For the sake of his own life, there was no way he could let these two maids continue serving him at close quarters.
Baelon silently committed their faces to memory, intending to compensate them later.
The moment the younger maid picked him up, he deployed the only weapon he had.
“Waaah, waaah…”
His cries rang through the bedroom.
“What’s wrong?” Rhaenyra hurried over to check on him.
The maid quickly cradled Baelon and gently rocked him, humming a soft lullaby under her breath.
“Let me see!”
“He hasn’t pooped.”
“Maybe he’s hungry. I’ll call the wet nurse.”
The older maid pulled a bell cord, and a clear jingling sound rang out.
Before long, Baelon found himself in a pair of arms that smelled of milk, and he immediately stopped crying.
A brown lump of flesh was brought to his lips.
Baelon pressed his lips tightly together.
He wasn’t hungry!
This was no time to be drinking milk!
Unfortunately, babies had no teeth, so he could hardly grit them shut.
He resisted with all his might, but it was useless.
The lump of flesh easily forced its way into his mouth.
Baelon: …
Forget it.
Since things had come to this, he might as well eat first.
Baelon had no intention of making his own body suffer over some pointless sense of shame.
He immediately began drinking his fill.
There was nothing else he could do.
His tiny body was rather frail, so he needed to eat plenty if he wanted to grow stronger.
A short while later, the wet nurse finished feeding him and left, and Baelon was returned to the maid’s arms.
He steeled himself.
The instant he touched the maid’s embrace, he opened his mouth and began wailing again, as though she were wearing a dress woven from nettles.
Rhaenyra had no idea what was wrong with him.
She tried her best to care for her little brother like an adult, picking up the dragon egg and his toys and awkwardly waving them in front of Baelon, looking both helpless and inexperienced.
But nothing could stop the Prince from crying.
The maid could only carry him back and forth, rocking and coaxing him.
While they remained at an impasse, a knight arrived with a message.
“Princess, His Grace asks you to go see him. The Queen’s funeral will be held three days from now, in the afternoon. There are matters he wishes to discuss with you.”
Three days from now, in the afternoon?
Baelon swallowed to soothe his slightly hoarse throat and, still crying, glanced at the time displayed on the System panel.
[20:07:06]
If he adjusted his sleep schedule over the next two days, he should be able to stay awake that afternoon.
Rhaenyra nodded and gently squeezed Baelon’s fist.
“I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Rhaenyra turned and left without hesitation.
For a time, only Baelon and the two maids remained in the bedroom.
Now that he was alone and without backup, Baelon quietly closed his mouth and settled down.
The maids were already unhappy about having their pay docked.
Baelon decided it would be best not to make trouble while no one else was around, lest their pent-up resentment finally boil over.
He blinked quietly, neither crying nor fussing, looking as obedient as could be.
The maids breathed a sigh of relief.
Supporting the infant’s head and back, they gently placed him into a cradle suspended above the floor so that any unwary rats roaming about at night could not crawl onto the Prince.
The younger maid carefully rocked the cradle with gentle movements, showing not the slightest trace of resentment over her punishment.
Baelon kept his eyes open.
He listened to the two maids chatting softly, hoping to pick up some useful information, while opening the System panel.
[Level 1: Forest of Death I Warning! Warning! Death within the level will consume the Host’s energy and stamina. After entering the level, the Host will also lose all perception of the outside world. Please ensure that the Host’s physical body is in a safe environment before entering.]
[Ding!]
[An incubatable dragon egg has been detected. It will hatch into an Epic-tier pet dragon. Do you wish to select it as your pet?]
Baelon blinked.
Above the dragon egg, particle effects gathered into the image of a golden dragon, magnificent and beautiful.
Its scales shone like sunlight, gleaming like polished gold.
Even the membranes of its wings were pink!
An information panel appeared beside it.
[Giant Dragon Category: Dragon Element: Fire Personality Trait: Loyal to its Master No matter how much pain or torment it suffers, the dragon will never leave its master’s side until death comes. Note: For a dragon with this trait, the difficulty of being tamed by a second master is increased by 80%. The difficulty will gradually decrease with the passage of time after the first master’s death. Growth Potential: A+ Incubation Time: 730 days, 4 hours, 23 minutes, 33 seconds]
[Do you wish to bind it as a pet?!]
What a good dragon.
Baelon sighed inwardly and chose “No” without the slightest hesitation.
Admittedly, choosing this companion dragon, which would hatch in just two years, would be safe and convenient.
But that was the mindset of a loser!
From the perspective of a percentage slave, a glorious percentage bonus naturally belonged on an adult dragon with enormous base stats!
Vhagar, Vermithor, Silverwing, Dreamfyre…
This truly was the golden age of House Targaryen.
Even after restricting his options to adult and ownerless dragons, he still had several different choices.
Ignoring the System’s warning, Baelon was just about to enter the first level and see what awaited him.
Then, suddenly, a pale, wrinkled hand swept across his vision and interrupted him.
The hand hovered near his nose to check his breathing, then withdrew.
It belonged to the older maid, whose wrinkles spread across her face like the veins of a leaf.
From listening to the two maids talk, Baelon learned that the old woman had a rather pleasant name: Lola.
The younger maid was called Mia.
She had a face full of freckles and a head of red hair.
“Lola, you should sleep first. I’ll keep watch for the first half of the night. I swear I won’t take my eyes off the Prince for even a moment.”
Lola shook her head and replied in her hoarse voice, “No, Mia. For the next few days, we must be even more attentive and careful while serving the Prince.”
They were actually becoming more careful after being punished?!
Baelon pricked up his ears in confusion.
Was the servile mindset of this world’s servants really that deeply ingrained?!
“If anything happens to the Prince from now on, they may well blame us for it! The king and the Princess will think we resented our punishment and deliberately did something wicked!”
“What?!”
“Mia, the king and the nobles aren’t going to argue about justice with a pair of maids. If anything happens to the Prince, our heads will end up on the castle gates.”
Seeing Mia’s face turn pale, Lola comforted her.
“But if we serve the Prince well, perhaps the king will reward us instead!”
Baelon was slightly surprised.
By the usual logic of a novel, shouldn’t these two maids have grown resentful and then been bribed by some enemy taking advantage of the situation?
Why was Lola apparently doubling as a counselor, keeping her fellow servant’s emotions in check?!
But after thinking about it again, Baelon realized that maids entrusted with caring for the heir to the throne would naturally have been carefully selected.
Perhaps Lola’s reaction was simply how a normal person would behave.
He had once again made the mistake of judging others by his own way of thinking.
No one had any reason to lie in front of a baby.
In that case, there was no need to go through all the trouble of getting rid of these two.
Trying to express his desire for new maids through crying would be far too complicated.
Plucking some piece of jewelry from Viserys and giving it to a maid as a reward would be much simpler.
Feeling relieved, Baelon returned his attention to the System panel.
[Clearance Recommendations: Obtain a pet Raise two of the Host’s three attributes, Strength, Agility, and Constitution, to 5 Confirm entry into the first level?!]
Excellent advice.
Baelon expertly ignored the risks and continued anyway.
It wasn’t as if he could actually die.
What was there to be afraid of?!
He was wide awake at the moment.
Going into the Forest of Death and burning through some energy and stamina might even help him sleep.
Time to grind!
The next instant, Baelon felt as though his consciousness had been stuffed into a toilet and flushed, spinning round and round until he had no idea how long he had been dizzy.
Splat!
He hit the grass like a lump of mud.
He raised both hands.
Wait.
Why was he still in a baby’s body?!
[Baelon Targaryen HP: 100]
Baelon lay flat on his back, struggling with all four limbs.
He kicked hard and tried to roll over.
He failed…
With absolutely no mobility to speak of, Baelon calmly decided that if he had fallen there, he might as well sleep there.
It wasn’t as if he could die.
The sea of grass beneath him was soft, and the scent of plants and earth was fresh and pleasant.
It was an excellent place for a nap.
Compared with the foul odors that had lingered in his nose ever since his birth, it was wonderfully refreshing.
Baelon took a deep breath, turned his head, and surveyed his brand-new, boundless eight-hundred-square-meter bed.
Not far away stood a forest of towering trees, dark and deep.
Lights of various sizes flickered among the roots and moss, like green stars wandering through the woods.
Everything was quiet.
Even the wind was gentle.
Nothing about the place suggested why it was called the Forest of Death.
Baelon’s eyes gradually widened.
Several large “fireflies” slowly emerged from the darkness of the forest and drifted straight toward him.
Under the moonlight, black noses and snow-white fur came into view.
Along with…
glowing green eyes and gleaming white fangs!
The enormous wolves gradually revealed themselves in full.
Each was a silvery-white beast the size of a bull, with thick, powerful limbs and glossy fur.
And there were three of them!
[White Wolf Lv. 1 HP: 500 Attack: 30 Defense: 50]
Baelon stared, aghast.
Moonlight spilled down from the sky, bathing both Baelon and the giant wolves without discrimination.
A gentle night breeze blew.
Beneath the black sky and above the lush earth, the silver wolves ran freely, letting the wind brush through every strand of their fur.
What a beautiful sight.
So free.
It would have been even better if the wolves had not been running straight at him.
Baelon made no attempt to flee in panic.
He simply lay calmly on the grass and saw the spark of intelligence in the wolves’ green eyes.
After a moment of silence, the corners of his mouth curled into a wicked smile.
They were intelligent.
Then he had an idea!
They were only three intelligent beasts.
Just watch what he did!
He would make sure those three white wolves remembered this encounter for the rest of their lives!
Baelon maintained his unfathomable smile.
The white wolves drew closer and closer, opening their enormous jaws.
Hot, heavy breath washed over Baelon, while their sharp fangs gleamed white beneath the moonlight.
Baelon kept smiling.
Exactly!
This was the plan!
He would keep wearing this mysterious, unfathomable smile, then let the white wolves bite him once and kill him!
His sudden disappearance would leave the entire pack completely baffled!
[HP -30]
[HP -30]
Holy hell!
That hurt!
Baelon’s expression twisted beyond his control.
Adrenaline surged through him, turning the pain into anger, and instinct took over as he began fighting back.
[Host used Skills: Kick! Scratch! Dealt 0.1 damage!]
Before long, Baelon’s vision turned gray and his soul began floating higher and higher.
The white wolves stared blankly as Baelon dissolved into motes of light and vanished without a trace.
The wolf at the back flicked its tail in boredom.
It had not even gotten a chance to take a bite.
How had the prey vanished already?
The wolves remained warily confused for a while.
When the prey that had escaped as motes of light failed to reappear, they relaxed.
One pounced on another, another nipped back, and soon they disappeared into the depths of the forest while playfully roughhousing.
Baelon: Hah!
Those three wolves had no honor at all.
They had ambushed and ganged up on a mere child!
If they had the nerve, they should give him a few months to grow first!
In the cradle, Baelon’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
Hiss…
His head hurt terribly.
It felt as though someone were stabbing his soft brain with a cactus.
[Remaining attempts today: 2 Enter Level 1?]
No, no, no, no!
He wasn’t a masochist!
Baelon’s eyelids grew heavy, and his head swam.
He closed his eyes.
Sleep successfully induced!
Sure enough, death was like a cool summer night, perfect for sleeping without a care in the world.
Beneath the cradle, in the stillness of the night, Lola and Mia’s quiet conversation drifted up to him.
They were talking about the Queen dying in childbirth and leaving behind a newborn infant.
“How tragic…”
Probably the usual remarks about a poor child losing his mother as soon as he was born.
Baelon did not think there was anything pitiable about being a Prince.
Lola’s hoarse voice drifted softly to his ears.
“Poor woman. So young… and she lost her life…”
Baelon turned his head slightly and peered down through the openwork enamel pattern of the cradle.
Mia sat on the floor, leaning against Lola’s shoulder, while Lola gently combed her fingers through Mia’s red hair.
…
Before long, Queen Aemma’s funeral was held by the sea.
With the help of the System, Baelon’s attempt to adjust his sleep schedule had more or less succeeded.
When he woke again, he found himself wrapped tightly in swaddling clothes.
Armed with his mighty Skill, which could now deal 0.15 damage to a White Wolf, Baelon successfully punched, kicked, and struggled until he managed to open a small gap.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
He had not completely missed the funeral.