Among the Seven Kingdoms…
The North had House Bolton as its second great power. That much went without saying.
If not for the marriage alliance between the two houses, and if Lord Eddard and Domeric had not gone to King's Landing, shifting the internal conflict outward, then House Bolton, whose strength had risen sharply, and House Stark would probably already have beaten each other's brains out over the seat of Warden of the North.
The Vale had House Royce as its second great power.
Dorne also had House Yronwood.
In the Riverlands, major nobles such as the Freys could barely be bothered to acknowledge their liege lord, Hoster Tully.
As for the Reach, that went without saying. Any random great house pulled from the Reach would have a stronger claim than House Tyrell to be Lord Paramount of the Mander and Lord of the Reach.
After all, the Tyrells had originally been only stewards to the Gardener kings, while those great houses often carried royal bloodlines. Add to that the weakness of "the puffed-up fish," Mace Tyrell.
That was also why the Reach, despite possessing the strongest national strength, was a limp shrimp in politics and war.
Meanwhile, House Lannister possessed absolute authority in the Westerlands.
During the rainy season of Castamere, Tywin led House Lannister to annex Castamere and Tarbeck Hall one after another. From that point onward, his own strength exceeded that of all the other Westerlands houses combined, and he established supreme authority.
Now, House Lannister had even achieved unified command and routine training over the armies of its vassals.
This was unimaginable in the other six kingdoms.
If the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros were compared to the late Warring States period of his previous life…
Then House Lannister was undoubtedly the mighty Qin, with the momentum to sweep across the world and swallow the eight directions.
With such strength in hand, Domeric would never believe that the Old Lion, Tywin, had no ambitions.
A great war was about to erupt.
Storm clouds were gathering.
And in this early outbreak of the "War of the Five Kings," what could Domeric gain from it?
"Domeric, are you willing to support me?" Lord Eddard asked.
"Gladly."
Domeric struck his right hand heavily against his chest and gave a solemn knightly salute.
In his heart, he thought:
This is the war I've been waiting for. I've waited three full years for it…
"Lord Eddard, then I shall take my leave."
"Hm. Spend more time with Sansa. She is not used to unfamiliar surroundings. With you there, she feels at ease."
"As you command."
After saying that, Domeric rose and left.
Only Lord Eddard remained in the council chamber, still seated silently before the table, his thoughts unknown.
…
The castle corridor was still dim. The sunlight that seeped in through the window at the end was limited.
Only after fully leaving the council chamber did Domeric feel the brilliance and warmth of the sun.
It was still early, around four or five in the afternoon.
This was also one of the things Domeric was most satisfied with in Westeros. The pace of life here was extremely slow, and there was no need to clock in and out of work every day.
Now that this small council meeting was over, there would probably be nothing to do for several days.
When he returned to his quarters in the Tower of the Hand, Domeric found Sansa and Arya sitting in front of a table, arguing fiercely over a parchment scroll, as if neither could convince the other.
Domeric stepped forward and took a look.
It turned out to be a budget list for the tournament.
Although Lord Eddard did not intend to hold this tournament, Littlefinger, Petyr Baelish, had still thoughtfully sent over this budget list. From a certain perspective, he was fairly competent as Master of Coin.
Perhaps aware of his own limited ability, Lord Eddard had handed the task of calculating the total amount on the list to his daughters.
The two poor ducal young ladies were scratching their heads in frustration, their eyes even turning red, yet neither had managed to calculate it properly.
And both of them happened to be quite competitive. They sat on their little stools, practically ready to fight this sheet of parchment to the death.
Domeric shook his head and sighed. Most noblewomen in Westeros seemed to have put all their natural skill points into bickering, arguing, gossip, and household intrigue. It was understandable that they were not sensitive to numbers.
Besides, education in this age was too poor. For nobles, being literate was already considered decent. Arithmetic was a professional skill.
Seeing this, Domeric reluctantly stepped in and solved this problem, which was comparable to an elementary-school word problem, in less than half a minute.
The total budget was calculated.
Including the prize money for the tournament winners, as well as the expenses for banquets, hospitality, food, drink, and other costs…
The total was 188,565 gold dragons.
Domeric could not help being shocked.
The Dreadfort's annual tax revenue was only around 20,000 gold dragons!
He was starting to understand how, in less than ten years, King's Landing had managed to rack up six million gold dragons in debt. King Robert's desires were truly a bottomless pit.
With such an extravagant king, the nobles and commoners of the entire continent would suffer. If the Baratheon dynasty did not fall, there would be no justice in the heavens…
Domeric could not help looking at the sisters' calculations.
Arya's result was 187,335 gold dragons, not far from 188,565. She had probably missed one expenditure.
Sansa's result, however, was 133,525 gold dragons.
This?
A difference of over fifty thousand gold dragons!
Domeric rubbed his chin, speechless.
He remembered that back when he had gotten engaged to Sansa, Arya had specifically reminded him:
"Sansa has never been good at managing household affairs, and she knows absolutely nothing about arithmetic. When she marries you, you'd better be careful. Never let her manage the accounts, or the consequences will be disastrous."
It seemed Arya had not spoken without reason. There was a cause behind it after all.
Still, when educating young girls, encouragement and praise should come first.
So Domeric smiled and praised both sisters.
Arya was extremely pleased with herself and shouted that she had been only one step away from success.
Sansa, meanwhile, pressed the tip of her shoe against the floor and twisted the fabric of her dress in both hands, secretly raising her eyes to look at Domeric.
She had also realized that her arithmetic was truly terrible.
As a future lady of a lord's household, managing the finances of the territory would be one of her duties.
She had performed so poorly. Would Ser Domeric think she was an idiot and stop liking her?
"Let's leave this aside. It isn't late yet. I'll take you both out for a feast!"
"Great, great!"
…
The stables.
Domeric walked toward his warhorse, grabbed a handful of fodder, and fed it. The horse twitched its large, soft nostrils and sniffed, then stretched out its broad tongue to roll the fodder into its mouth while leisurely swishing its tail.
Domeric patted its glossy neck in satisfaction.
Robb had given him this horse back in Winterfell. Its body was far more powerful than an ordinary horse's, though of course, it also ate much more. It even ate meat at times.
Originally, he had intended for each of them to ride one horse.
But Sansa suddenly said that her riding skills were poor and that she did not dare let a horse move too quickly through the city streets.
Arya immediately burst out laughing.
"Sansa is such an idiot!"
"Then ride with me."
As Domeric spoke, he mounted his horse and reached out to Sansa.
Sansa took Domeric's large hand and felt her entire body lift into the air. In the next moment, she was sitting steadily on the horse's back, right in Domeric's arms.
"Sit tight."
Domeric spoke, then squeezed the horse's belly with his legs. The warhorse gave a low neigh and broke into a gallop.
Sansa immediately leaned back against Domeric's chest. Her little scheme had succeeded, and a trace of secret delight and pride flashed through her eyes.
In her heart, she thought:
Arya is the real idiot!
Leaning in Ser Domeric's arms truly made her feel at ease.
The young girl could not help thinking so.
In Sansa's eyes, everything about Ser Domeric filled her with curiosity. Beneath those deep, sea-like eyes, there were many things hidden.
The most frightening part was that Sansa never knew what he was thinking.
Yet she always wanted to know.
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🏰🩸 GAME OF THRONES: SECRETS BENEATH THE DREADFORT
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🚨 SOMETHING IS BURIED BENEATH THE DREADFORT...
And perhaps it was buried for a reason.
The North is a land of old blood, older grudges, and secrets hidden beneath snow and stone.
But few places inspire more fear than...
The Dreadfort.
30+ chapters ahead are already available.
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🩸 THE DREADFORT HIDES MORE THAN BONES
🏰 Dark northern secrets
⚔️ Political intrigue
🐺 Westerosi power struggles
🩸 Bloodlines & betrayal
❄️ The brutal North
👑 Ambition & survival
💀 Mysteries best left forgotten
The North remembers.
But the Dreadfort?
🩸 The Dreadfort hides.
🔥 30+ CHAPTERS AHEAD.
👉 Go beneath the Dreadfort before the public readers reach the door.
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❄️ Winter may be coming. The secrets are already here.