Myrcella was somewhat lost.
The clamor of King's Landing outside the window, the distant scraping of Guard' armor in the hallway—all seemed to fade away from Myrcella at that moment.
Her world was left with only the incessant ringing in her ears, deep within her eardrums.
Not Robert Baratheon's daughter.
She was the child of her and Jaime.
The blood of the lion, not the dumb deer.
Every word shattered everything she had known all these years.
"Hahaha."
Myrcella laughed.
She looked at Cersei before her.
Cersei's face was distorted by extreme madness, yet possessed a morbid beauty.
At this moment, Cersei was no longer the high and mighty Queen in her eyes, no longer the mother who made her feel utterly humiliated and indignant.
She was an accomplice.
An accomplice who had dragged her into the abyss from the moment she was born, sharing with her a secret that could set the entire Seven Kingdoms ablaze!
Myrcella suddenly understood.
She understood many details she had never deeply considered before.
Why Joffrey was so cruel and tyrannical.
There was not a trace of House Baratheon's boldness in his bones, but he was full of Lannister-esque coldness and arrogance.
Why she and her two brothers all inherited their mother's dazzling golden hair.
Yet not one of them inherited Robert's characteristic black hair.
Why Jaime always looked at her with such affection.
He would always be the first to help her with any problem, whether it was finding a puppy or buying sweets, he would do it himself... Myrcella suddenly felt so stupid.
She had noticed these anomalies long ago.
She should have known a long time ago.
It turned out that her pathetic life, from the moment of conception, was a complete lie.
A... dirty secret.
"Now, do you understand?"
Cersei's voice pulled Myrcella back from the brink of collapse.
"Do you understand why I had to do all this, my dear?"
Cersei looked at Myrcella's green eyes, which had lost all their luster, and saw what she wanted.
That innocence unique to a young girl was completely dead.
After all, innocence doesn't work in King's Landing, nor does it last long... especially at this critical juncture of life and death.
"I'm sorry, Myrcella."
"I selfishly bore you with Jaime; this was my fault, and I dragged you into it."
"But I have been trying to make amends all these years."
"You are my life."
"I won't allow anyone to harm you!"
"But I protected you too well."
"So much so that Joffrey became cruel and tyrannical, Tommen became ignorant, and you became innocent and kind."
"But I understand now."
"If I die, all of you will die with me."
"I cannot die."
"Nor do I want you to die."
Cersei gently stroked Myrcella's golden hair.
"Do you think I really wanted to marry you to Lynn?"
"I have many ways to prevent him from successfully marrying you."
Cersei let out a short, sorrowful scoff.
"A man with a betrothal?"
"Making him my son-in-law, this is the greatest humiliation to House Lannister!"
"But I have no choice, Myrcella."
A bone-deep fear appeared in Cersei's eyes.
It was a vulnerability she had hidden beneath all her pride and madness, never shown to anyone.
"From the day you were born, I have lived in this fear."
"Every night I wake up from nightmares."
"Dreaming of that drunkard Robert discovering the truth."
"Dreaming of him wielding his warhammer, smashing Joffrey's head, cutting off yours..."
"This The Red Keep is the most magnificent cage."
"Ned Stark, Jon Arryn, Renly Baratheon..."
"They are all waiting to reveal your true parentage."
"Like a flock of vultures circling over a corpse, ready to swoop down and tear us apart!"
"I need outside power, Myrcella."
"A power that can protect you, that can keep you alive."
"And Lynn... he is that power."
Cersei spoke with fervor.
"He has dragons, Myrcella."
"Targaryen dragons!"
"Weapons capable of melting even the iron throne into molten iron!"
"He has the support of the North and beyond the Wall; he also possesses a considerable fortune!"
"He is the only man in all of Westeros who dares to trample the King's orders underfoot, while that fool Robert can only greet him with a smile!"
"He is the only variable, and your only way out!"
"Even if Lynn makes an enemy of the whole world, as long as he has dragons, even if he fails, he can take you far away, and you will never fear for your life."
"As for Joffrey and Tommen, I will figure something out for them."
Myrcella listened quietly.
The stormy waves in her heart gradually subsided amidst Cersei's desperate confession.
That unbearable image reappeared in her mind.
Cersei kneeling before Lynn.
Humiliation, debasement, disgust... these words still swirled in her mind.
But this time, there was a different meaning.
It was not degradation and loss of backbone.
It was a mother, a Queen.
When she was at her wit's end, she made a desperate gamble with her last and most precious dignity.
She would use her body and dignity to buy a ticket to the future.
A ticket that would allow her to survive the stormy seas.
"So..."
Myrcella's voice was dry and hoarse.
"You knelt before him, pleased him, let him humiliate you... all just to make him believe that he completely controlled you?"
"Was it to make him lower his guard, and willingly... protect me?"
"Otherwise?"
A smile appeared on Cersei's face, but tears fell again.
"Why would I, the most noble Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, do such an undignified, shameless, filthy thing?"
"Lynn's weakness is lust."
"I met Lynn alone in the North, the day that boy Bran fell from the tower."
"I had already discovered it then."
"To make Lynn reveal more of the truth he knew, I deliberately exposed my chest to him, and he just stared..."
"Do you think your ridiculous princess status can make him devoted to you?"
"Men are cheap, Myrcella, especially lustful men like Lynn."
"The more you obey, the more bored he gets."
"The more you resist, the more interesting he finds you."
"But none of that compares to making him feel he has conquered a Queen, a proud Lannister, which is more interesting."
"He once told me he wanted to marry into House Lannister, specifically asking for you to marry him."
"I knew he must have been attracted to your beauty."
"For your survival, I agreed."
"I let him conquer me, let him believe he controlled everything, and because of this arrogance and pride, he will regard you, a trophy obtained from me, as his most precious collection."
"When the storm comes, when everyone wants to kill you, this bastard, he will risk everything to protect you, to defend his trophy and honor."
"I have turned my dignity, my pride, everything I am, into a collar around your neck, Myrcella."
"A collar made of gold and jewels, enough to make Lynn crazy for you."
Cersei reached out her hands and gently cupped Myrcella's paper-white face.
"I'm about to lose, I already have a premonition, my daughter."
"But as long as you can win, as long as you can survive... my loss will be worth it."
Her mother's tears were scalding, burning.
Each drop fell on Myrcella's hand, but it felt as if it branded her heart.
She looked at the woman before her.
This selfish, vicious, crazy, unscrupulous woman.
This woman who, with a single wrong thought, personally pushed her into hell, and then tried to build a bridge to heaven for her.
Did she hate her?
Myrcella didn't know.
All the hatred, in the instant she learned this cruel truth, transformed into something more complex and heavier.
It was a sorrow of blood connection, a sense of destiny as pawns.
They were both unwilling pawns in this game of power.
Only, Cersei gambled her dignity.
And she, on the other hand, gambled her entire life.
"I understand."
After an unknown amount of time, Myrcella slowly spoke.
The last trace of confusion in her hollow green eyes disappeared.
Cersei looked at the expression on her daughter's face, identical to her own, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She knew that her Myrcella had finally grown sharp thorns, and was no longer the innocent and kind little white flower she once was.
"Very good."
Cersei slowly stood up, transforming back into the high and mighty Lannister Queen.
"So now, you know what to do."
"You can no longer lose your temper with Lynn, nor push him away."
"With a man like Lynn, the more you resist, the more interesting he finds it, but his patience is always limited."
"Those two cunning Stark vixens are waiting for you to make a mistake."
"If you're not careful, they will seize the opportunity and steal the affection that rightfully belongs to you."
"Go, my daughter."
Cersei walked to the door and opened it.
"Go apologize to him."
"Use your tears, your fragility, your body, everything you are, to regain his affection."
"Make him believe that you are still that innocent, kind little princess who needs his protection."
"Let him hold you in the palm of his hand, cherish you like a precious treasure."
"You must learn to use everything you have, Myrcella."
"Especially your beauty and your status."
"Turn them into the sharpest weapons, firmly binding Lynn to your chariot."
"Remember, from now on, you are no longer a Baratheon princess."
"You have no further ties to Baratheon or Lannister; you are only Lynn's woman, and nothing more."
"Please always remember this."
The door closed.
Myrcella was once again alone in the room.
The copper mirror on the floor reflected her shattered face.
She looked at herself in the mirror, at those green, uniquely Lannister eyes.
Then, Myrcella smiled.
She bent down and picked up the broken jewels on the floor.
She tightly gripped the fragments, letting the sharp edges cut her palm.
Blood, dripping from between her fingers, fell drop by drop onto the pristine white carpet, blooming into exotic red lotuses.
The pain made her clearer than ever.
Apologize?
No.
Lannisters never apologize.
And she hadn't done anything wrong.
It was Lynn who was wrong!
But she would make Lynn believe she had come to apologize.
Myrcella threw away the fragments, not even glancing at the wound on her palm.
She walked to the basin and carefully washed her face.
Then, from the wardrobe, she chose the plainest white dress, one that best accentuated her delicate demeanor.
Having done all this, she took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked towards Lynn's room.
Her steps were steady, without a hint of hesitation.
Standing before Lynn's door, Myrcella raised her hand, about to knock.
The door, however, was pulled open from within.
Lynn was about to leave.
He looked at Myrcella, standing at the door, having changed her clothes, her face pale, but her eyes exceptionally calm, and was slightly taken aback.
Especially when he saw her hand, still dripping blood, his brows furrowed instantly.
"Myrcella, your hand..."
Lynn instinctively grabbed her wrist.
Myrcella did not struggle.
She let Lynn hold her hand.
Myrcella looked up, gazing quietly at Lynn with her misty green eyes.
In her gaze, there was no longer the anger and warning from before.
Only a profound, unyielding sense of grievance and sorrow.
"Lord Lynn..."
Her voice was very soft, with a trembling, tearful quality.
Like a fledgling bird, its wings soaked in a storm, utterly helpless.
"I'm sorry."
"I... I shouldn't have lost my temper with you."
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