Aegon Snow

-Chapter 176-

-POV Joffrey Lannister-

"So, what's wrong with you? You can't beat a butcher's son, bastard?" said Mycah.

I gritted my teeth, looking at the armored giant I was facing, so different from the terrified butcher's son I remembered.

'If he hadn't been taken under the emperor's wing, he would still be a miserable butcher, all because of that Stark bitch,' I thought, lowering my eyes to the ground to avoid looking up at the courtyard, having noticed the emperor had arrived.

'If he notices the slightest hostility towards that bitch, I'm finished and even mother won't be able to save me.'

Without warning, I struck hard forward.

My sword hit his shield and, already knowing his attack pattern, I retreated from the charge he made with his shield forward.

I struck with my blunt blade into the hollow of his armor behind his knee, forcing him to kneel before me before striking his helmet with the pommel of my sword with all my might.

The emperor's squire's helmet flew off, but I didn't stop and slammed the pommel of my sword into his nose with all my strength, sending him crawling to the ground.

"So, butcher, you can't stand up?" I said before spitting in his face.

The butcher's son, having regained his senses, got up and lunged at me enraged, pinning me to the ground. I smiled at him because he had just made a mistake, and that in front of all the nobles gathered on the balconies.

With each punch he landed, I smiled more because his punishment would be harsher.

The sanction was swift because, before Clegane and Jaime intervened to separate us, Mycah's weight suddenly lifted, and he was thrown against the weapon rack, collapsing under the impact's shock and violence.

Everyone fell silent seeing this and turned towards the only person who had the power to do such a thing, the only one capable of moving objects and people with thought alone, thanks to his magic.

The emperor's expression was clearly displeased, and he said to his squire who looked at him, stunned: "Accept defeat gracefully and get up to put your adversary down; that is the lesson taught by the Count of Castamere."

The emperor's squire lowered his head, taking on a shameful look. I hid the immense smile threatening to blossom on my face by pretending to grimace in pain.

The emperor's gaze fell on me but he said nothing and left, accompanied by the Stark bitch.

"You are reckless, Joffrey. Angering the emperor will get you nowhere," said my uncle.

"I'm not trying to anger the emperor, the one I'm trying to anger is him, and I succeeded," I said, winking at my opponent who was angrily slamming his helmet against the rack, furious for losing control and hitting a noble in front of the emperor's entire court.

'A crime that could have cost him his hand if we weren't in the training yard,' I thought.

I wasn't displeased by this because I knew the emperor would never cut off his protégé's hand, but at least he surely wouldn't be knighted by the end of the year. Which would mean he wouldn't be able to join the army for the conquest of the Summer Isles, and if he did, it would be as an anonymous soldier.

'Not as the Count of Castamere bringing a thousand men and over five hundred experienced mercenaries,' I thought, my smile growing stronger as my plans were going in the right direction.

---

-POV Cersei Lannister-

"Your Highness, Prince Maegor is so big even though he's not yet six moons old. He looks like he's twice his age," said one of my ladies-in-waiting, Marilyn Drox.

She came from a minor house in the Westerlands and had been sent to my side for me to find her a good match. In exchange, I could count on the support of this simpleton who flattered me far too much and her father, who could raise at least two thousand swords in my name.

"Don't call me that, I'm no longer queen," I said, reprimanding her gently.

She lowered her head, pretending to regret her mistake. Then she continued observing Maegor who was trying to crawl quickly around the room and said:

"Prince Maegor is so advanced, as expected of the heir to Emperor Aegon I," she said.

The door opened, and I saw Jaime accompanied by an unusually injured Joffrey for a simple daily training session.

Noticing the difference between my twin's disgruntled look and Joffrey's satisfied one, I immediately understood something had happened. So, I signaled my ladies-in-waiting to leave so we could talk in private.

"What's going on?" I asked, taking Maegor in my arms.

"What's going on is that this idiot practically insulted the emperor in public," said Jaime, beside himself.

I raised an eyebrow and said: "How?"

"He provoked the emperor's squire to physically attack him in front of the entire court," said Jaime.

I turned to Joffrey and asked: "Were you behind this?"

He nodded, and I asked again: "How did you manage that?"

"I struck his helmet with the pommel of my sword, then smashed his face with the same pommel."

"In the context of sparring?" I asked.

Joffrey nodded calmly and said: "It was borderline but yes, during our sparring. Once he was beaten, I insulted him lightly, and he jumped on me savagely before…"

"Did Aegon say anything to you?" I asked, worried about his opinion.

Joffrey shook his head and said: "No, but he remarked to his squire."

I smiled and nodded. I cupped my son's cheeks in my hands and said:

"I'm proud of you. That inferior disgraced a noble and should have been punished severely for it. I'll speak to Aegon; such an affront cannot go unpunished."

"Do you really expect him to punish his squire for…" I stared intensely, anticipating the end of his sentence, and he finally said: "For Joffrey?!"

"Joffrey is a lion of House Lannister, proud, strong, and cunning like our father. He was unjustly mistreated by a commoner and the emperor won't let that pass. Otherwise, if commoners are allowed to mistreat my eldest son, what's to stop another commoner from mistreating my youngest son?"

I saw Joffrey's eyes shine with recognition for a few seconds, then he looked at his little brother, whom he hadn't seemed to appreciate much until now, with a bit more tenderness.

'If he doesn't love him, he must at least see his brother's usefulness. I will not suffer a fratricidal war between my sons. All Lannisters must fight for one thing only: Maegor's right to the emperor's crown of Westeros,' I thought.

Jaime rolled his eyes and sighed deeply in frustration before storming out and slamming the door to my quarters to express his anger.

---

-POV MC-

"Why did you punish Mycah?" asked Arya, unhappy that I punished her former playmate.

I smiled and then said: "Because he hit a noble and shouldn't have."

"But he was fighting, and Joffrey provoked him," said Arya.

I put a hand on my little sister's head before crouching to her level to tell her, looking her in the eyes:

"Arya, this place is like that. If you're noble, you have more rights and power. Joffrey broke his nose to get revenge but did it during the fight he won after accepting his loss gracefully, which isn't the case with my squire. Mycah just got angry and chose to hit Joffrey for revenge instead of thinking."

"But Joffrey went too far," said Arya, still unconvinced.

"I agree," I said.

"Mycah hadn't given up," she said, and I nodded, aware of the situation.

"He could have killed him," she added, seeing my nonchalance about this dispute.

"He could have, and I would have had him whipped for this affront while stripping him of his lands, but he's smarter than that," I said.

"Why aren't you angry?" she said, annoyed.

"Because it's pointless, he can't do anything to me, and Mycah is a man now. It's time he learns to use his head to think."

Arya nodded, and she smiled sincerely when I added: "If Joffrey managed to do it, it shouldn't be that complicated."

---

-3 hours later-

-Imperial Quarters-

"Your Majesty, Her Excellency Duchess Cersei Lannister wishes to enter, she is with Prince Maegor," said Loras at my door.

"Let her in," I said, slightly distracted, focused on the accounts and inventory books of the forge.

Since I had separated part of the forge to deliver weapons to the great houses that ordered the best weapons from the imperial forge, I also had to ensure we could still have a large number of blacksmiths to create enough weapons to arm all my legions.

The door opened, and Cersei entered followed by two of her ladies-in-waiting. I looked up at her and my gaze lingered slightly on her perfect silhouette.

'What genetics, she just gave birth, and she quickly regained such a perfect figure while keeping the advantages of a mother,' I thought, my gaze lingering slightly on the dress that perfectly hugged every curve of her hourglass-shaped body.

I averted my eyes to finish the sentence I was writing in my little notebook before finally closing it and

 focusing entirely on Cersei who, very respectfully, signaled her ladies-in-waiting to leave us alone and didn't disturb me until I finished what I was doing.

Seeing I had finished, Cersei, sitting on my bed with Maegor babbling and bouncing all around, unable to stand completely, got up slightly and then said:

"What were you doing?"

"I was examining the situation of the imperial forges."

"And?"

"As I expected, we aren't using all our resources in the most optimal way, but there's no negligence or embezzlement, so I'm rather satisfied."

"What would you do to improve our… your forges?" she said, avoiding saying "our" since she wasn't technically my wife.

"I plan to build several higher quality blast furnaces in various cities of the empire where branches of the imperial forges can exclusively make weapons for sale, while the most skilled remain in King's Landing to oversee the armament projects of our fleet and army."

'I could also try to build a Bessemer Converter.'

A small silence lasted a few seconds before Cersei said: "I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have spoken to my brother about the succession behind your back, but I don't want our son to be in danger. Your eldest, once older, might try to attack his younger brother."

I rolled my eyes and looked at Maegor, whom I was certain had inherited my talent for magic: "No one will harm Maegor, he's like me. He's the only one of my three children who has the potential to one day reach a strength similar to mine."

Cersei's expression didn't change, and she said, afflicted: "But before he can protect himself, some might try to harm him."

"Like who?" I said, smiling while teasing my son with my finger, which he tried to catch in vain.

"We have so many enemies on this side of the Narrow Sea or the other."

"The war with Daenerys will be over soon, and the empire is at peace."

Cersei sniffed and then said: "I wouldn't be so categorical if I were you. Just this morning, Joffrey came back disfigured by the hand of a commoner."

'Ah, here it comes,' I thought, looking at Cersei with a slightly teasing look.

'Even after I promised to make Maegor my heir, she continues to try to manipulate me instead of being simply honest.'

'She's truly irredeemable,' I thought with a small sly smile appearing at the corner of my mouth.

"Don't look at me like that," said Cersei in a displeased tone.

"How?" I asked, pretending to be innocent.

"You know very well how you're looking at me, as if I were a fool," she said, displeased in a harsher, sharper tone.

"And you treat me as if I were one myself," I said in the same tone.

"No, it's…" she tried to say before I interrupted and said, while continuing to tease Maegor: "The plain truth, you didn't come to inquire about my health, my mood, or even to apologize, no, you came here to demand a punishment for the injury my squire inflicted on your son."

"And what do you intend to do?"

I frowned and then said: "I intended to send Mycah with Viserys so he could learn by his side and earn his title of imperial knight, that won't happen."

"I want him flogged."

"Don't test my patience, or it's your pretty little ass that I'll flog."

Cersei stared at me for a few seconds before finally taking Maegor and leaving.

'She's such a pain when she goes into Lannister mode.'

'And to think I'm hesitating to make her a queen.'

'Luckily, I haven't done it yet, otherwise she'd become even more unmanageable, and I don't have the strength to repudiate all the mothers of my sons.'

'Why did she have to be the only one to give me a son with magical talent?'

'If Aemon had had this talent, I wouldn't have even sought to repudiate his mother, I would have forgiven her, I would have simply confined her to her quarters while stripping her of all authority, but I wouldn't have repudiated her, and I wouldn't be in such a situation.'

'Thinking it over, it's still my fault. I shouldn't have been so weak and given in to the lioness's advances, no matter how beautiful and desirable she was. Now that the bed is made, I have no choice but to lie in it.'