and quietly climbed to her feet.
The noble lord hurried past without so much as glancing at her.
Then Sharon suddenly noticed that his armor looked very much like what the knight beside the Prince had been wearing.
“Prince!”
Baelon looked up.
“News has come from the Red Keep.”