Game of Thrones White Wolf

Chapter 177 - 179: Euron's Objective

Highgarden was situated on the lower reaches of the Mander. The vast, fertile lands near the river all belonged to House Tyrell. Plants and crops grew so vigorously it seemed summer had never left.

Naturally, the entire Redwyne fleet couldn't sail in, so in the end, only the flagship and three escort warships entered the harbor.

Before entering Highgarden's harbor, they first had to bypass the Shield Islands, which could be considered the gateway to Highgarden.

True to their name, if enemies came from the sea, the Shield Islands would be Highgarden's first line of defense.

Bypassing the Shield Islands, basically only two colors filled the eyes—the azure of the sky and the verdant green of the fields.

Hamlets and small towns, taverns and mills rose from the ground, surrounded by the songs of children and bards.

Bards held a not-insignificant status in the Reach; famous ones would even be received and rewarded by lords.

These days, ever since hearing that Jon and Margaery's wedding would be held at Highgarden, a large number of famous singers and poets had flocked there.

It was said that among the private citizens and singers in Highgarden, there was no shortage of people seeking death because Margaery was getting married; they couldn't accept their perfect goddess marrying a bastard.

Some even fell ill and couldn't get up.

However, when they heard that Jon had conquered Casterly Rock and become the veritable Duke of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West, the patients miraculously recovered.

At this moment, Jon, aboard Paxter's flagship, entered the harbor guided by Highgarden ships. Near the harbor, under a temporarily built pergola, a gentle and elegant young noble had been waiting for a long time.

He looked very wise, even carrying a bookish air rare among young nobles.

The young noble sat on a chair, a maid beside him holding his cane; it seemed there was something wrong with his leg.

This so-called young noble was none other than Mace's eldest son, Margaery's eldest brother—Willas Tyrell.

Garlan and Loras were still on their way back with the troops. To express the importance House Tyrell attached to this, Willas, the heir, personally came to welcome his brother-in-law Jon.

From a distance, Jon saw Willas. Seeing him try to stand up with his cane upon spotting him, Jon quickened his pace to reach him.

Willas felt a favorable impression of Jon because of this gesture.

Before the news of Jon conquering Casterly Rock came, no one thought the change of ownership of Casterly Rock would become reality. The Tyrells' idea was even to use marriage and food to turn Jon into the fiercest watchdog of the Reach.

But Jon, having possessed Casterly Rock, was different now; he was a substantial feudal lord. One had to communicate with him as an equal.

At the same time, Willas also noticed Ghost with snow-white fur following behind Jon. Since becoming disabled, Willas had become an expert in taming animals.

Hounds, ravens, and horses—he was quite skilled with them all. Seeing such a beautiful and special direwolf like Ghost, it was inevitable that he would take a few more looks.

"Duke Jon."

"Ser Willas."

Holding each other's hands, both showed enthusiasm as if they were old friends at first sight. Jon found Willas's appearance also very "stylish," possessing the same brown eyes as Margaery.

His eyes were naturally not as big as Margaery's, but they were full of wisdom, reminding Jon of Olenna.

"Ser Willas is too polite. Just waiting for me in the castle would have been fine; there was no need to come this far."

"Haha, I was really curious what kind of person could turn the tide and become my future brother-in-law."

Upon their first meeting, Jon and Willas had very good impressions of each other.

Back then, Willas didn't pursue the matter of Oberyn injuring him, avoiding conflict between Highgarden and Dorne. Instead, he forged a friendship with House Martell, improving House Tyrell's external environment.

In short, this was a person with a great sense of the big picture.

In addition, it was said that when Garlan was young, he was easily bullied by other children because of his slow reaction. Willas encouraged this younger brother to work hard on martial arts and created the title "The Gallant" for Garlan.

Plus, Garlan's training in martial arts was indeed diligent, almost making people forget his defect of slow reaction.

Amidst the river chanties and noise, they came to a carriage with green primer. With the help of servants, Willas entered the carriage first, and Jon followed closely.

The carriage started slowly. Sandor, Robert Frey, and other attendants followed on horseback.

Willas ordered the banners of Tyrell and Jon to be displayed to clear the way, and the group rushed towards the white castle made mainly of marble.

The Tyrell carriage was very wide; a tea table could even fit between Jon and Willas.

Inside the carriage, Willas's words of praise were as if they cost nothing, and Willas himself was a cultured man, always able to cut in from the most comfortable and unexpected angles.

Jon naturally wasn't bad either. He casually "created" the word "格局" (vision/big picture) to praise the wisdom of Willas and Oberyn in turning hostility into friendship, which Willas found very acceptable.

"To be honest, Ser, my victories all have elements of luck. If the soldiers guarding the dam hadn't released the water in time, if the Imp Tyrion hadn't used most of his forces to defend against King Stannis's army, I wouldn't have been able to enter King's Landing so easily. As for beheading the false king, that was also thanks to Ser Varys's help."

Hearing Jon say this, Willas also followed his words: "Duke Jon is really modest. These opportunities and luck are also part of your strength. However, your luck is indeed good. A few days ago, an adventurer came to Highgarden. He claimed to have just returned from Valyria and presented a fossil dragon egg as a wedding gift for you and Margaery."

"An adventurer who has been to Valyria? And gave a dragon egg?" Jon's hand holding the teacup hung in mid-air. He asked calmly on the surface, but his whole person became alert. Dragon egg, Valyria, adventure—after these words were strung together, a name surfaced in his mind—Euron.

"Yes, my father also likes that dragon egg very much. He takes it out to introduce it to everyone he meets. The dragon egg is blue, as beautiful as a gemstone." Willas naturally noticed Jon's abnormality but didn't ask in detail, pretending not to see it.

"What's the background of that adventurer?" Jon asked.

"He claims his ancestors were Westerosi who moved to live in the Free Cities. However, his Valyrian is quite good. I think he's called Euron

"Euron? Does he have any distinguishing features?" Jon continued to ask, and Willas realized Jon's anomaly: he wasn't interested in the dragon egg but cared very much about this adventurer.

"Features... he wears an eyepatch, looks like an ordinary navigator, and the sailors on his ship are all mutes." Willas described the appearance of the so-called adventurer to Jon, and Jon was already certain this guy was Euron without a doubt!

Jon originally thought he would be like in the original story: kill Balon first, inherit Balon's title, and then lead the Iron Islands to raid the Arbor.

He thought he was already thinking about how to deal with Euron, which should be much faster than him anyway, but he didn't expect him to come knocking on the door himself.

But what was Euron doing at his wedding?

As for the possibility that Euron had more than one dragon egg, Jon thought there was no need to think about why.

If he really could run to Valyria, finding eight or ten wouldn't be a problem.

The key now was to figure out this guy's motive. He actually used an "alias"; there must be some unspeakable secret.

In addition, Jon also lamented that this Euron indeed had some skills. He used a dragon egg to become Mace's honored guest, which was equivalent to having a powerful protective talisman. Before he took any action, no one could touch him.

Willas on the side clearly realized from Jon's questions that he seemed to care very much about this "Euron": "What's wrong? Do you think there's something wrong with this adventurer?"

Jon only knew that Euron definitely had problems, but he couldn't say clearly what exactly was wrong. Besides, telling Willas his worries now, in case his subordinates were unreliable, might alert Euron in advance. It wouldn't be too late to tell him after investigating clearly, so Jon planned to brush it off.

Moreover, since Euron needed to use such means to infiltrate, it meant he was far from being omnipotent. Even compared to Melisandre, he shouldn't be much stronger.

Swords and the like should still be able to kill him. If worst came to worst, chop him into pieces! There was no need to worry too much.

Instead, he could use the information gap that the other party didn't know he "knew" to set a trap and catch him off guard.

It was said that Euron also obtained "Dragonbinder," which was good stuff, and a suit of Valyrian steel armor. The former could control dragons, and the latter could be immune to all magical attacks.

Jon decided not to say anything first and made up an excuse: "Oh, no. I just heard at the Wall that a group of people were very keen on going to Valyria for adventure. I wanted to ask if this adventurer was the person we discussed at the Wall back then."

"So that's it." Although Jon's reason sounded plausible, Willas wasn't easily fooled.

Since Jon didn't want to say, he didn't need to press further. Just secretly sending more people to watch that "Euron" would do.

"Look! We're here. Ahead is Highgarden."

Willas lifted the curtain and pointed to Highgarden located on the south bank of the Mander.

The white spires "rose" slowly as everyone approached. This marble castle looked like a work of art under the sunlight, and surrounding the castle was a "maze" of vines and trees.

This maze could usually serve as a "scenic spot" or amusement project, but in times of war, it could be used to impede the enemy.

Of course, in Jon's view, this was probably impossible; a simple fire could burn the maze down.

What really played a defensive role were the watchtowers and arrow towers in these mazes; they were an extension of Highgarden's defense system.

"Truly the most beautiful castle in the mouths of bards. It's really beautiful," Jon, sitting in the carriage, exclaimed. Willas beside him was obviously happy too.

Although people from the Vale thought the Eyrie was the most beautiful castle, the Tyrells were wealthy and happy to spend some money to let those bards and merchants promote Highgarden.

However, after a few hasty glances of appreciation, Jon became alert again. Euron was currently in this castle.

Euron, this guy who was said to have also come back from the dead and possessed magical abilities, must be treated with the utmost caution.