Night.
Over a hundred light-armored knights filed out from the Lion Gate, heading west along the Goldroad.
Robert galloped at the head of the troop on the tallest steed, flanked by the remaining five Kingsguard led by Ser Barristan, with Lancel and a group of Gold Cloaks following closely behind.
Glancing back at these Gold Cloaks, many of whom had golden hair, Robert felt an indescribable awkwardness in his heart.
Initially, when Eddard had ordered them in the King's name to accompany him out of the city, these fellows had made all sorts of excuses to refuse, saying anything to avoid going.
But as soon as they heard they were going out to find their former commander, every one of them ran faster than a Shadowcat.
Where did that leave his pride as a King?
Sigh... there was no choice... Robert shook his head. Currently, the situation was out of his control; the urgent priority was to quickly bring Arthas back to resolve the riots in King's Landing and the debt collection from the Iron Bank.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. No one spoke, and the only sound on the quiet Goldroad was the thunderous beat of hooves, disturbing the animals resting by the roadside.
He wondered just how fast that fellow was running.
Looking far ahead, he still couldn't see a single figure, and Robert couldn't help but start feeling irritable.
After over ten years of being King, how could he not recognize Arthas's tactic of retreating to advance?
Young people valued Face; he, a King in his thirties, would just give him Face.
But he had personally come out of the city to invite him; couldn't this guy just play along? They could flatter each other for a bit and let the matter pass, couldn't they?
The massive troop of knights galloped swiftly. Just as Robert was about to lose his patience, under the reflection of the moonlight, he saw an incredibly majestic pure-white warhorse standing by the Goldroad in the distance.
The white horse seemed to hear their approach; its long ears twitched up and down. It stopped its leisurely grazing and looked up at Robert.
"That's Invincible! Lord Arthas's horse!"
Lancel, truly the one who had been with Arthas the longest, recognized Invincible from a great distance.
Hearing this, Robert quickly gave his steed two lashes, accelerating again, and arrived before the white horse in an instant.
"Where is your master, white horse!"
He looked around for a while but saw no sign of Arthas.
Anxious, Robert had lost his reason to the point of actually asking Invincible, who couldn't speak at all.
The tall Invincible gave him a very spiritual roll of the eyes, then lowered its head to continue chewing the grass in its mouth, its expression seemingly mocking Robert.
"Damned beast!"
Seeing that even a horse dared to ignore him, Robert cursed under his breath. He then turned around, intending to order Ser Barristan and the others to search for Arthas's whereabouts.
"My dear King, Your Majesty, please come over for a chat."
Just then, a gentle voice sounded from not far away. Everyone immediately looked toward the direction of the sound.
They saw a tall, straight figure standing alone by a quiet small lake. The bright moonlight sprinkled down with silver specks, reflecting off his dazzling golden long hair.
An incredibly handsome Face looked at him with a kind smile. A suit of black heavy armor shone under the moonlight. The silver-white light on his hair actually reminded Robert of the iconic gold-and-silver hair color of the Targaryens.
"Your King has come to fetch you, young Lannister."
Shaking off the unrealistic fantasies in his heart, Robert sat on his horse and spoke loudly to Arthas:
"Please come back with me. The Gold Cloaks of King's Landing need a commander like you."
"What a beautiful moonlight, Your Majesty."
Arthas did not answer directly. He only looked up at the sky and gently reached out his hand, as if trying to grasp the moon.
Once upon a time, it was also under such moonlight that he had commanded the soldiers of Lordaeron to slaughter the citizens of Stratholme clean.
It was also under such moonlight that that beautiful figure had turned and left him without a moment's hesitation.
"How long... how long has it been since I've seen such beautiful moonlight."
Completely ignoring the gazes of Robert and the others, Arthas just quietly watched the moon in the sky, letting the moonlight spill onto his Face. At this moment, his mind was incredibly tranquil.
Even the magic power surging within his body seemed to quiet down at this moment.
"Stop the idle chatter, Arthas."
Having no patience to admire the moonlight with him, Robert urged anxiously from his horse.
The situation in King's Landing was critical. The frenzied populace had blocked the entire city so tightly that even he, the King with nearly a hundred knights, had spent a great deal of effort just to get out.
"Come back to King's Landing with me immediately. I can restore your position as commander of the city watch at once."
"I have said, Your Majesty."
Gently lowering his hand and holding it out in front of him, fingers spread in an inviting gesture, Arthas's expression remained incredibly calm:
"Please come over for a chat. I think we still have many things that haven't been settled."
"Fuck, what exactly do you want to say!"
Helpless, Robert had to dismount and walk straight toward the lakeside.
Seeing this, Ser Barristan immediately followed but was shouted to a stop by Arthas.
"Ser Barristan, I have important matters to discuss privately with the King. Please stay where you are with the other Kingsguard and wait quietly."
"Rest assured, if I wanted to do something to the King, you alone would be of no use at all."
"You stay here."
Regarding his own safety, Robert wasn't worried at all. He believed no one would dare to commit such a heinous crime as to strike at the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms in front of so many people, even Arthas.
Unless he simply didn't care that the Westerlands would be besieged by all the nobles of Westeros.
Seeing that their King had spoken, no matter how loyal he was, Ser Barristan couldn't say anything more.
Because although Arthas's words were somewhat insulting, they were indeed the truth. Not to mention that most of the Gold Cloaks brought out today were Lannister knights.
Just considering Arthas's individual combat strength, his five Kingsguard would have no power to fight back against him.
"Arthas, I admit you won this time."
Although his figure had become bloated beyond recognition, Robert's foundation was solid, and he was still tall and burly.
Wearing light armor, he walked fearlessly and alone to the side of the first knight of the seven kingdoms, as if he had found the feeling of his youth again.
If it were ten or so years ago, he would have picked up his heavy warhammer without hesitation and challenged this invincible young man in front of all the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms.
But now... that long-buried heavy hammer, he probably couldn't even lift it with both hands.
"Janos is dead. You should have had enough of your tantrum."
Placing his right hand gently on Arthas's shoulder, Robert's tone at this moment was like that of a kind elder:
"Your King has brought so many people through the night to find you and bring you back, Commander Arthas."
"Please stop acting like a child. Return to King's Landing quickly and suppress those rioters."
"Heh..."
Arthas raised his right hand slightly, carrying a trace of dark blue-white energy, and removed Robert's right hand from his shoulder.
"Rioters?"
"They are just a group of poor commoners who hope to be able to eat and dress warmly."
With a mocking smile, pure energy quietly and discreetly seeped from his wrist into the King's body.
"Sometimes I can't understand you nobles of Westeros. Are the demands of the people at the bottom high?"
"As long as you truly go to the markets, go among the people and listen to their appeals, you can know what is really in their hearts."
"But not a single noble can do this. All are only concerned with their own feasting, drinking, and living in a dreamlike stupor."
"Even in the Westerlands, where living conditions are best, there are still commoners who can't get enough to eat and go to the mountains to become bandits."
"After returning to King's Landing, you should have heard and seen. Over these days, I have only done a few insignificant things for the people of King's Landing, and you, the King, have already lost the hearts of the people."
Arthas's words gave Robert a headache. He clearly understood every word, but when they were combined, they became words that were incredibly foreign to him.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Actually, I have always admired you, Robert."
His gaze passed over Robert to look at Jaime, who was standing not far away next to Ser Barristan, looking heroic in his white cloak and white armor. Arthas spoke startlingly:
"In over ten years of being King, you didn't think about how to govern the country, but instead squandered wastefully every day, drinking and whoring, even fathering who knows how many bastards outside."
"But you don't know that of those who can inherit the throne, not one is your own seed!"
"Pity your upright foster father Jon Arryn, who died an unnatural death because of your messy family affairs, while you only knew to run to the North again to seek Eddard Stark's help so you could continue your debauched days."
Shaking his head, Arthas had truly never encountered such an absurd King in his previous life:
"I really don't know if you are slow to react or if you are unwilling to accept reality."
This speech was like a sudden realization for this whoring King. Recalling the dazzling golden hair of his three children, he suddenly felt as if his head were topped with a vast green prairie!
"I..."
"!!!"
In his rage, Robert immediately wanted to order Ser Barristan and the others to seize Jaime at once, but his throat only moved; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't produce a single syllable.
His eyes widened as he discovered that his body didn't even seem to belong to him at this moment. He couldn't move a single step and could only stand dazed on the spot, looking with extreme terror at the golden-haired youth before him who still maintained a refined smile.
"My dear King, Your Majesty, are you satisfied with this great gift of mine?"
With flickering ghostly blue light in his eyes, Arthas's gentle words sounded in Robert's ear, yet they were like the Soul-reaping curse of a life-taking demon:
"The magic power that has just recovered enough to control a Soul has all been used on you."
"O monarch who does not know how to cherish his subjects, let the great lich king govern your capital for you."
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