With nothing more to say, Lady Weierhe turned and, with elegant yet firm steps, walked out of the hall.
In the temporary command hall of Willow Wood City, the air was filled with the aroma of food and a quiet silence.
The breakfast Lady Weierhe left was almost untouched. Arthur sat quietly in the main seat, his fingers unconsciously tapping the oak armrest, his gaze fixed on the exquisite yet rejected food.
The leverage of kinship had less effect on this woman's heart than he had anticipated. It seemed he could only choose the second plan.
After a brief thought, Arthur calmly said to the guards beside him, "It seems Lady Weierhe has no appetite."
"Go, invite Ser Gales Legge over. Don't waste such good food."
The guards bowed and withdrew, their footsteps echoing in the empty hall.
A moment later, Gales Legge was brought in. He was leaner than his elder brother Roger, around thirty years old, but his build was more robust and solid, unlike his brother's plumpness.
Outside Willow Wood City, he had killed many peasant soldiers. Although it was related to his equipment, it also proved that he was a warrior. At this moment, his eyes, full of vigilance and caution, looked at Arthur.
Gales Legge glanced at the lavish breakfast on the table, then turned his gaze to Arthur opposite him.
He said nothing, his feet rooted to the spot, refusing to sit down.
Arthur didn't mind. He personally picked up the wine jug and filled the empty glass in front of Gales, the liquid pouring into the cup with a clear sound.
Arthur got straight to the point. He pushed the wine glass towards Gales, his voice so steady that not a ripple could be heard: "Ser Gales,
your brother has gone mad."
"Your nephew, Jarelo, is also on the path to ruin, but the bloodline of the Legge Family should not be cut off here."
Arthur knew that at this time, Westeros was not in a period of war. Under the law, the "King's Peace" was stipulated, and although it had never been strictly enforced, apart from extinction due to lack of heirs or by conspiracy, only Tywin Lannister had extinguished two families through war. It wasn't until the War of the Five Kings that the bottom line of noble warfare was completely broken.
He did not motion for Gales Legge to drink, as what he was about to say would be somewhat shocking. He continued to speak slowly.
"I can help you become the new Lord of Willow Wood City."
This sentence was like a spark, instantly igniting the great prairie. Gales Legge was shocked by Arthur's words, by this proposal.
He knew what this meant. The suppressed rage made him feel as if he had heard the most vicious insult in the world, and his face flushed crimson.
"Bang!!!!"
Gales Legge slammed his palm onto the table. The full cup of mead was shaken into the air, arcing through the air before crashing heavily onto the stone floor, shattering and splashing, mirroring his current mood.
This proposal was telling him to find a way to kill his brother and nephew so that the inheritance would fall to him.
The surrounding guards drew their swords and stepped forward, but Arthur waved them back.
His finger almost poked Arthur's nose, his voice hoarse with anger, even his words beginning to stutter: "Shut up!!!!!"
"What are you saying!!!!"
"You shameless bastard!!!!"
"How dare you!!
How dare you!!!!"
"To a! To a!! To a knight who swore an oath before the Seven Gods, witnessed by the Seven Gods!!!!"
"You are truly a disgraceful person!!!"
"No honor at all!!"
"A bandit who seizes castles through schemes and tricks!!!!"
Gales Legge's chest heaved violently, his eyes bloodshot, his whole body trembling. He felt humiliated. Was he truly such a person? Rage coursed through his body, every word seemingly ground out from between his teeth.
"I am a member of the Legge Family!! My veins flow with the same blood as my brother Roger!! Do you think I will act like a dog!! And accept the bone thrown by you, an enemy?!!"
"I would rather perish with my family!! Be annihilated!! I will never betray my brother!! Never betray the oath I have sworn!!"
He cursed, venting the last shred of dignity of a defeated knight.
"Put away your despicable tricks!! You defile the honor of war!!! Your family is indeed a bastard that doesn't deserve a family name!!!"
Facing Gales's storm of insults, Arthur's face showed no emotional fluctuations. Even the surrounding guards could barely restrain themselves from rushing forward and hacking Gales to pieces.
But Arthur merely watched the other party quietly, as if enjoying a play, until Gales, gasping for breath from agitation, could no longer speak.
Then, slowly, he revealed a meaningful smile.
That smile held no warmth, like a frozen winter lake, appearing cold, hard, and deep when looked upon. This smile made Gales feel more fear than any expression of anger.
Looking at Arthur's smile, a chill rose from his spine, instantly spreading through his limbs.
In Gales's view, this smile was one of complete control, as if he himself was a fly struggling in vain in a spiderweb.
And this young man before him was that patient, deadly spider, waiting for its prey to exhaust its strength.
He didn't know why he felt this way. His mind began to race backward, wondering why this youth gave him a feeling of being in complete control.
The atmosphere in the hall shifted from an angry outburst to suffocating oppression.
Arthur spoke unhurriedly, his voice not loud, but methodical and piercing: "Ser Gales, it seems you don't understand."
"I am not discussing this with you; I am merely informing you."
He picked up his own wine glass and gently swirled it.
"You had best accept my proposal, because this is your, and your family's, last chance."
Arthur paused, his gaze sharpening as he looked at Gales Legge.
"If you refuse."
"Then tonight, I will find someone among my officers who most resembles you, dress him in your armor, and mount him on your warhorse."
"He will lead two hundred of my soldiers, all dressed in Legge Family standard equipment, to visit the small castles and villages that do not yet know Willow Wood City has changed hands."
Gales Legge's face turned pale with shock. He instantly understood the poisonous nature of Arthur's plan. His voice trembled uncontrollably: "You!
You!! You are shameless!!!"
"This is a trick! No one will believe it! The Legge Family's vassals all know my character!"
"You cannot do this!!!"
"This is slandering a knight's honor!
"The Seven Gods will curse you!!!"
Arthur again showed that mocking smile. He stood up, leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, his eyes fixed on Gales's.
He calmly posed the question that the other party could not refute: "Is that so, Ser?"
"Then tell me, when the news spreads throughout the Riverlands, will the lords be more willing to believe a magical story like something out of Arabian Nights—that a minor noble, with six hundred men, bypassed countless castles, fought for three days, defeated the great Riverlands noble Legge Family, and miraculously captured the Legge Family's millennia-old stronghold?"
"Or will they."
His voice was very low, filled with seductive power.
"Or will they be more willing to believe a more plausible story."
"That Roger Lygg's own brother, Gales Legge, along with his confidants, colluded with an outside enemy to usurp his brother's lordship,
letting the wolf into the house, deceiving his deeply loving brother, and opening the gates of Willow Wood City in the dead of night, allowing the enemy army to enter the city and easily take possession?"
"Which do you say is more credible?"
"Which one better fits people's perception of noble greed and betrayal?"
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