Chapter 8: Prince (276 AC)

~o~

Ten years had passed since I came into this world as a much too knowledgeable, blurry-eyed baby that felt that call of sleep far too often. I had to admit, it was a period that I wasn't too fond of remembering, as it consisted of snapping my mouth at any approaching blurry object like a snapping turtle, be them food or fingers. The only positive that I got from my state of awareness was being able to differentiate my cries, enough that the nursing maid was able to recognize the difference after awhile and respond accordingly. Of course, I could have had a better time if I wasn't placed in the same crib as Jamie and Cersei who kept crying off and on at all times of the day and night, waking me up and annoying me to tears. Like I said, it was a trying time.

Not much happened during the year. Jamie became able to read enough that he no longer needed my help, but since then, he has taken to avoiding books unless I forced them on him. I had to admit that I understood his feeling, since most of the fiction was bad though he didn't have quite the references that I had. Maybe I had spoiled him too much with my stories. In any case, he used that newfound time to focus more on his swordsmanship practice. I had to admit that he had gotten to the point where I couldn't beat him anymore, even with dirty tactics. Or maybe he just got used to it. Cersei, on the other hand, was keeping up with him, even though she was still falling behind. I gave her some advice to focus on parrying and countering, but it didn't seem like she listened to me. Well, that was typical of younger sisters; I would know from experience.

So where was I leading up to with this overly compressed status update?

Nowhere, really.

Even when me and my siblings' nameday passed, nothing much changed. However, the birth of a prince was something that the entirety of Westeros had to celebrate. Or at least pretend to.

Prince Viserys had been born to the royal line, and Tywin, in all his wisdom, decided to host a tournament in honor of Prince Viserys. So that meant that the king and his family were scheduled to appear at Lannisport where the Tourny was to be held. That scheduled time was already here.

Which led to my current situation of sitting right next to Prince Rhaegar at the dining table in the great hall of the Lannister castle. We were probably seated next to each other because they thought were would get along well since we were both heirs of the future generations. Of course, that didn't happen. In fact, we hadn't said much of anything to each other at all. Maybe an errant comment here and there.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, but he was talking to the person seated next to him. The thought did come to me to initiate a conversation. However! I wasn't that kind of person.

In Japan, a loner was a stereotype that was common enough that it was its own cliche, and for good reason. I would even say that it was built into my genetic memory, if it weren't for the fact that Komachi had been born to the same bloodline. I still have the inclination even though I was in a new body that was obviously not of Japanese descent. I had to admit that I lost some of that, growing up in Westeros, but it was still there. If they talked to me, I would respond, of course. That was the same back into the service club. In fact, most of the situations back then was just me trying to solve the problematic situations they kept throwing at me. If I had never been forced into the service club, I would have probably gone through my entire high school years without making any kind of wave, big or small. Maybe I would have preferred that. Of course, that didn't happen. It did give me experience with socialites.

Unfortunately, it didn't give solutions to dealing with socialites. Haruno and Iroha weren't people I could deal with, and the Targaryen prince was giving me the same kind of vibe.

Perhaps hearing what I was thinking, Rhaegar turned his head in my direction. I quickly averted my eyes and scooped another mouthful of soup into my mouth. However, he didn't say anything and simply stared at me. I could feel myself getting agitated the more he watched me, with his perfect purple eyes on his perfectly handsome face with his perfect silver haired styled perfectly.

This freakin' riajuu!

I chewed on my food viciously as my anxiety started increasing, but it was only when I swallowed my food that he finally began to speak.

"I'd heard that you love books."

At first, I didn't realize that Rhaegar had spoken to me. When people talked in my direction, my natural assumption was that they were talking to someone past me. The way to deal with this was to wait a moment or two, long enough that I would be see if his eyes move from me or hear if any response comes from the other direction. The results of my meticulous and time-tested method was that he was speaking to me.

I had heard his voice before, when he was speaking to other people, but it was only when he spoke to me that I could feel the charm that practically radiated off of it. It was a melodious sound, seeming in harmony with its tone and volume, such that the sentence that flowed from him had a musical quality. For most women, it was the type of voice that would have had a seductive quality. For me, it made a trail of goosebumps pop up on my arms. So I decided on the best course of action, considering the situation and our statuses.

"Yes."

After a few moments for me to elaborate, in which I continued to eat my soup, he began to seem perplexed and asked me another question. I answered with another one word response that probably left him feeling unsatisfied. Well, good. That was what I was aiming for. I was polite enough while answering, as per my Japanese heritage, but he shouldn't expect more than that!

As if not willing to admit to defeat, Rhaegar continued with several more attempts, none of which were successful at all at opening me up. At the end of the table, I could see Tywin's face scrunch up in anger, though he held in most of it so that it wasn't too apparently to anyone that didn't know him. I, of course, did know him, so I knew right away that I was going to be in trouble later, but I didn't really care. Instead, what was pissing me off was the damn riajuu chattering next to my ear.

Go ahead, Prince, keep trying. I would like to see how long you would last.

~o~

I seriously underestimate his tenacity. Rhaegar was right next to me, walking in the hallway. It should have been obvious from my disgruntled expression, but he kept up his one-man dialog in which he asked and answered his own questions without missing a beat. Any one of the nobles or servants that saw us knew that I was incredibly annoyed, but seeing how the pest was a prince, they couldn't do anything about it. This included me as well.

"I had heard that you are military-minded, is that true? Is it? So it is. I'm of a similar—"

"Shut up, you riajuu bastard!"

Even I had my limits.

The outburst left my lips before I could retract it. My eyes were swirling, but since I made the move, I could only go all-in. What could he do? He was only the heir to the seven kingdoms, but I was a heir too and of the richest kingdom, the Westerlands. Even if he wanted to do something like imprison me or punish me, he wouldn't have the power to do that, especially since I didn't really do that much except call him a bastard. At the most, people would—

A hand clamped down on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw narrowed eyes and a extremely wide grin, like that of a snake, staring down at me. All of my thoughts fled me.

"Riajuu? Even though I don't know what that means, I do know what 'bastard' means."

I straightened my face and gritted my teeth. I understood his implication. "What do you want?"

His grin seemed to stretch even wider. "Well, I heard you made a wargame."

I knew where this was going. It must have been Jamie who blabbed because I knew Cersei could actually keep a secret. Then again, Cersei was infatuated with him just from looking at drawn pictures and hearing the bards' stories. She looked like she was going to faint when she saw him in person. That kind of pissed me off now that I think about it. "I don't mind, but that's only if you can complete a challenge for me."

He started to frown.

"Don't worry, it's nothing that'll affect your reputation. It's just a game between you and me," I said. "More of a mental and luck-based game."

I could see the indecision on his face so I went for the killing stroke.

"Trust me, it'll be fun."

~o~

Of course, it was fun. For me.

Across the table, under the flickering light of the candle, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, heir the throne of the Seven Kingdoms, was furiously staring down at the numerous parchments that littered his side of the table. All of them were his character sheets, detailing their appearance, their statistics, and their inventory. They were also all dead.

"I don't have all night. Make another character or give up," I said as I pretended to yawn.

He sent a bloodshot glare my way. "This campaign of yours is impossible."

"Of course it's possible. Just give up, and I'll show you how Jaime and Cersei did it with beginner characters." I stretched my back. We had been at this for hours already. "If you don't think it's easy after I show you, I'll even void the challenge, and we can do a different one."

That seemed to lit a fire in him as he took out a new parchment and started writing out a new character. I took this opportunity to close my eyes for a bit to rest.

Rhaegar had grasped the rules easily enough, far faster than my siblings, making his first character in a matter of minutes instead of taking hours. I had even been so kind to take him on a quick practice campaign to show him the ropes, and he took to it like a fish in a pond. He even seemed to be in love with the concept. You could tell a lot about a person with what kind of character they make for their first time. It was usually their ideal type or the kind they were familiar with. As it was, he made a knight who was a complete paragon of virtue. Of course, I had some information on him before, but what I knew was public knowledge and prone to deviation and exaggeration. However, with this newfound information, I created a completely new campaign on the spot, designed to be beaten by low level characters but also designed for him to never succeed at.

Of course, it went without saying that Jaime and Cersei had never played this before. If he called me up on my bluff, I would just fudge my way through. Not that he would ever know. The papers that he saw me reading throughout the whole campaign as if I was taking it straight from the pages were for a completely different campaign.

"I'm…I'm done." His eyes were almost to the point of being bloodied as he handed over his character sheet. I raised my eyebrow when I saw what he wrote.

"Are you sure about this?" In response to my question, he stared at me with his bloodshot eyes. I shrugged. "Alright, if you're sure."

I glanced down at the character sheet again. This character was the completely opposite of what he made before. Instead of a paragon of light, this character was an scheming scoundrel of a knight, keeping murderers and back-alley robbers as his company. Instead of dumping his points into strength and endurance, he put it all in charisma and agility.

Well, it could probably get past the first part, but after it made it to the part of the campaign I haven't made yet, I would adapt and create enough to stomp this character out of existence.

~o~

The first rays of sunlight dawned on the window sill, but I was of no mind to pay attention. I could barely keep my eyes opened, yet I had to at this critical juncture. Across from me, somehow keeping awake and oddly energetic despite having sunken eyes, Prince Rhaegar was rolling the two dice once more.

Somehow, against all odds, his character, Rozlin, was able to convince a lord and his entire army through speeches and luck of the rolls to lay siege to the underground tombs while he snuck in and confronted the last boss, the undead king of the underground tombs.

The dice clinked against the table, rolling forward until it finally stopped at the middle. A natural 12.

"The…the king," I said, withholding my grimace and resignation, "takes your words in stride for a moment before he raises his dagger and impales his own chest with it. The blade digs into his heart and its magic renders the organ into ash. The king stares at you with a thankful expression, as if enlightened, before crumbling into dust."

I did all that I could do. Everything that could have been done to kill his character without reaching too far that I would be caught cheating had been implemented, but he had managed to beat it against all odds. I was in awe. I truly was. I smiled bitterly.

"After gathering all of the loot, the moment you step out of the tombs, you see the army before you celebrate with a loud cheer. Despite everything arrayed against you, you have beaten them, and your deeds are known. What awaits you after you return is both fame and fortune."

Prince Rhaegar was silent as he smiled brightly for a moment before his head slammed into the table, unconscious before his forehead hit the die.

~o~

"I have to admit, Hachi, that I haven't had as much fun in a long time as I did last night."

"We're not that close for you to address me without any honorifics!"

That statement was on purpose, wasn't it? I could see the maids that were walking passed in the hall pause, hesitating for one moment too long, before they hurriedly continued on their way. I could imagine what was going through their mind and the gossip that would come of it, but I was in no mood to care. And even if I was, I wasn't going to play into his hands like that.

Taking a glance at Rhaegar who was walking by my side, I looked squarely at the die imprint on his forehead, depicting the six-side with its six dots. I snickered, and I knew he noticed my glance, but he walked on proudly without the slightest bit of embarrassment. Honestly, that was the only joy I was getting from walking besides him.

Why should I be happy walking next to him? Popularity? That was just an abstract concept based around appearance and personality that attracted flies that endlessly buzz around you. Take for instance our most exalted riajuu idiot, Hayato Hayama. Because of his stupidly handsome face and general leniency, he had to deal with the likes of pests such as Kakeru Tobe. What was the point was you would attract cockroaches like that? I would rather be a loner than deal with that, a decision that I proudly undertook in my previous life even though, back then, I had an above average appearance and above average grades.

Though, in this life, I had to admit that I was, in fact, despite all appearances, popular. What exactly was popularity? It was the combination of several criteria to achieve a score that must pass a baseline in order to be categorized as popular. That would be appearance, personality, achievement, and wealth. For these reasons, it was no wonder that I wasn't popular in my last life, not that I really cared about it now or then.

Now for the hidden fifth criteria that doesn't actually exist in reality. That is connection. It is a temporary, made-up criteria that too many idiots of the world flock to. It is the popularity of association. Like the flunkies of a celebrity gaining a bit of temporary popularity from it and managing it to somehow use it for some small and weak gains. Tobe is exactly that type of person, believing that just by being next to Hayato, he would become as popular as Hayato, not realizing that it is entirely superficial and that it will evaporate the moment Hayato left.

Thus, being with a prince had no benefits. Not that I needed nor wanted to be popular. I was already popular in my own right, mostly because of the last category: wealth. As the heir to the Lannister family, I was pretty much entitled to the massive amount of wealth that the family had, even if my relatively frugal nature from my past life prevented me from becoming a complete wastrel. That meant that even if I were to have my face mashed up by a grinder, I would still have half the Westerlands coming to me for marriage just to get at my wealth. Of course, my current arranged marriage did a lot to stop those proposals, though Tywin did tell me that I would get offers of mistresses in a few years. He did warn me to only take a few at most, but even if he didn't, I already knew of the dangers.

The wisdom of movies and anime have already made known to me that mistresses weren't inherently dangerous. It was mistresses with children who were the most danger to a noble house, from either themselves or their children. Whether it was from being oppressed or being greedy, the results were often gruesome internal conflicts. I have read too many yandere webnovels to make that kind of mistake.

In any case, we had arrived. In front of us was a nondescript wooden door, just like any other in the castle. However, this was a very special room, one that I had found years ago when Jamie ambushed me in order to teach him. Since then, I had converted it from the plain, empty room that it was to something much more different.

I unlocked the door with my key and walked into the room. There was a large table in the center, one that took up most of the room. On it was a huge map of Westeros, one that had to be custom-made to be this size. There were leftovers from a previous session littering the map: wooden castles and tiny statuettes that depicted individuals and armies.

Rhaegar was staring at it with intense interest. I already knew that it would catch his attention, and I didn't mind. Instead of paying attention to that, I walked over to the bookshelf against the far wall and took a slim stack of parchment, held together by tied strings through three holes on the left side. This was actually my simplified quick-play rulebook, the one that I usually played with Cersei and Jamie. There was a stack of parchment as big as a tome that I created, the realistic and complete rulebook, that had statistics down as accurately as I could get it along with rules on almost everything, making it a complex mess with a huge learning curve. However, it was the result of years of research and beta testing with Tywin, such that it was the closest to actual real-world strategy. Nobody would even doubt me if I said this was my magnum opus, though I didn't consider it be something like that. To me, it was a hobby. I held up the quickplay rulebook for him to see.

"Here are the rules. You have to learn them first before we can play."

His eyes began to shine.

~o~

The game was afoot.

I glanced across the table at Rhaegar, his hands pressed down at the edge of the map. This was only the third game we have played, with the first one being practice for him to become used to the rules. He caught on quickly, so the second game was more on equal footing. Still, he had lost then, and he was losing badly now. On the map, I had taken the whole of the southern domains as well as the Westerlands and the Crownland. The only major strongholds that he had left were in the snowy north, where both food and population were scarce. It was only a matter of time before my victory was declared, and that was a fact that he knew all too well.

Which was why he was using desperate tactics now.

"You can't be serious," I said. There was a bit of worry that he would actually succeed, but I hid that well enough to only allow fake concern to show. "They'll never accept it."

"Your armies have taken over most of the fertile land. You know well that this may be my last chance, Hachi." Somehow, during the middle of our games, we started calling each other by our first names instead of through our titles. I couldn't exactly remember when, but I supposed we were familiar enough with each other, especially after the all-night gaming session. Rhaegar moved a statuette of a merchant from Winterfell to the north and through The Wall, letting it stop in the desolate wasteland Beyond the Wall.

Bad move, Prince. The thought didn't appear on my face though. There was many moves that he could have taken, especially in this endgame scenario, but he sent a merchant instead of someone that would look less like prey to the barbarian tribes of the icy wasteland. That was going to incur some heavy penalties. However, he had no notion of this, if the expression on his face was anything to go by.

"He advances into the wasteland with a caravan of guards." I motioned for him to roll the dice, and after a moment, he did so. They fell onto the table, landing on the four and the five.

"You are ambushed by a group of five wearing furred coats and wielding make-shift spears of wood and stone. They don't hesitate to launch themselves bodily at your troops. What do you do?"

"I have my knights and men-at-arms disarm the men without harming them." I motioned, and he rolled.

"Your knights beats them handily, though a few were too enthusiastic, killing two of the wildlings. The remaining three are churned into a fury, struggling to escape captivity."

"This won't do." Rhaegar sighed. "Since some have died, there is no point in keeping to rest alive to negotiate. Torture the location of their village out of the remaining three."

"Torture? Really?" At his nod, I shrugged and rolled the dice on my side of the table for him. "One kills himself by biting off his tongue. The other two last for roughly thirty minutes, but they are now bloodied. You learn that their village is close by, probably within half a day's walk and that is accounting for the snow impeding your journey."

Rhaegar nodded. "I have my men kill them and bury them, leaving no evidence behind. After that is done, we head out in the direction of the village."

"Cold," I muttered, and I wasn't referring to the weather of the wasteland. I rolled the dice. "There is no further encounters. By the time the sun dips, you see an encampment consisting of tents. There are many people walking around the encampment. Men, women, children. What do you do?"

"I, as the merchant, motion my men to stand back while I alone approach them slowly with my hands raised to show that I am unarmed."

"Upon noticing you, the men and women, sans the children, charges at you with their weapons raised."

"I shout that I come to negotiate with them."

"They are still charging at you," I said. "Your knights are agitated, ready to charge to your rescue."

"I keep calm and motion to my men that everything is alright. I wait for the wildlings to reach me."

"Upon arriving, they grab you, shove you to the floor, and cut off your head."

"What?!" Rhaegar looked up incredulously at me. "I did not roll!"

"You had enough penalties that it would still put you in the negative no matter your roll," I said. "You were an unarmed chubby man in a luxuriously looking fur coat. What did you think would happen? This isn't civilized land."

Rhaegar gritted his teeth. "My knights charge in and kill any who resists."

"Roll." At my word, Rhaegar rolled the dice. "Good roll. You massacre everyone in the village down to the last man, woman, and children, leaving only infants and toddlers alive."

He slammed a hand on the table. "I said only those who resists."

"They resisted. Even the children with small knives," I said exasperatedly. "It's like you don't know about wildlings."

"And you do?"

"Far more than you, apparently." Rhaegar looked like he was about to retort for a moment before he thought better of it. Instead, he seemed to deflate a little. I gave him a little nod, as if in recognition of his efforts, though it was my way of subtly mocking him.

"I'm just surprised by your level of knowledge about the wildlings."

"Time, money, and research." Actually, the real reason was Zaimokuza.

"I applaud your efforts," Rhaegar said without a hint of sarcasm. I had expected some, so I was a bit surprised. "Not many have the wisdom or the foresight to acknowledge those whom exist outside the Seven Kingdoms."

I couldn't hold back the narrowing of my eyes. This felt more than a bit suspicious. Well, it wasn't exactly suspicion—I wasn't quite sure what it was—but I started speaking cautiously. "I'm sure you'd know as much as I do if you put more effort into it."

"Maybe," Rhaegar said, displaying a mischievous smile.

"In any case, I advance my host up the Neck."

"The snowy north is not so easy to penetrate. I will split my armies and move them here, here, and here." He pushed several statuettes and moved them into forest and mountainous terrain. The most important thing was that he had scattered them. It was obvious that he wasn't going to be bringing them all into a single battle. If I didn't know better, I would think that he was starting to use guerrilla tactics. "I don't think your scouts will be able to detect all of them."

"You're going for a battle of attrition." Finding them all would take far too much time, but if I left them alone and charged on ahead, they would regroup and cut off my supply line. Being in the winter-like area which had little in food or shelter would be a death sentence in that kind of situation. "You're stalling for time."

"As long as I have time, the wildlings will eventually come under my sway."

"You're pretty confident, aren't you?"

"The North is self-sufficient. My people and armies can last for a long time, but can yours?"

"You're really getting into the role, aren't you?"

"That…was not my intent…" Rhaegar seemed to become somewhat disturbed and fell into a contemplating silence. That suited me just fine because I got more time to think on my move.

Invading the North was akin to invading Russia, and that had proven disastrous for Germany. I didn't think that I would be any luckier in that regards. Even if I could wipe them out, it would incur terrible casualties that would make its worth questionable. No, there was another way, one that most wouldn't choose to do.

"I will have my fleet in the western sea head to Bear Island while I will have the fleet in the eastern sea go to the Eastwatch." I began to move my ships across the map.

Rhaegar blinked in surprise. "If you are trying to flank from behind, why would you move them so far north?"

"While my main host is fighting your knights at the Neck, you will not be able get many of your knights to return to the north." At my words, Rhaegar slowly nodded as it dawned on him.

"Are you planning to siege Winterfell directly?"

"No," I said. "They'll move across the land in smaller groups, raiding and pillaging every village they come across."

"What?!" Rhaegar looked at me with a shocked expression.

"They'll steal as much food as they can carry and burn all the fields." From the shelf that had spare figurines, I took a few and placed them in places above Winterfell. "By the time you can react, it'll be too late. The farms will be in ruins, and even the nearby villages will become abandoned as the citizens flee southward in fear of being raided. The North will starve."

Rhaegar's face hardened. "Even if this is a game, there's no need to be so merciless."

"This is war." I stared back at him coldly. "Can there be a real victory without staining your hands?"

"It's a worthless victory when you lose the heart of the people!"

"The North will hate me regardless. You are the heart of the North, but there can only be one king on the iron throne."

Rhaegar was silent. It was probably the first time he really encountered such a tactic. It was a despicable one in the sense of someone from Westeros, but for me, it was a tactic that was used often in modern gaming. In strategy games, one of the primary targets were the resource collectors to destroy the enemy commander's economy and prevent them from building more troops. It was a tactic used to great effect in real time strategy games where there were defenseless units that were used to harvest resources.

"It's your move."

He was still silent, his gaze moving about the map, as if looking for a way out. Finally, he sighed. "I surrender."

"I applaud your efforts and summarily execute you. Well, it looks like I won this match." I stretched my back. "You'll keep your end of the bet?"

"I wouldn't break my word so easily. I'll watch over your sister for the next couple of days."

Looks like my efforts paid off. The rest was up to Cersei.

"But I'm curious," he began. "What will you do with Westeros under your rule?"

"Reforms, industries, academics. There's a bunch to do, except for the North. I'll have to cripple them," I said. "Whether I like it or not, the North will eventually rebel in the future. After I conquer the territory, I'll rip out their infrastructure and make them reliant on the south. If they actually decide to rebel, they won't be able to get very far. Not without help, at least."

"You can't be serious…"

"Why not? If they actually get help to start a rebellion, that'll expose their benefactor, and I can wipe out the rats in one fell swoop." I looked down at the various castles and forts that littered the North. "And if it comes down to it, I'll just execute all the noble houses and replace them with loyal knights I'll personally raise to minor nobility. They won't be able to manage the territory that well, but it's better than watching over my shoulder constantly."

"This is..." Rhaegar trailed off as his expression distorted. "I'll never approve of these methods."

"That's why you'll never win against me."

~o~

A/N: Hohohoho. Heheheheh. Kukukukuku. Hahahahaha. Kakakakaka.

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