As Lynn's voice fell.
A rotund figure slowly walked out.
Varys.
This Spider of King's Landing, the signature gentle smile on his face that seemed able to contain all secrets, had vanished.
Replaced by a complex expression mixed with shock, confusion, and fanaticism.
He heard everything just now.
Heard it all!
From Jaqen H'ghar's plan to Lynn's ideal enough to overturn the entire worldview of Westeros...
Not a word missed.
Lynn's words were not only spoken to Jaqen but also to the eavesdropping Varys.
Varys chewed on Lynn's words repeatedly in his heart.
He spent his life searching for a "wise ruler" for this decaying kingdom.
He once thought it would be Rhaegar Targaryen, but Rhaegar died at the Trident.
Then he pinned his hopes on Robert who overthrew the Targaryens, but Robert was just a stupid pig who only knew drinking and whoring, ignoring state affairs.
As for Robert's son Joffrey, stop joking, Joffrey a wise ruler? That was simply making all of Westeros laugh!
He also once pinned his hopes on Rhaegar's surviving bloodlines.
Whether it was the "Beggar King" Viserys far away in Pentos, Daenerys, or the hidden "Aegon."
But tracing back to the source, they were all just continuators of the old order.
What they thought about was how to reclaim the Iron Throne belonging to them, how to rebuild a dynasty rotten in essence.
They never thought about bringing real change to the commoners living on this land.
And Lynn before him...
The "Great Unity World" he described.
The old are provided for until death, the able-bodied are employed, the young are nurtured, no one picks up lost items on the road, doors are not closed at night...
No exploitation and oppression, no war differences, everyone lives and works in peace and contentment, old, young, sick, and disabled are all provided for.
Selecting the virtuous and capable, cultivating trust and harmony, society managed by capable people, no autocracy.
Transcending self-interest, advocating fraternity and mutual assistance, realizing harmonious coexistence of the whole society...
That was no longer a kingdom; that was a... divine kingdom.
A utopia existing only in the craziest dreams, promised not even by the Seven.
Every word, every sentence, was not considering the ruler, but for all commoners!
What ideal and ambition!
Varys looked at Lynn.
This young man had a dragon, power enough to overturn the war situation.
He had strategy, could easily see through human hearts, play with power.
Now, he also had a faith unprecedented, perhaps even unrepeatable.
A faith enough to make everyone crazy.
What was he still hesitating for?
What was he still waiting for?
That so-called "Prince That Was Promised"?
That Aegon whose whereabouts were unknown?
No.
Those were illusory.
And Lynn before him was real.
Varys took a deep breath.
The hem of that expensive silk robe.
For the first time, and the first time in history, touched the dusty ground.
He knelt on one knee.
He did this movement incredibly smoothly, incredibly devoutly.
He was no longer the Spider manipulating everything in the shadows, but a believer who finally found his lifelong pursuit.
"My Lord."
"I have served the realm all my life; I thought I was serving those struggling commoners."
"But only today did I understand, I was only serving Kings sitting on the Iron Throne one by one."
"I was only maintaining this rotten millstone to continue turning, continuing to crush the flesh and blood of the innocent."
"My little birds brought me all secrets of the Seven Kingdoms, but no secret could make me see real hope like your words just now."
He looked up; in those eyes always hidden behind a gentle smile, tears unprecedentedly shone at this moment.
"Varys is willing to serve you."
"My little birds will sing for you."
"Clear all thorns on the road ahead for you, until that Great Unity world you spoke of descends on this land."
Looking at Varys kneeling before him, Lynn wasn't too surprised.
A true idealist couldn't refuse a nobler, more achievable ideal.
Varys's allegiance was inevitable.
He reached out and helped Varys up.
"I indeed need your help, Lord Varys."
"But not now."
"Don't rush, Lord Varys."
"Now, we are all just spectators."
Lynn's gaze seemed to penetrate layers of walls, landing on the King's bedchamber at the highest point of the Red Keep.
...
Jaqen H'ghar changed into the most ordinary commoner outfit.
That ordinary face allowed him to blend perfectly into this chaotic and dirty neighborhood.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, rubbing the human skin mask of Stannis Baratheon in his hand.
In his mind, that "Great Unity World" Lynn mentioned still echoed.
What kind of state was this?
A world without pain, without despair, without oppression.
In such a world, did the Many-Faced God still need to exist?
Did they, these servants of death, still need to bestow "release" on those painful souls?
Jaqen wavered in his faith for the first time.
They terminated pain.
And Lynn wanted to eradicate pain.
Who was right?
Perhaps both were right.
Or perhaps... Lynn's path was the one leading to the ultimate.
Perhaps, in such a world, the Many-Faced God didn't need to exist.
Because the Many-Faced God was essentially a fabricated faith...
But would those rotten worms who had tasted power cause obstacles for Lynn?
Jaqen let out a breath slowly.
He stopped thinking about these questions enough to collapse any Faceless Man's mind.
He was just an actor now.
An actor about to perform a shocking drama.
He slowly covered his face with that cold mask.
The mask seemed to come alive.
Perfectly merging with his flesh, his bones.
Brow bone raised, cheekbones protruded, jawline became harder, corners of the mouth drooped due to constant pursing.
He stood up, walked to the cracked bronze mirror in the room.
In the mirror, a completely different face appeared.
That was a face belonging to Stannis Baratheon.
Cold, rigid, full of unquestionable majesty and a trace of lingering paranoia.
But this wasn't enough.
Jaqen closed his eyes; a memory not belonging to him surged up.
Stannis's walking posture, a stiff and straight gait unique to soldiers.
Stannis's tone of speech.
Every word seemed squeezed out through teeth, carrying a cold and hard texture.
He even began to mimic Stannis's signature little habits.
Grinding his teeth unconsciously when thinking.
When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer Jaqen H'ghar.
He was Stannis Baratheon!
Lord of Dragonstone!
"Stannis" walked to the table, opened a piece of parchment, and wrote on it.
[To loyal Davos:]
[The air in King's Landing is more suffocating than the sea breeze of Dragonstone.]
[The smell of decay is everywhere.]
[My 'benevolent' brother is indulging in wine and lust.]
[His body decays faster than the glory of House Baratheon.]
[I see his end, and the future of the kingdom.]
[What should belong to me will soon return to its rightful owner's hands.]
[Law and justice will eventually defeat chaos and desire.]
[Get the fleet ready.]
[When the Stag falls, it will be the day we return to King's Landing.]
A letter full of suggestion and ambition.
Every word revealed Stannis-style arrogance and obsession with his own rights.
Even if Stannis saw this handwriting personally, he couldn't distinguish true from false.
Because to some extent, this was written by Stannis himself!
Jaqen sealed the letter with a forged wax seal carved with the crowned stag sigil.
Then, he walked out of the house.
Different from before, Jaqen changed into eye-catching gorgeous silk clothes and walked into a tavern mixed with fish and dragons.
In the tavern, a ragged boy was wiping a table.
The boy looked only seven or eight, thin as a bean sprout, but big eyes revealed alertness inconsistent with his age.
Jaqen ordered a glass of the most expensive wine, sitting in an inconspicuous corner.
He deliberately took out that letter from his tunic, read it again, then stuffed it back into his tunic as if cherishing it greatly.
But this time, he didn't stuff it tightly.
The edge of the envelope revealed a corner from under his gorgeous coat.
Having done all this, he began to drink by himself.
Not long after, a drunken mercenary "accidentally" bumped into him.
Jaqen's body swayed.
That letter slid silently to the ground, kicked gently under the table by a foot wearing a tattered straw sandal.
A moment later, that boy wiping tables walked over.
He bent down, wiping the wine stains on the floor with a rag; that letter deciding the future direction of the kingdom disappeared into his tunic.
The boy slipped away from the back door like a slippery loach, disappearing quickly into the labyrinthine alleys of Flea Bottom.
Lynn had already found Robert's spy for him.
Jaqen just needed to "deliver" it to the spy's hands.
In the tavern, Jaqen drank the last sip of wine in the cup; the corner of his mouth curled up in an arc no one could understand.
...
Meanwhile, inside the Red Keep, news spread quickly like wildfire.
His Grace, the King, was going to hunt in the Kingswood!
It was said a legendary white hart appeared in the forest.
Robert Baratheon swore to take its head personally to prove his blade hadn't dulled.
The entire Red Keep got busy for this.
Robert Baratheon, wearing his hunting outfit that could barely button up, appeared high-spirited surrounded by a group of people.
His face, bloated from indulgence and alcohol, carried a sickly flush.
"Bring wine!"
He roared loudly.
Lancel Lannister quickly handed over a bulging wineskin.
Robert snatched it, unscrewed the cap, and guzzled it down.
Strong liquor flowed down his thick beard, soaking the front of his clothes.
On the balcony of the Tower of the Hand.
Lynn stood shoulder to shoulder with Ned Stark, overlooking the massive hunting party about to depart below.
Ned previously disagreed with the King going hunting.
Now, he didn't intend to stop it anymore.
Lynn knew.
This might be the last time in Robert Baratheon's life he breathed the air of King's Landing so freely.
Horns sounded.
The hunting party marched out of the city gate mightily, heading towards that lush Kingswood.
The stag had walked into the hunter's trap.
And the real hunters had just sharpened their claws and teeth.
When the tail of the hunting party disappeared at the end of the field of vision, Varys appeared behind Lynn.
"My Lord."
"The stag has entered the forest."
"King's Landing has begun to be restless."