Viserys was alone most of the time in the castle. But he knew that would soon change as Aegon grew, and Lord Kaiser's children also grew, especially Magnus. He was happy that he'd soon have some company to spar with.
But for now, he trained alone. Thousands of swings. Footwork practice. Body forging. And of course, eating well as Lord Kaiser had commanded. He wanted to grow tall and strong.
That night, as well, he was late. But since the castle was hosting guests, he wasn't supposed to eat at the table anyway. He trained late into the night and then went to the kitchens. Four eggs, lots of meat, bread, stew, milk, and some boiled vegetables. Lord Kaiser called it a balanced diet. He honestly found it hard to finish.
After finishing the dinner, he was free to roam around the castle. Hoping to see Daenerys, Aegon, and Rhaenys, he looked for them. Eventually, he ended up outside the ground floor solar of Lord Kaiser.
He rarely went inside. Lord Kaiser never mistreated him, but he still felt scared and hesitant at times. The man was too tall and too good a fighter. So, he pushed the door slightly open and peeked inside.
Hm?
The weirdest sight greeted him. Lord Kaiser was slumped on the settee, lazily snoring with an open book on his face. Rhaenys was sleeping on his chest to the left, Daenerys was to the right. Arthria was right under the right arm. Aegon was hugging Lord Kaiser's leg and snoring, while Magnus was lazily on the other side of the settee, legs thrown over his father. Alric and Alden were on the carpet playing with a toy, but they looked half asleep.
Where is Mother?
Punching the tinge of jealousy away, he closed the door and went deeper into the castle to find his mother. Eventually, he ended up outside Princess Elia's bedchamber. He could hear multiple voices from inside, and sure enough, he peeked inside and found three women. The Princess, Lady Lyanna, and his mother.
"Thank the gods Viserys no longer bears hatred for Lord Wylis. I had begun to worry. What if he had grown to manhood and still carried such hostility?"
Viserys bit his teeth at his mother's words.
"I heard from Wylis. Viserys is coming along well, quick in the head, and he shows promise with the blade."
At Lyanna's words, Viserys nearly gasped.
Lord Kaiser said that about me?
He peeked inside and saw a big, gorgeous smile on his mother's face. She was looking down at her visibly pregnant belly, her hand caressing it. That made him nearly bite his tongue. It infuriated him so much.
But he stood there, listening. Watching. He compared his mother to what she looked like in the Red Keep before. She rarely spoke, and he could count on a single hand the times he'd seen her smile. She was cold, gloomy, but now…
Now, she always had a gentle smile on her lips. Her eyes seemed so full of life. She talked a lot with everyone. And he hated it… he hated that a beast like Lord Kaiser brought it out, not him. That he'd never noticed how much his mother was suffering at his father's hands.
That made him angry. No longer at Lord Kaiser, but himself. Yet one thing was certain: he absolutely adored this side of his mother. He loved his sister. And to keep it all safe, he was ready to give up anything.
I should… train a little more.
####
The money from King's Landing started pouring in, and it was substantial. Bringing ice down south was a revolution. Yet, not much of that coin reached Wylis. It was used to expand, creating ice houses in towns and cities, marking the shortest routes.
Already, Gulltown had also started receiving the ice and all the things related to it that Wylis sold. From King's Landing, however, the trade boomed further. Being able to transport meat, milk, eggs, fish, and oysters further into the realm without spoiling them was a boon. Furthermore, some ships had already made the journey around Westeros and had reached the western side.
There, the ice miracle was repeated with Lannisport and Oldtown. As more ships were commissioned at Ramsgate, plans to expand were being continuously implemented. Covering free cities like Braavos, Pentos, Myr, and Tyrosh was a priority because of how many absurdly rich individuals lived there.
Cold beverages, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, alone brought in significant coin. Ice cream became a thing that everyone, from a child to a man on deathbed, loved.
But still, Wylis didn't earn much. All the money was being used to create supply lines, build giant warehouses, ice-houses in strategic locations, and, of course, a large slaughterhouse in Stoney Sept.
Maidenpool was being fully turned into a warehouse and ship stoppage for Wylis' growing fleet to load and unload goods and ice, which would then be transported to many smaller towns. But Maidenpool had a greater purpose.
Once Stoney Sept's slaughterhouse and cold storage became functional, goods from across Westeros, from Lannisport to King's Landing, would flow out towards Pentos and Braavos through Maidenpool.
Never in Westerosi history had something so grand and complex been done. It was a project that bled money, as it was supposed to at the beginning. But Wylis didn't care.
Still, Wylis had begun to feel anxious about his coffers. He quickly accelerated his plan to go treasure hunting at sea to solve that. The diving bells were almost ready.
But for now, he had guests to entertain. And to entertain someone like Wylis Manderly, what better way than to feed him a small feast.
"Seven! Is this a real chicken!" Wylis Manderly barked, staring at the entire roasted chicken on the large plate. "It's the size of a goose. No! Bigger!"
Wylis chuckled proudly. Yes, the chickens were the new breed he'd carefully created through selective breeding. Now, Ramsgate was on the verge of creating a new export product, giant chickens and giant eggs. But Wylis wasn't satisfied; he wanted his chicken the size of damn swans, same for eggs.
My army won't face protein deficiency then.
"You won't find such chickens anywhere else in the realm, Ser Wylis," Wylis said. He didn't like saying his own name over and over.
"The taste is delightful, my lord," said Leona Woolfield, wife of Ser Wylis.
She was a soft and plump woman with a pink complexion and yellow hair. She wasn't fully fat yet, but Wylis saw the signs she would soon reach that point. Right now, she was somewhere between curvaceous Genna and her fat husband.
"Aye, I agree," Lyanna said brightly, sitting there as Ellyn. "Everything set on this table, my husband devised himself, for the King's visit."
"No wonder it all tastes delightful," Lady Leona chirped. "Lord Wylis, you must write me the recipe for these."
Wylis chuckled and nodded. He didn't talk much at the table since Ser Wylis Manderly himself was a quiet and formal man. Though a bit dirty, with that thick, busy walrus mustache that was stained with food, and his clothes that were also stained with previously eaten food.
It was mostly the women talking. That night, he'd only hidden Rhaella, Elia, Aegon, Daenerys, and Viserys away. The rest of the women were right at the table with all the children. And Wylis didn't even hide that they were all his women and children.
Lady Leona seemed to be the talkative type. But the way she often used the cloth to wipe her husband's bushy mustache stood out. She was clearly devoted to the fat shame of a man. A true man should be lean, bulked with muscles only. Not fat all over.
Money is all they've got going.
Finally, his eyes landed on his son, Magnus, seated right beside Lyanna. But beside Mangus was also Wynafryd Manderly. The little, five-year-old girl was sweet and brown-haired. But she was thin and short.
Lad's going to exceed me in height at this rate.
That was a real possibility according to Wylis. Already, Magnus had trueborn buff. And then there were his genes. Wylis knew that his own body didn't get much good-quality food for the initial years of his life. But Magnus was different; he received the best diet from the beginning.
Forget it. If the boy likes her, go for it.
In the end, he stopped worrying about it. He loved Lyanna and wasn't bothered by her shorter height. Love shouldn't come with prerequisites.
However, it did warm his heart to see Magnus ignoring the little girl. Wynafryd tried to talk, play, and share her food. But Magnus shrugged, looking uninterested.
That's the spirit, boy. That's it! Ignore her. Now isn't the tim… What? No! Don't take the damn sweet from her!
Right before him, the stoic Magnus started grinning and took a sweet from Wynafryd. Then Wynafryd stroked Magnus' head like a pet.
No! She's playing him like a fiddle. Wake up, you silly boy! She's playing you! That's it!
Wylis quickly summoned the Tyrant's Squire and looked for his son's name. Since he'd grown another year, there were two life points to be allotted. Right away, Wylis pumped one point into intelligence and another into vitality.
[Strength - 4/15
Dexterity - 3+1/15
Intelligence - 4+1/15
Charisma - 8/15
Vitality - 6+1/15]
He could have added both to intelligence, but he was always scared of losing his children to some random disease or infection. They were small now, strength didn't matter much, and it was the best time to grow vitality.
After giving the points, he looked again and…
No! Why are you giving her the sweets now? Wait, if you had them, why did you take hers?
Unable to find logic in the child's thoughts, he sighed and looked away. He noticed Lyanna's icy gaze, telling him to stop being a madman.
He did just that. It was the missus's order.
"What do you think about my ice trade, Ser Wylis?"
______________________
Advance chapters on [PATREON] are in long-form format. I have 12 long chapters of this story on P@treon. That's equal to 45-50 Webnovel chapters.
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