RoWE - Chapter 81

Chapter 81: The Curse of the "Second Son"

Before his transmigration, Aeg often wondered: How did a family like the Starks, which seemed to produce nothing but fools in the plot, manage to stand tall in the North for thousands of years and emerge victorious in the wars against other families competing for the title of "King in the North"?

Now, as an outsider in this world, he had to spend time looking at the issue more deeply and fundamentally. Gradually, he discovered that Eddard Stark's performance in the game was not due to the legacy of House Stark, nor was it related to his own "immaturity" or "stupidity." It was predetermined from the start—Eddard Stark was never raised according to the template of a power player.

He was not an heir, but a "second son" raised in the Vale.

In this era, to prevent internal family strife, many great houses chose different ways to raise their heirs and their younger sons: The eldest son and future head of the family not only had to learn how to lead and govern but also know when to act nobly and honorably and when to abandon some morals to protect the family's interests... The younger sons, on the other hand, only needed to be brave, upright, and loyal, as they would support their elder brother in the future, not stand on their own.

Simply put, the eldest son had to be a bit cunning, while the rest should be more straightforward. Being too capable was actually not good for the family.

Eddard enjoyed the latter treatment.

He was sent to the Eyrie at the age of eight to be fostered by Jon Arryn to maintain the alliance between the North and the Vale. As his foster father, the upright and noble lord Arryn indeed helped his ally mold him into a—just like the chief ranger Benjen Stark, whom Aeg was already quite familiar with—"qualified second son."

This was not a problem in itself, but the problem lay in what happened later: Eddard's elder brother, Brandon Stark, was killed by the Mad King.

The death of an heir was not uncommon in this backward and chaotic era. Typically, the head of the family would quickly choose another child and immediately mold him into an heir. But Eddard's situation was that his father, Rickard Stark, was also killed by the Mad King on the same day as his elder brother.

Thus, a "foster son and second son," without a single day of transformation or training, suddenly lost his father and brother and became the Lord of the North and the head of House Stark. This was already a rare situation, and even more fatal was that the Rebellion was sparked by this tragedy and erupted directly—Eddard not only had no elders of his own family to transform him but also no time to be taught by the elders of other families.

Eddard had no experience or wisdom in running a household. Fortunately, he was not alone in opposing the Targaryens. In the hastily begun Rebellion, he had the guidance and help of his wife's family, Hoster Tully, the Lord of Riverrun, and his foster father, Jon Arryn, the Lord of the Vale. Despite stumbling, he somehow succeeded in rebelling alongside Robert.

By the time the war ended and everything settled, Eddard was already a war hero, revered throughout the land. He was the oldest and highest-ranking living member of House Stark and the actual ruler of the North with great power—no one had the qualification to dictate to him how to rule or transform him into a qualified ruler.

Thus, he retained completely the honor and integrity he had learned as a second son and began his rule over the North. Fortunately... the barren land he ruled did not have many conspiracies and power struggles, and being a second son in charge did not cause major mistakes. So, Eddard Stark not only adhered to his virtues but also taught all his children to be qualified "second sons"—and we all saw what kind of foolish things Robb Stark, who had not received the education of an eldest son, did after becoming the King in the North.

Insulting an important ally, House Frey, without realizing it, executing a general, Karstark, on the battlefield, and attending the Red Wedding without any precautions... If Brandon Stark had been alive, how could the children he taught have done such politically ignorant things?

Therefore, anyone who wants to say that someone is stupid or naive can stop—just as an American president might not be able to manage even a village in China, Eddard Stark was a qualified product of Westerosi society, just placed in the wrong position by fate and his king brother who could not judge people well.

Everything was the result of "second son" education.

What Aeg was now trying to do was to protect this misplaced, stubborn man in the shadows. For no other reason—having such a straightforward and respectful man as the Hand of the King, who was easy to manipulate, currently best served his interests.

***

"It's settled then, no backing out tomorrow!"

"A man of the Night's Watch does not lie!"

After sending off Arya, who was overjoyed at the promise, Aeg let out a long breath: Supporting an incapable leader was undoubtedly a tough job. Fortunately, he had stumbled upon success with his first move, disrupting his first opponent's plans with just a clever rumor. Before the next crisis, he had time to do other things.

Hmm... tonight at the inn, he should write the reply to the Wall. Now, he needed to consider how to persuade Commander Mormont to cancel or at least postpone the ranger expedition and find a way to capture a couple of wights and send them south to open the eyes of these skeptics.

He stretched his body and walked out with Tyrion, only to find his newly hired employee—the second member of the Night's Watch office, "Aegon"—sitting upright behind the desk in the office lobby, pretending to be guarding the place.

Aeg rubbed his head. He couldn't decide immediately what to do with this pretentious guy. If he resigned today, that would be easy to handle, but Aeg was afraid he might linger around openly while secretly sneaking into the Red Keep to cause trouble... If he brought trouble, that would be bad.

"We're closing, let's go." Aeg said to Jaqen. He didn't dwell on it for long. Since you're pretending, let's just act it out. When it comes to killing, I can't catch up to you, but when it comes to an actor's self-cultivation, I have my own tricks. After saying this, he turned to Tyrion: "Don't sleep too early tonight, I might need your help to write a letter."

"You should learn to write as soon as possible," Tyrion naturally wouldn't refuse, but he couldn't help complaining: "It's very taxing on the brain to pimp for you all day."

"Thank you for your hard work. The capable should do more."

****

Before joining the Night's Watch, Jeor Mormont was the Lord of Bear Island, and after donning the black, he quickly became the Lord Commander and has been in power ever since. For Aeg, he was undoubtedly a leader and a big shot that he could only look up to for the time being, and persuading such an old man to change his mind would require some methods.

The Lord Commander had never seen the superhuman combat power of the wights. He wanted to launch a ranger expedition to investigate the north, and from a logical standpoint, there was no problem... Since there was no problem from a logical standpoint, Aeg naturally couldn't dissuade him through logic.

Tsk... how should he start this?

Aeg, along with Jaqen and Tyrion's group, returned to the Albatross Inn, and after a long journey of contemplation, he finally came up with an idea: Since logic was not the way to go, he might as well think in the opposite direction, starting with an unfair accusation to grab Mormont's attention, and then using a combination of soft and hard tactics to achieve his persuasive goal.