Chapter 20

|Laena Iranaan – Merchant of Lunaran Family|

"Welcome to my office, Lord Oberyn."

I look at the man in front of me with a small smile. Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, also known as the Man Whore in Lys. Someone who sleeps with anyone, no matter the gender, when he fancies them.

Many people think that Oberyn is the muscle of the family as he does not have any brain in his head to take care of the political side of the battle. However, they are wrong. I know that he is also cunning and rather smart.

If I am not careful, he will strike just like his title.

"Oohhh~ You are more beautiful than the rumor says it to be."

He immediately sits in front of me and says those words. If it were an average woman, I would be swooning right now. He is handsome and comes from a long, rich, noble house. However, I am not a normal woman.

Only one lord is in my heart, which is already occupied by someone more handsome and worthy than this man.

"What can I do for you, Lord Oberyn?"

"Oh? Can't I just come here and talk to someone as beautiful as you?"

"I would love to talk to you, but I am very busy at the moment."

He looks at me weirdly and says.

"Are you not afraid of me kicking you out of here? This is Martell territory, you know? And I am Martell."

I look him right in the eyes and say.

"I don't mind getting kicked out. We can do trading in other territories than here."

"I can ask my brother to ban your merchant from trading in Dorne."

"And we will go to another territory. I am sorry to say this, my lord. Dorne is not the only territory that needs our goods. This is the only place that needs it the most, but we can relocate and still make a profit."

"We could capture you and even kill you."

"Go ahead. I am not afraid of dying."

This is the order from Lady Melisandre. We did not need to work for the Martell family. My purpose is to create an image of someone who cannot be bribed or threatened with death. Even if they follow their words, I am willingly offering my life. I am already dead before Lord Viserys takes me under his wing. If I die to fulfill his destiny, I am more than happy to do it.

"You truly believe your word, huh?"

He looks at me right in the eyes, and I nod.

"Of course."

Before he says more, someone walks inside the room, and I see a beautiful woman with a small smile entering the room.

"Dear, are you threatening another person?"

"Tch. I am not. I'm just asking her a few questions."

"Is that so? Is it related to the thing that your brother tells you to do?"

"Ah, I forgot about that."

The woman sighs and says.

"Let me do the talking. It is easier to talk between two women, no?"

"Fine."

I already noticed they changed tactics. When the hard and harsh tactics did not work, now they are using the soft and gentle tactics to catch me off guard.

After taking Lord Oberyn's chair, the woman looks at me and says.

"My name is Ellaria Sand. May I have yours?"

"Laena Iranaan, Merchant for the Lord of Lunaran Family. What can I do for you?"

"We are here to see if you are willing to sell us the way of your house growing all these foods. We are willing to buy it for an enormous amount of money and even willing to give you land in Dorne for you to rule. This is the letter from Lord Doran Martell, the Prince of Dorne and Lord of Sunspear. He cannot come here personally because of his gout and sent us to talk to you."

I take the letter and read it for a few seconds before saying.

"I am sorry, but I cannot tell you the secret."

"Really? Even if we double the compensation? You did not need to worry. Once you become one of us, we will protect you from your former lord."

I hold myself from snarling at this harlot. I know this will happen, but hearing it directly is something that I cannot accept. I keep a smile on my face and say.

"I am sorry. I will act as if this conversation never happened. My loyalty will always be with Lord Lunaran. Not even money, land, or even death can change that."

I can see Ellaria's face change for a second before she controls it. She is an expert.

"I see. It's such a shame, but I understand it. Please think of it for now and go to the castle. Ask the guards to meet us, and we will meet you."

"Of course, my lady."

She nods, gets up, and leaves my room.

I smile a little as I see them leave the room. The plan enters the second stage. Now, I can only wait and see if they will ask some of my crew to bribe or not. They are all the people that were hand-picked by Lady Melisandre. They are hard-working and have undying loyalty to Lord Viserys.

If Lord Oberyn comes and tries to bribe my crew, they will inform me, and we can send someone to be a spy for us. We have already prepared someone to handle spying for us when we return. We only need to wait for them to make a move before we leave this place and replace all the crew with spies.

"'Will you walk into my parlor?' said the Spider to the Fly."

I wonder if they know that they are the flies and we are the spiders?

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|3rd POV|

"What do you want to talk about? Do it quickly, It is freezing."

Robert Baratheon, King of Westeros, looks at the people in front of him. Usually, he did not join the Small Council meeting, but his foster father, Jon Arryn, begged him to join the meeting. So here he is, joining the meeting.

"Out with it! I have wine to drink and whore to fuck!"

Petyr Baelish, Littlefinger, is the first one to start the meeting by saying.

"Your Highness, a plea from Reach arrives here."

"What? What do those flowery people want?"

"They are asking you to demand the North to buy food from them. Their merchants lost a lot of money because the North no longer bought food from them. They are now buying their food from Lys for a quarter of the average price."

Robert starts to laugh after Petyr says those words.

"Hah! Good. It is time they taste their own medicine."

"Robert! This is not a laughing matter."

Jon interrupts him, but Robert looks at him with a frown before he can say further.

"Jon, what have the Reach done to us?"

"What?"

"What have they done to us? When I call for support against the Targaryen, they side with them and even lay siege to Storm's End. However, what do we do to them when we win the war? We reward them instead of punishing them because you are telling me to keep them in power to maintain so-called balance."

He looks at the others and sees Stannis Baratheon agreeing with him while Renly Baratheon frowns at his words.

"What about the North? They immediately move their banner when I ask them to and bleed heavily in the war. What do we give to them after the war ends? Nothing! We give them the same reward as the other lords who support me even though they are the first ones to raise their banner for my cause!"

Robert takes a deep breath and continues.

"So don't give me an excuse to help the Reach at the expense of the North. Let them suffer. Tell them never to ask me this ever again, or they will get the hammer."

Robert slams his hand on the table and leaves the room.

"This meeting is done. I need some wine to make me feel better."

As Robert leaves the room, two people look in his direction with a frown. The first one is Petyr and Renly, as the two of them hope that Robert will agree to demand that the North buy food from the Reach. Renly because his no-so-secret lover, Loras Tyrell, asks him to do it while Petyr hopes to make the North suffer even more.

The other might not notice it, but Varys notices it, and he is already planning to send more of his little bird to the North.