17

Small Council Chambers

"So, you handle the renovations and the maintenance of King's Landing?" I asked.

Jon nodded cautiously, "It's one of my duties, yes."

"Splendid job, my lord hand." I muttered under my breath.

He frowned and asked, "Why is the matter of renovation and maintenance concern you?"

"Because if not that, what the fuck am I going to do?" at Jon's confused look, "The Master of Coin is nothing more than a glorified senior accountant."

Pycelle, my new best friend, chimed in, "In the past a lord was assigned as the Master of Works during ventures to the crown, usually under the command of the Master of Coin."

Jon replied, "The crown cannot afford any large ventures."

I nodded at him, "Perhaps that is true, but we can start by improving roads to reduce traveling time to increase trade and commerce, start building long term projects that will provide steady revenue in the future. We cannot function on taxes and lord's generosities alone."

"What do you propose then, Lord Stark" Varys asked softly from the corner where the small council members were gathered.

"The inclusion of Master of Works to my responsibilities as well as increasing the offices allotted to me for more underlings."

Jon raised an eyebrow, "You wish free reign to invest… in ventures that may be profitable to the crown, like the late Lord Baelish?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and said lowly, "I have mountains of gold ten times as big as Casterly Rock. Other houses look like smallfolk compared to the wealth of my house. Please remember that my family has been on this land for 8000 years and being a fancy accountant to accommodate for the king's desires isn't what I would particularly call a profitable venture."

Jon paled a bit and sighed heavily, "My apologies, Brandon. I'm still on edge from Baelish's treason."

I nodded without saying a word.

He gazed at me for a while before replying, "Very well, but please consult with me before investing in any ventures."

I narrowed my eyes at him but let it pass.

Varys sought to end the awkward silence and said, "My birds have confirmed the location of almost all Lord Baelish's hideout and stashes."

Jon nodded, "How much money have we found?"

"Just two hundred and fifty thousand golden dragons," I answered.

"The rest have been turned into investments and opening of his whorehouses," Jon concluded.

I nodded at him, "I've contacted uncle Benjen and he agreed to buy all of Littlefinger's brothels and whorehouses, but he'll implement stricter rules and sanitation so you can expect a raven from him soon Lord Renly."

Renly just nodded at me.

"Where does that leave the treasury?" Jon asked.

"Just a bit over a million and a half," I answered.

Jon frowned for a moment, "Make sure to repay the Faith and the merchant cartels."

I nodded slowly, "That would leave a million dragons in the treasury."

He replied as he prepared to leave, "Make sure that there's never less than half a million in the treasure at any time."

"Very well," I said.

I chatted a bit with the remaining council members and darted to the door to make my way to my manor when I was intercepted by a large man wearing sootdark armor.

"The prince requests your presence, Lord Stark," he said gruffly.

"Lead the way, Ser Trant," I said with a tight smile.

Private Dining Hall

I entered the room to find a ten year old with bright green eyes and blonde locks. He was tall for his age sure but he was still six or seven years younger than I was.

"Welcome, Lord Stark. Thank you for accepting my invitation." He smiled at me, "Can I interest you with some dinner?"

"How generous of you, my prince," I said as I took a place across him, "Yes please."

Joffrey nodded at the servant and she promptly provided a plate of roasted duck along with a cup of wine.

"I hope you're adjusting in King's Landing weather," he said, "I hear the North is much colder."

"I have somewhat acclimated with the warm weather throughout my travels, my prince."

"Ah! Your tour throughout Westeros. I wish I could do the same," he sighed fakely, "But sadely crown prince's aren't allowed much freedom."

I just hummed noncommittally at him.

He seemed to struggle for a moment before muttering something under his breath and asking, "You've ruled the North from a young age, correct?"

I nodded slowly, "I began actively engaging in my duties at 8 name-days."

He frowned, "Was it hard? The North is as big as the other kingdoms combined."

"It wasn't easy," I took a sip from my wine, "But I was the Lord of Winterfell and a regent isn't always the most preferable of options. I did my duty as the Lord Paramount and grew up faster."

He looked downcast for a moment so I added, "I'm told it has never happened before though."

He brightened a bit, "My Grandfather had to rule and take the reins of the Lannisters from an early age as well."

"Indeed," Never mind that Tywin was a man by then and didn't have to struggle with not AK'ing each fool that thought of him as an overambitious child, "Lord Tywin has certainly changed the course of House Lannister."

I was getting tired of the endless chatter so I just warded the entire room discreetly and paralyzed him to take a deep look into his mind. His mind was surprisingly like Ramsay. The cruel streak coupled with arrogance only a prince could possess. However, delving into his memories I found the real reason he invited me.

His father.

Once after learning a kitchen cat was pregnant, Joffrey killed the animal and cut open its belly to see the kittens inside. He showed one of the unborn kittens to his father. Robert was so shocked and angry he hit the boy so hard it knocked out two of his baby teeth.

Joffrey's feeling at the time was mostly hurt that his father thought badly of him and not proud that he hunted as he did.

As I delved deeper, I could find more memories of contempt from his father, Joffrey yearning for approval and respect. Often doing cruel things in a misguided attempt to make his father proud of him and emulate him as the great warrior he was.

Sure, the kid was spoiled and indulgent with a cruel streak, but he was still a ten years old with a disapproving whoremonger father who always looked upon him with contempt.

So when his father told him to treat the Stark who was in King's landing respectfully. He thought maybe he could emulate the friendship Robert had with Eddard to make his father a bit more proud of him.

I once again cursed Tom Riddle Sr. and my sympathy for kids with shitty fathers.

On to work then,

Loyalty potions. Check

Strength, reflexes enhancing potions. Check

Insecurity and false arrogance. Curb it a little bit

A disturbingly strong dependence on his mother due to his distance from his father. Cut

Cruel streak.

Now this was annoying. He didn't have the same insane cruelty that Ramsay had nor the stomach for depravities could Ramsay commit at any moment. He preferred to delegate others to do his job. A side effect from growing up with endless power with his mother coddling him, you could say.

I decided to simply cast a slightly weakened rotundum affectionum curse on him. Whenever he did a cruel act, his emotions would suffer the same as his victims, the same for good actions. I wasn't going to let the future King of Westeros go Maegor the Cruel or Baelor the Blessed on us once more, since Robert's Health wasn't in particular good shape, added that my plans timeline was still insecure and needed more time.

All in all, he was going to be a less cruel and cold version of Tywin Lannister.

Obliviate and we're set to go.

"Huh? What happened," He said as he blinked his eyes rapidly.

I smiled at the kid, "We were going to practice and improve your swordplay, my prince."

"Oh, yes. Right," He said before smiling at me, "Thank you, Lord Stark."

I muttered, "it's no big deal kid."

Life was so much easier when I lacked morals and compassion.

Danire Yew was a forty year old man, hailing from King's Landing and was the Head of the workers that tended to the sewers and drains in the city.

"So to sum it up, the sewers haven't been tended to for almost a century." I told the man cheerfully.

He nodded fearfully, "We tend to any breaking or minor repairs my lord, but we don't have enough funds."

"How about fresh water? How do the smallfolk living in here get water?" I asked.

"There were small canals to provide from Blackwater Rush but they were mostly dumped and have largely drained now." He answered getting more nervous.

"Have you appealed to the king with the problem or have you just largely ignored the situation?" I asked

He shook his head, "We ask the Lord Hand many times, my lord. But he always sends us off."

Fucking Jon.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts and formulate my plans; I couldn't just carve new tunnels under King's Landing… wait a minute.

."When Maegor built King's Landing he has not only made sure that the castle had numerous secret passages but also under King's Landing numerous passages were tunneled and made to allow an escape of a large regiment of his soldiers or to sneak in his soldiers if needed," I said to them.

Ignoring their blank looks and talking to myself, "Most these tunnels don't work anymore but they're numerous and could be connected…"

I wandered to my bookshelf where I picked off the layout map that held the underground map of King's Landing. Tunnels that would never be discovered or had secret passages were all uncovered by my wards, I was going to use them now.

"The tunnels are old, yes and they'll need reinforcing but they're much better than having to start all over." I said to the men.

They nodded slowly, "We'll still need funds milord."

I waved him off, "Minimal funds that won't seriously affect the kingdom."

I spread the map clearly for them to see, "There are two intersecting tunnels that are large enough to be our base."

I motioned to the tunnels passing through the king's gate to the Dragon gate and the other through the Gate of Gods right under the Red keep, "would need to be reinforced and linked to the Blackwater Rush and bay." I said, "Those smaller tunnels running all under the city will be all linked and sealed to all of them."

For the next hour we mapped and chose the tunnels that would function to transfer water from the river and those that would be for sewages and their point of meeting to their final drainage into the sea.

The men have gotten a bit into ease by the time we've finished thankfully.

"I'll order any extra elm timber or lead to be sent to you to reinforce the tunnels as well as send for concrete from the North," I told them.

One of them hesitated and said, "Still, my lord. How would the people use underground sewers instead of just dumping their pot chambers out of the windows?"

"We'll need to build fountains, public latrines, wells and public baths built all over the city." I said with a sigh.

"That would cost a lot my lord." Yew said.

"On average a smallfolk earns a stag a week or 8 pennies a day," I said to Yew, "We obviously can't charge them for fresh water but what we can charge them for is baths."

"How would that help, my lord?" He asked confused, "They won't use it."

I shook my head at him, "Bathing is considered a privilege and once they get used it they'll become addicted to it." I sketched a few plans and laid them out on the table, "What I propose is the following; King's Landing has half a million souls living inside its walls."

"A public bath can be built with minimum resources after providing fresh water through the tunnels. If we were to charge each man a penny for entering bathing it would pay for itself rather rapidly."

Yew nodded thoughtfully, "A penny isn't that much and men would love to feel like clean nobles."

"Exactly," I said to Yew, he was surprisingly competent from a man of his birth, "We would have to set up almost a hundred public baths throughout the city as well as twice that much fresh water sources."

Mentally calculating the amount as well as considering casting charms that appeal the bathhouses to the smallfolk, "It would generate on average almost 70-80 golden dragons a day; more than enough to maintain the sewer system and pay for its keep and building costs."

The man smiled happily, "Excellent idea my lord."

I nodded at him, "From now on you're working directly under me and you'll report directly to me."

"Of course, my lord," he said and quickly scuffled with the rest of his colleagues to get started on the improvements.

From emperor of the world to designing sewage systems, what a delightful change!

The Great Fire of King's Landing

I wiped the bead of sweat that trickled down his face. The past 48 hours… weren't that bad actually. It all started with my surveyors and inspectors checking the last area and the most important one for me so we can get started on rebuilding; Rhaneys' Hill.

To sum things up, during the durability inspection of a warehouse, it collapsed, causing caches of wildfire to blow up the surrounding area to smithereens. The amount of wildfire was distributed with extreme precision as to make sure that the fire doesn't die out.

Thanks to my foresight, I ordered a perimeter established and evacuated Rhaneys Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods completely. Thanks to our non-existent fire brigade, we had to use water buckets, hooks and axes to pull down the buildings and make fire breaks.

Initially, I was tempted to put off the wildfire myself. Needless to say, I refrained. That doesn't mean that I left thousands of people to die. I had passively contained the wildfire until almost everyone was evacuated from this part of the city and let it go with an explosion that engulfed third the city in its fiery green flames.

We gathered in the Small Council chamber after the fire, staring at a balding old man with a maniac glint in his eyes.

"And how is this not your fault, exactly?" Jon asked the pyromancer for the hundredth time.

"My lord, please, mercy. We would never do such a heinous thing!" Hallyne, the head of the Alchemist Guild stammered nervously.

"But you were aware of the large quantities of wildfire hidden all under the city?" Varys asked softly.

He shook his head fearfully, "My lords, I was only but an acolyte during the Mad King's reign. Grandmaster Rossart and the alchemists don't trust even the apprentices with the knowledge, my lords. The power of the substance, it burn yes and devours all. But it's not for all of us…"

A sweaty man in grey robes interrupted Hallyne's speech and said between breaths, "My lords… a raven from Oldtown… The Citadel… It's burning…. Green flames"

And that was my cue, "Imperio," I whispered silently.

Hallyne was in my grasp quickly enough and his will power shattered he kept looking nervously at the exits and promptly removed a dagger and slit his own throat.

"A disgrace!" Pycelle yelled as he turned to us, "My lords, we must act immediately. They're just as Mad as Aerys. Should we stand and wait until the entirety of Westeros burns in green flames?"

Jon closed his eyes looking more tired than anyone ever seen him before, "Lord Renly's Goldcloaks are already in the process of apprehending all the alchemists and their acolytes. We must deal with relocating more than a hundred thousand into temporary houses and rebuild a third of the city, preferably before I die." He finished sarcastically.

Varys frowned, "I'm no Master of Coin but the cost to rebuild this much settlements would be staggering. Even with the amount confiscated from Lord Baelish."

I nodded, "I'm currently conducting a census and should provide you with accurate numbers and costs tomorrow." I turned to Pycelle who seemed much more riled up than ever, "Most of the Archmaesters were at the Temple for their annual meeting. Please send ravens and inform them to set it up as a temporary base for the Maesters for the foreseeable future."

He nodded seriously, "Thank you, my lord. I will at once!"

"This is going to throw us deeper and deeper in debt." Jon grumbled.

A voice interrupted us loudly, "So? Have you figured out if this was an accident or from the fucking Targeryan Loyalists?"

"Your grace," we all said at once.

Jon shook his head, "The attack on the Citadel was caused by the Alchemist's Guild but so far, the fire seems to be an accident."

Robert looked at me, "How much is this going to cost us, Bran?"

"Initial reviews suggest almost 6 maybe 7 million dragons," I said frowning.

Robert's looked at me incredulously. It didn't matter if he was an extravagant king and he plunged the kingdom into debt, this was still way too much for the kingdom to afford.

"I have a proposal," I said straightening up, "I'll buy Rhaenys' Hill and a few miles of the crownlands."

They all rounded at me with varying expression that clearly thought I had completely lost it.

"It's a pile of Ashes…" Robert said.

Before I could reply Jon said, "You can't buy almost third of the land of King's Landing!"

"Why not?" I shrugged, "I'm willing to pay 3 million golden dragons for it. The money can be used to reimburse owners of lands and in the worst case you'll have half that amount remaining."

"Not even the Lannisters are that fucking rich." Robert said faintly.

I smirked at him and added, "All the construction and temporary accommodation of the citizens will be handled and paid by myself. All I ask is to own Rhaneys' Hill and an area outside the gates."

Jon kept trying to formulate a sentence and before he could start berating me Robert said, "Done!"

Robert laughed loudly, "If this is how Small Council sessions end, I'll have to take some time from whoring and come more often."

I smiled at Robert and said, "I'll send for almost a thousand Masters and Engineers to supervise the reconstruction and new planning. It'll take 2 weeks for the supplies and men to arrive and begin reconstructing."

Robert patted me on the shoulder and walked away yelling for vodka.

I quickly excused myself from the stunned assembly but not before informing Stannis to start transporting huge amounts of volcanic ash to Winterfell.

I smiled smugly at myself walking away. It was good being me in days like these.

297 AC, King's Landing.

Twelve million golden dragons spent on the biggest reconstruction project of the history.

I had to continuously assign my mages to obliviate and cast compulsion on those that couldn't find a plausible way for me to have this much money. If I lacked my Philosopher stone, I'd have probably bankrupted the entire North.

The speed at which the city recovered was slightly ridiculous. As soon as the northmen arrived almost a hundred thousand workers were employed in the reconstruction.

I had to first build settlements around the Crownlands. They were quickly built but were actually much better than their previous homes; they would probably live outside for the rest of their miserable lives.

Soon enough, we had a couple thousands of men employed throughout King's Landing either farming the lands or working in the Kingswood.

The area in Rhaenys' Hill held the largest amount of taverns and inns in the city, so in a moment of brilliance I decided to build the first hotel in Westeros.

First, the new roads were laid out in a grid running east to west, north to south with diagonal connections radiating out. Large boulevards were built and some buildings were demolished in Visenya's and Aegon's hill as to widen the main roads at one go and pave them appropriately and add a sense of symmetry to the city.

Most of the buildings erected were carefully planned and had clear districts and were mostly of a uniform theme. They were 4 or 5 stories due to the wider roads. The outside façade was the fancy neoclassical style of Paris. The entirety of Rhaeny's Hill should be the grandest part of King's Landing. The new architecture style with columns and elaborate balconies was going to blow these medieval cunts' minds.

Even with the huge numbers working in the building along with artisans and masons and magical tweaking to accelerate the building, we still had a couple thousand people with no work. I could trust them with a few labor activities in my new masterpiece but thousands of builders and artisans were sent from the North to start building the first Hotel ever built in the History of Westeros.

It was all worth it however. I owned third the capital. Most of the citizens hadn't bothered to relocate from their more comfortable homes and remained at the settlements, not that there was any place for them.

Inns, taverns, large markets, shops and whorehouses of varying classes were opened in my section of the city. The closer you got to the center of the city the more fanciful and expensive they became.

My masterpiece however, was the world's first hotel.

The hotel at 500 feet high was a mix of cream and gold. It had 250 standard rooms, while the top 10 floors were specifically made for nobles with an amazing amount of extravagance. It held 50 Supreme Rooms and 5 Royal Suites.

Normally, the floors on the lower levels would cost more but due to the introduction of my new invention, the elevator we managed to skip this problem.

We had to show a basic hydraulic elevator for the spectators. It wasn't like anyone was going to recognize our bluff, while we concealed the charmed generator and traction motor behind an illusion.

The words "The Wolf's Den" were elaborated and displayed from pure gold and diamonds detailing on the entrance. The lobby incorporated the elegance of European palaces with gleaming cream-and-gold marble floors, the fanciest chandeliers from Myr, chairs that looked more like art than furniture as well as aquariums with fish from all over the world and a spectacular fountain in the middle of it all.

On top of the building a large wolf sat proudly howling in direction of the sky that could be seen from two days ride to the city.

The Royal Suites and lobby were designed and were much much more extravagant and expensive than the Red Keep.

On the other hand, the Sewage System was going great. The city had for the last 2 months a really small smell of lingering shit. The commoners were clean as hell and I was right, they liked the idea of bathing a lot. It was more of a place to socialize than a sanitary place.

Fountains and wells were sprouted all over the city and the people could always find water within a few blocks from their residence. We had to dig uncovered sewers and extend the system a bit to accommodate the population that lived in the grid blocks of apartments that I had provided during the Great Fire of Rhaenys' Hill.

It was quickly becoming a city rather than a settlement, with almost a hundred thousand remaining comfortably outside instead of returning inside the walls of King's Landing. Many buildings were bought and demolished to allow the building of public squares and my fountains and sanitation buildings.

While it is true that the south west area of the city remained relatively untouched, my third of the city was almost out of place. We had to widen the northern gates to accommodate with the increased traffic coming inside the fancy neighborhoods and marketplaces.

The area I was awarded just outside the Old Gate was transferred into a Factory of the North and commoners poured in great numbers to work in the various departments of our factory, learning new crafts in the process. The tanners have been relocated on the Far East outside the city walls, to prevent the smell of tanned leather from ruining the relatively clean atmosphere we were in.

The best smiths and craftsmen had quickly bought a place in Rhaenys' Hill for them and relocated there. I offered loans that would be paid back in investments and taxes which they could pay comfortably.

It made our work easier somehow as we could finally get started on renovating the remaining city but no matter how much I tried, Jon Arryn was always at my throat.

"I will not accept such a foolish venture!" Jon's voice yelled.

I sneered at him, "How is my Amphitheatre a foolish venture?"

"It's a complete waste of money." He snapped, "I will not be endorsing foolish endeavors while we are still in debt."

"The crown has almost fully repaid the debts! The only debtor left is Tywin Lannister." I said confused.

"Exactly," he said, "Tywin Lannister would relish the opportunity you would give him by half-emptying our coffers in your ventures to lend us more money."

"Seven Hells, are you fighting again?" Robert said approaching us in the Great Hall after court.

"Lord Jon seemed to forget that I cleared half the kingdom's debt in a year as well as clean the city better than ever, your grace." I said snidely.

Robert laughed, "You can't imagine how much I was surprised when I focused one day and found myself missing the smell of the shit."

I smiled at him and returning to the glaring contest with the Hand of the King.

"So what are they fighting about this time?" Robert asked Renly.

Renly replied amused, "Lord Stark wants to build an antitheater for tourney, plays and shows, Jon believes it to be a waste of money."

Varys coughed delicately from the side, "I believe the word is amphitheater my lord."

Robert waved his hands dismissively and went back to listening to Jon and Brandon argue.

"… will save almost three quarters of the cost of setting up a tourney and would provide steady income to the crown if you just bloody listen to me." Brandon said.

Robert interjected, "What's your idea, Bran?"

Brandon settled to glare one last time at the Lord of the Eyrie before turning to the king and explaining, "The amphitheater would be a permanent fixture at the Tourney Grounds."

He unraveled the set of scrolls that were with him revealing diagrams of oval public venues with seating tiers, "Melees, jousts and archery events could be done inside. I propose that we build one that can seat 50,000, charge the smallfolk a penny for standing areas and three pennies for seats. Tournaments would be held regulary for low born knights and competitors for a minimal fee. Where the top 3 winners would be allowed to fight in a grand tourney held each six months for free."

"Grand Tourney?" Robert asked intrigued.

Brandon nodded, "A Grand tourney for the best knights in the realm. Others would have to pay a fee, say 50 dragons a knight to enter, whereas the winner's name would be inscribed on the Wall of Champions forever. We would attract a lot of people and could continuously use it to entertain the smallfolk and nobles alike by theatres and shows by different performers all seeking to gain the king's patronage."

Robert boomed out, "Then why aren't you getting on with it? Can't we afford it?"

Brandon shook his head, "We can more than afford it, your grace. The treasury has almost twice the amount of the money needed and King's Landing has been mostly self-sustaining, not needing any extra expenses."

"Brilliant, Get on with it," Robert said, "And don't be such a stick in the mud, Jon. Bran hasn't let us so far and I have no reason to doubt him."

"Exactly, we aren't moving anywhere!" He almost yelled, "We need to figure out a way to gain extra money to finally get rid of this blasted debt!"

Brandon frowned at him, "There may be a solution for our monetary problems, my lord."

Jon raised an eyebrow, "And what would that be?"

"Lord Stannis tells us that the pirates that have been heavily raiding our merchant fleets are based in the Stepstones," Brandon said slowly, "Lord Varys also informs us that a wealth of several million dragons is on the unclaimed islands."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Jon screamed causing the entire hall to fall silent, "I will not allow the realm to go into war."

"Then we should just do nothing and leave the pirates to raid our coasts and take westerosi men and women as slaves?" Stannis said, grinding his teeth.

Jon hesitated for a moment, "The three sisters would retaliate."

I shrugged, "They are no match for our collective naval strength. The Iron Bank would support our venture. We would simply send a message informing them that any more attacks based from the Stepstones would be considered an act of war."

"And then?" Jon sneered.

"They either disown the Stepstones to avoid war with us or they ignore us and risk war and lose relations with Westeros, Braavos and Pentos." Stannis concluded.

"Indeed," I nodded at Stannis.

Robert wasted no time to interrupt Jon once more, "Send the ravens and prepare the Royal fleet and Northern fleet."

Jon said in a panicked tone, "Your grace I must advise against military actions. The realm is unstable and the lords…"

Robert interrupted once more, "The only fleets that are moving are the Northern fleet and the Royal fleet. We can afford it. We can fill our coffers doing that, and we can claim the Stepstones for ourselves. I can't see a plausible reason not to carry on with Stannis' and Bran's idea." He got too excited in his lust for war that Jon knew he couldn't persuade him from avoiding it and with Stannis and Brandon supporting it, Jon simply sighed and walked away, "Pycelle, send the Ravens to the Magisters of Lys, Tyrosh and Myr."

Pycelle shuffled, "At once, your grace."

Robert looked down at his belly and muttered, "I need to get into shape…. KINGSLAYER! To the training grounds!"

I shared a smirk with Stannis before walking away to my office.

With the Stepstones invasion, I'll literally control the seas.