After Littlefinger became the Duke of Harrenhal, he did not move to his fief. Instead, he went to the Vale and became the young lord's stepfather.
For this reason, the Iron Throne (Tywin) appointed the newly surrendered Ser Bolyfer as the acting castellan of Harrenhal.
Later, Daenerys did not remove Bolyfer from his position, because he did not belong to any faction and was instead a deeply devout knight of the Faith.
Before the High Sparrow rose to power, the Faith had no armed forces, as they had been abolished by Maegor. At that time, even noble knights who wished to follow Randyll Tarly and join the Warrior's Sons could not do so.
Thus, Bolyfer formed a non-profit religious mercenary group, the Hundred-Man Crusade.
It consisted of one hundred devout noble knights.
Before the War of the Four Kings, the Hundred-Man Crusade simply roamed within the Seven Kingdoms, escorting pious travelers between septs, and eliminating bandits and thieves when encountered.
Later, after Joffrey's illegitimate birth was exposed, the Hundred-Man Crusade first joined Renly's faction, then followed Stannis into the Battle of the Blackwater. After being captured by Tywin, they were sent to Harrenhal to maintain order and protect the people.
They were a group of pitiful knights, both devout and lost.
Of course, that was in the past. Now that the Holy Mother had descended, miracles appeared frequently, and the Pope ruled over the faithful across the world. They had officially become part of the Faith's organization.
Leaving aside other matters, in terms of devotion alone, only 87 members of the Hundred-Man Crusade remained, and every one of them had become a priest. That alone was a terrifying thought.
Aside from being the leader of the Hundred-Man Crusade, Bolyfer had another remarkable identity: he had once been the lover of Daenerys's mother, Rhaella.
Before Rhaella married Aerys, both had their own lovers. Aerys had Joanna, while Rhaella had Bolyfer.
However, Bolyfer was only a landed knight, while Joanna was from a branch of House Lannister, neither of whom were suitable matches for a prince and princess.
More importantly, there was a prophecy from the Ghost of High Heart: the savior would be born from the descendants of Rhaella and Aerys.
Ser Bolyfer once wore a token given to him by Princess Rhaella and competed in a tourney. On the field, he fought like a god of war, much like the Great Bear who later wore Lynesse's token. He defeated all opponents and placed the crown of "Queen of Love and Beauty" upon Rhaella's head.
Then, the following year, Rhaella married the Mad King. Heartbroken, Bolyfer turned to the Faith of the Seven and founded the Hundred-Man Crusade.
Daenerys had not known these matters before. Later, when she intended to use Harrenhal as a base for the Dawn Warriors, she considered replacing the castellan. Barristan dissuaded her and told her this well-known secret.
"Ser Bolyfer is completely trustworthy. He would never betray you," Barristan had said, his tone extremely complicated.
Now that Daenerys had met the old knight in person, she felt uneasy. Had she known his nature earlier, no matter how loyal he was, she would have sent him far away.
"Ser Bolyfer, you knew my mother." The Dragon Queen's expression turned serious, and an intangible aura of authority and pressure emanated from her.
The tall, thin old knight snapped out of his dreamy daze, bowed awkwardly, and apologized. "Forgive me, Your Majesty. I was discourteous. You resemble your mother very much. It reminded me of certain past events."
"Your Majesty, why have you come down? Should we not immediately move to rescue Casterly Rock?" White Knight Garth broke the awkward silence and asked urgently.
"The Westerlands have already fallen. There is no use rushing. Select fifty Dawn Warriors and come with me to Casterly Rock to investigate whether there are any survivors.
I came down to warn you. The remaining Dawn Warriors must stay on high alert and be ready to support the Riverlands at any moment," Daenerys sighed.
Ser Bolyfer came to his senses and asked in a trembling voice, "What do you mean by 'fallen'?"
"Casterly Rock, Lannisport, and several nearby castles. The entire Westerlands, over 1.5 million people, are all dead. The Westerlands are finished," Daenerys said grimly.
"How is that possible?" Several people nearly collapsed in shock.
"This is the truth. Less than two hours after the raven from Casterly Rock was sent out, the castle fell. Another hour later, Lannisport fell as well, with over five hundred thousand deaths.
Then those wights split into multiple groups and, over the next two days, attacked all living settlements within 300 kilometers.
By now, more than ten lordly castles have been breached, entire families wiped out. The Westerlands are finished."
Only after Daenerys flew out from Dragonstone on Drogon and felt the cold wind did she realize she had been foolish. If she wanted to know whether Casterly Rock had fallen, she could simply check the "Heaven" within her mind.
Even the Freys were now in Heaven. If she wanted to know the truth, she could ask the people involved directly.
Thus, she split her focus. While using spatial gates to accelerate her travel, she transformed into the Holy Mother and examined the "Heaven within her thoughts."
At first glance, she was stunned.
That once ordinary divine thought had become crystal clear, radiating a vast and mysterious aura. Its size had expanded millions of times, like a golden planet.
Strictly speaking, thoughts had no physical size. She judged its magnitude by its energy.
Within the Faith's domain, the higher the energy level, the larger the manifested form.
This was why no believer ever doubted the Holy Mother's authenticity. When meeting in the Faith space, the Dragon Queen's "size" far surpassed that of mortal believers, a naked display of superior energy that no one would mistake as false.
Now, the Heaven of Thought was eight million times stronger than before, and Daenerys could split her soul into roughly ten thousand such thoughts.
This meant that the soul power contained within the Heaven of Thought was over eight hundred times greater than her main body.
The reason for such strength was simple: a quantitative change had led to a qualitative transformation. Nearly two million souls had been added to the Heaven of Thought.
About 150,000 from the North, those from fallen castles and villages after the Battle of Winterfell; over 300,000 from the Riverlands, the Vale, the Crownlands, the Reach, Dorne, and King's Landing; and in just three days, more than 1.5 million people from the Westerlands.
Additionally, there were over 30,000 people from Essos and more than 200 from Slaver's Bay.
Clearly, not all had died at the hands of the Others. It was the Long Night, cold and lacking food. Every day, more than twenty thousand people died from hunger and freezing.
With over a million souls, the Heaven of Thought began to take on a faint sense of physical reality.
Through it, Daenerys learned many things. For instance, because she had refused to issue indulgences to Riverrun, old Walder and his family had bought low-tier indulgences from nearby castles for the common folk.
For instance, old Walder had indeed been killed by Arya. Before his death, he had eaten a meat stew made from his second son, prepared by Arya.
After he finished the stew, she removed the servant's face she had been wearing and told him everything she had already done and what she planned to do next.
"You are a greedy old fool. If you had accepted the Dragon Queen's grand judgment, and once she declared in the name of the Seven that the Starks and Freys were even, I would not have dared touch your house again."
Leaning beside his wheelchair, Arya whispered in his ear with a cheerful smile, "Do you know? Before the Battle of Winterfell, I was already on my way to Riverrun.
After the battle, I was about to continue my unfinished revenge, but that meddlesome Dragon Queen created a grand judgment.
You have no idea how disappointed I was. That woman is too merciful. What kind of revenge spares the whole family?
Of course, I am grateful for her mercy toward Jon, Bran, Sansa, and House Stark.
After all, my father did overthrow her father's dynasty.
Speaking of which, our family owes a debt to the Targaryens, because my aunt Lyanna was a shameless woman. She was not abducted by Rhaegar. They eloped willingly.
Fortunately, the Holy Mother protected me. You refused her grand judgment, so I happily rode Nymeria here. I could not let you have the chance to regret it."
"Mercy!" Old Walder pleaded with regret in his eyes.
"No mercy." She slit his throat.
Furthermore, from West Lannister, the temporary castellan of Casterly Rock, Daenerys learned how the castle had fallen.
The corpses stored in the Hall of Heroes, waiting for Tyrion to return and deal with them, suddenly reanimated in the middle of the night. Using the cover of darkness and the memories they retained from life, the wights launched a surprise attack on the garrison.
Each death within the castle strengthened the wight army, allowing them to clear the structure level by level, starting from the Hall of Heroes at the bottom.
Without any help from the wights or Others outside, Casterly Rock fell from within.
After obtaining this information, Daenerys immediately contacted Bran at Winterfell and asked him to locate the wight army's movements.
She had to stop the millions of wights from leaving the Westerlands and spreading disaster elsewhere.
(End of Chapter)
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