Tyrion broke the awkward silence and said, "It's Lady Stoneheart, Sansa and Robb's mother. She died, and then was resurrected by the red priest Thoros.
Back then, when she let Jaime go, she forced him to swear an oath to free Sansa and Arya. Jaime broke that oath, and then she captured him in the Riverlands and forced him—"
Pausing, Tyrion shook his head and continued, "I don't know exactly what Jaime did. Jaime didn't tell me about breaking the oath. I figured it out with my clever brain."
"You're Tyrion?" Cersei turned to the handsome young man before her, her voice uncertain.
"You only just realized?" The dwarf sounded displeased.
Even if his appearance had changed, what about his voice? Jaime had already called out his name earlier.
"You came to kill me?" Cersei shrank back.
The dwarf raised his hand expressionlessly, letting his whore of a sister see the holy healing spell in his palm.
"He came to save you," Jaime said gently.
"Save me? Why didn't you come sooner? If you had come a day or two earlier, I wouldn't be like this, sob…" Cersei cried resentfully.
The dwarf's silk cloak covered her body, as if it also concealed her shame and cowardice. She regained some of her former arrogance.
"I…" Jaime wanted to explain, but in the end lowered his head. "I'm sorry!"
"That's enough!" Tyrion roared, scolding, "You ended up like this. Isn't it your own doing?
After the Battle of Winterfell, Jaime didn't even return to Casterly Rock. He came straight to King's Landing to dig tunnels, struggling for over a month until he looked like a filthy rat.
And you? For that iron chair, you didn't even care about your life.
Last time, didn't Matthew try to take you away? Did you leave?
Even if Jaime had arrived a day earlier and tried to take you away, would you have gone with him?"
Cersei glared at the dwarf and shouted, "Why should I leave? Kill Euron, and the Iron Throne would be ours.
Aren't you good at crossbow assassinations?
Go shoot Euron dead, just like how you shot father's privates. Sneak into his bedroom and kill him while he's on the toilet."
Before Tyrion could respond, Jaime suddenly asked, "Was Uncle Kevan killed by you?"
"What?" Cersei froze for a moment, then immediately shook her head. "No, not me. It was Tyrion… no, it was Euron. Yes, Euron killed him!"
The dwarf covered his face speechlessly.
"How did you become like this…" Jaime seemed struck by a double blow, overwhelmed with pain.
"You despise me?" Cersei was startled.
That wasn't what he meant, but his words instantly reminded her of her current state.
Feeling the stiffness and numb pain throughout her body, her fragile courage vanished, and weakness and shame overwhelmed her again.
She pulled the cloak up to cover her face and sobbed.
"Damn it, what are we doing?" Tyrion suddenly snapped awake. "Hurry and take her away. We killed people outside. It won't be long before the guards—"
"Clang, clang, clang—"
Before he could finish, urgent alarm bells rang outside the tower.
Soldiers shouted loudly, "Intruders in the Red Keep! Intruders in the Red Keep!"
"We can't let them seize the gate, or we'll be trapped like turtles in a jar." The dwarf pulled down his visor, unfastened the axe on his back, and strode outside. "Hurry up. I'll clear the way!"
Jaime nodded and bent down to pick up Cersei. "Let's get out of here."
But Cersei pushed him away with force. Though her face was covered in scabs and unreadable, her blue eyes were filled with despair and resolve. "Go. Taking me will only slow you down."
"Don't be foolish. I came here to save you," Jaime said anxiously.
"No. The one you came to save is Tywin's noble and elegant eldest daughter, the beautiful and pure Queen Cersei. Not this monster-like old woman!" Cersei shook her head in pain.
"Stop being foolish. You were never pure. You're a married woman who committed incest with your brother.
Your current appearance matches your ugly heart perfectly. But I still love you!
Because I'm a monster too, an old man." Jaime embraced her and spoke with emotion.
"You're an angel, Jaime!" Cersei caressed his face, her gaze dazed. "If only we were the Mad King's son and daughter.
Even the Seven Gods couldn't stop us. I would be your wife, and you would be my husband. We would receive the blessings of the nobles and people of the Seven Kingdoms and sit side by side on the Iron Throne—"
"Ah, can we not mention the Iron Throne?" Jaime groaned.
The good atmosphere was completely ruined.
Cersei suddenly became cheerful and said with a smile, "Our whole lives have revolved around the Iron Throne. You guarded whoever sat on it, while I wanted to be the one sitting there giving orders.
The best state would have been me sitting on it while you protected me. What a pity.
Maybe when we both die, our tombstones should be carved in the shape of the Iron Throne."
"Let's leave first. Once you recover, you can hire a mason to design two Iron Throne-shaped tombstones," Jaime said sorrowfully.
"What joy is there in life? What suffering is there in death? My injuries are too severe. I can't be saved. Even if the Mother is merciful and Saint Matthew is willing to save me personally, I don't want to live anymore. I'm in too much pain. Death is just a release." Cersei smiled bitterly.
"No, you can't—"
"Damn it! What are you two dawdling for? Hurry down!" the dwarf shouted from below.
Jaime took a breath and pleaded, "Cersei, you can't die. What will I do if you die?"
"Listen to me, Jaime," Cersei said painfully. "Right now, I wish Euron had tortured me to death last night, just like Sister Moller, and thrown me into the sea to feed the fish.
That way, your memory of me would forever remain frozen at the moment before we parted. At that moment, I was the radiant Queen Cersei!"
The reason she hadn't been tortured to death wasn't because Euron wanted to spare her. After losing the support of the Faith, Randyll Tarly, and Casterly Rock, Euron would have killed her without hesitation.
However, Cersei had a "Mark of Redemption" given to her by the Holy Mother. Each time she prayed devoutly, it would grant her a minor healing spell, usable only on herself.
Last night, as she was tormented, she kept praying in despair and stubbornly managed to survive.
"Jaime, please, let me go to see the Mother with my last shred of dignity. What's the point of taking me away?
Let the whole world know I became a camp prostitute, used by Euron to boost the soldiers' morale, violated by hundreds of savage and filthy ironborn?" Cersei begged.
Hearing this, the dwarf, who had been climbing back up, lost the urgency on his face. He quietly retreated and stood guard at the gate without calling out again.
"But I… I don't want you to die! I want to save you!" Jaime said in despair.
"If you love me, kill me with your own hands! Seeing you before I die is both my greatest misfortune and my greatest fortune.
Come on, kill me! It was me. I killed Uncle Kevan. I used my queen's blood to help Euron cast a curse.
I also had affairs with cousin Lancel and the Kettleblack brothers. Jaime, kill me. I'm begging you. Living is too painful for me."
She thought to herself: you only have one hand left. If you hold me, you can't hold a sword. Without a sword, how can you escape the Red Keep?
But she didn't say it out loud. She only kept degrading herself.
At first, she shouted hoarsely, but in the end, her face was covered in tears, her voice full of pain and pleading.
Jaime's heart trembled. His body trembled. As if possessed, he extended his trembling left hand and grasped her slender neck, covered in marks and bruises.
"Wait," just as he was about to exert force, she stopped him. "Remember to avenge me!"
"I swear, I'll kill Euron," Jaime said through tears.
"No. I want the Red Keep blown up!" Cersei said with a twisted expression.
"What?" Jaime was stunned.
"I want all the ironborn to die! The wildfire beneath the Red Keep was placed there on my orders. Originally, it was meant to kill that little bitch Sansa.
But that fake prince was useless and lost to Stannis before reaching King's Landing.
Later, I thought Daenerys might come personally, so I never had the wildfire removed.
Now it's finally useful—ugh—"
Jaime couldn't listen anymore. Closing his eyes and turning his head away, his left hand tightened like an iron clamp.
Thump, thump—
Cersei rolled her eyes and struggled violently, even shaking the bed.
"Wait!" The dwarf suddenly rushed back and grabbed Jaime's hand.
Cough, cough—
Cersei regained her breath and coughed violently.
"What are you doing?" Jaime roared.
He was already in agony. Making this decision had not been easy, and now being interrupted filled him with anger.
"The indulgence tokens!" The dwarf pulled out a large handful of small red pouches marked with seven-pointed stars.
"Oh, right. She needs to wear them!" Jaime broke into a cold sweat. Given Cersei's sins, without indulgences, even the seven hells might not be enough for her.
As the dwarf strung one pouch after another onto a cord, Jaime asked in confusion, "One is enough. What are you doing?"
Tyrion shook his head. "Not enough. When Cersei murdered Uncle Kevan, she made a deal with an evil god.
Anyone who borrows power from such a god is marked. When she dies, the god will come to claim her soul.
Indulgence tokens are essentially the power of the Stranger. The more you have, the stronger the effect."
He had learned this secret from the fire mage Boggba.
At the time, he was negotiating with Davos on Driftmark and ran into his former subordinate. Seeing a string of pouches around his neck, Tyrion thought he was selling indulgences and tried to persuade him otherwise.
Instead, Boggba mysteriously revealed a secret: one of the twin masters of Volantis had once worshipped R'hllor. After his death, his soul was immediately taken by a shadow demon, until the Dragon Queen freed him.
"Alright." After tying the cord to Cersei's wrist, the dwarf quickly retreated again.
Cersei slapped away Jaime's hand and complained, "I'm not finished yet!"
"I know. Blow up the Red Keep," Jaime said helplessly.
Only then did Cersei smile in satisfaction and tilt her neck up for him.
But when Jaime placed his hand on her neck again, her pupils shrank, and she struggled in panic.
"What's wrong?" Jaime released her and asked.
"I suddenly remembered something. You are also my valonqar. I misunderstood before. The one in the prophecy who would kill me is you, not Tyrion!" Cersei said in terror.
(End of Chapter)
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