Arthur did not give him much time for reflection.
He waved towards the door, and Olivier immediately led more than a dozen captured Legge Family knights inside.
These knights had completely lost their courage; they now resembled a flock of plucked roosters, crestfallen, their eyes darting away, not daring to meet Arthur's gaze.
Arthur gestured to the benches on either side of the temporary command hall: "All of you, sit down."
The knights hesitated before sitting, their bodies stiff as if the benches were covered in needles.
Arthur's voice was calm, as if discussing the weather: "The specific issues will be negotiated between Daedings Family and you."
"But as for the ransom, we will discuss that."
He held up three fingers.
"One knight, three hundred gold dragons."
The words had barely left his lips when a hot-tempered knight sprang from the bench.
His voice was shrill with anger: "Three hundred gold dragons?!"
"This is robbery! Arthur, you've emptied our castle of all its gold, silver, grain, and livestock!"
"I heard! You didn't even spare my wife's bedsheets! Where are we supposed to find gold dragons for you?!"
Another knight also stood up, his face flushed, and echoed: "Exactly! You took everything you could, and now you want us to pay gold dragons to ransom ourselves? By the Seven Gods, what kind of logic is this?!"
The atmosphere in the temporary command hall instantly became tense.
A strange smile appeared on Arthur's face. He leaned slightly forward, his hands clasped on the table, looking at the agitated knights.
He smiled and said softly: "Interesting."
"This wasn't your attitude during your stay as my guests."
His gaze swept over the faces of the knights one by one.
"I remember clearly, Ser Hastings, it was you who told me that your wife's family had extensive lands in The Reach, with five or six thousand retainers."
He then turned to another person.
"And you, Ser William, you said your wife was a distant relative of Lannister, and that a letter sent to Casterly Rock would make a few thousand gold dragons seem like mere trifles."
Arthur's voice was not loud, but it lashed across everyone's faces like a whip.
"Back then, each of you assured me that your families were wealthy, and as long as your lives and dignity were ensured, you were willing to pay any ransom for freedom and honor."
"What, now that the war is over, you've all become paupers with nothing left?"
The knights' faces turned from flushed to ashen, then back to flushed. They were as if their throats had been seized, unable to utter a single word. Couldn't he tell they were bragging!
Ser Hastings, mouth agape, finally slumped back into his seat, covering his face with his hands. Humiliation, utter humiliation, shame spread through their bodies.
In this suffocating silence, Gales Legge finally spoke.
He stood up, took a step forward, his voice somewhat hoarse, but already adopting the demeanor of a lord: "Arthur, three hundred gold dragons is indeed too much for them now."
"They have lost everything. You have taken all that could be taken from them. Please, for the sake of…"
Arthur interrupted him, his eyes suddenly growing cold: "For the sake of what?"
"For the sake of you dismantling my family's castle? Or for the sake of you desecrating my family's burial grounds?"
A knight whispered: "Jero Legge, who did that, wasn't he already killed by you…"
Arthur's gaze shifted to him, and the knight sat up straight, closing his mouth.
Gales was left speechless by the question, and he sat back in his chair, remaining silent.
Arthur no longer looked at him, his gaze returning to the desperate knights.
He seemed to ponder for a moment, then spoke coldly: "Very well, I am not an unreasonable person."
He retracted two fingers, leaving only one.
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