Under otherwise identical conditions, people living in cold regions typically have a larger proportion of their bodies covered by clothing for warmth, and for longer periods of time. The parts covered by fabric don't get a chance to bask in the sun, so their skin color is always much lighter than the exposed parts.
As a genuine normal person, Aegor naturally couldn't escape this physiological rule. Under the natural light streaming in from the window, the skin on his chest below his collarbone could even be described with the somewhat feminine word "snow-white." If not for a few hairs that salvaged the situation a bit, it would truly be a bit effeminate.
But at this moment, it was precisely this whiteness that made the differently colored areas so conspicuous in his vision, allowing him to find the spot at a glance.
At the flat bone of the chest, where it should have been smooth, a slightly protruding flat lump had appeared. Through a thin layer of skin and capillaries, a foreign object was vaguely visible. It was a flaky object extremely similar in size, thickness, and feel to a fingernail. Its shape was blunt at one end and slightly pointed at the other. It was indeed a scale. What was somewhat beyond Aegor's expectation was that its color was not the pure silver he had assumed, like the dream woman's hair, but rather scarlet gold with a hint of silver light. It looked almost as bizarre as if a brand-new fifty-cent coin had been surgically implanted under the skin.
The pain gradually dissipated, but there was no sign of inflammation or redness from rejection around the scale. Even rubbing it hard didn't make it slide or shift under the skin. Aside from clearly feeling the warmth emanating from it, this foreign object felt as natural as if it had been born there.
Truly miraculous.
Did it enter under the skin without injury through magic, or did it open a hole in his body, crawl in, and then use some means to quickly heal the opening? Why did its giver have to embed it into his body instead of just giving it to him to handle normally, like making it into a pendant to hang on his chest? Was she afraid he would lose it? Also, he couldn't help but wonder what part of that goddess this scale had grown on before it was plucked or shed.
He had actually been forcefully entered by a part of a certain woman. Thinking about it gave him a strange, perverse sense of discomfort.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Aegor realized that what he should be doing now wasn't dwelling on such fantasies, but trying to figure out how many uses this scale truly had. R'hllor had told him in the dream to study it slowly, which meant this reward definitely had more functions than what she had revealed.
Cheats… in short, anything that gave one an advantage over others, no one would dislike. Frankly, if he had received this gift the moment he first crossed over into this world, or even during the war against the White Walkers, he would have been eternally grateful and remembered the kindness forever. But now, at this moment when he had already prepared to march south and unify the Seven Kingdoms, and was quite confident in himself?
It wasn't that he was arrogant enough to think he didn't need help. But if he had to summarize this feeling, it would probably be:
True favor is giving charcoal in the snow, who cares about adding flowers to brocade?
This scale, as a token and prepaid reward from a god, came at a time that made it impossible to feign excitement. And the function she described was so underwhelming that he wasn't very hopeful.
Just as he was thinking this with mild displeasure, Aegor raised his eyebrows. Before he was even ready, he discovered the first additional function not mentioned by R'hllor: he suddenly seemed immune to the cold.
The Lord Commander's bedroom had proper heating, and there was a fireplace in the adjacent room, so it was naturally warmer than the outside. But after an entire night, the room would at most be a few degrees above freezing, and now there was a hole in the roof causing rapid heat loss. Logically, a person would feel cold quickly after leaving the covers. But this time, from the moment the blanket caught fire, to when the guards rushed in, and then standing by the window for a while, several minutes had passed. Yet he not only didn't feel cold, he felt warm and completely at ease, only now realizing that he had been standing around in just his underclothes.
He checked other parts of his body with his hand and confirmed that this warmth was not an illusion but real. His body temperature was only slightly higher than normal, without the scorching heat found in Melisandre or Moqorro. This meant he not only had high resistance to cold, but didn't exhibit any abnormal symptoms.
Well, this was a good start. Just this one unexpected bonus was enough for Aegor to treasure the scale.
Eager to test the limits of this ability, he casually threw on a coat, tightened his belt, and left the bedroom without any other layers. He passed through the office and pushed the door open to step outside.
It was another clear, pleasant day. Since the White Walkers were defeated, although winter had yet to end, the sun had begun to appear more often. The subzero wind seeped in through the gaps in his loose clothing, yet it still couldn't make him feel cold.
He instinctively looked up at the sky again. After seeing it was empty, as expected, he shook his head and turned. Pretending to ask casually, he said to the two guards on duty, "You two, answer honestly. Do you feel anything different about me than usual?"
The two guards widened their eyes and stared at him for a few seconds. After a brief pause, one scratched his face and answered first. "Uh… Lord, you seem a bit more imposing than usual?"
"Not just a bit," the other quickly added. "When I first saw you just now, if Commander hadn't strictly forbidden it, I almost couldn't help myself. My knees went weak, and I wanted to kneel."
"Indeed," the first one nodded in agreement. "It feels very similar to how we felt in front of the Queen when we went with you to see Her Grace not long ago. But the aura around you, Lord… feels even stronger. Uh, Lord, you didn't… get together with the Queen, did you? Is that why you're like this?!"
Aegor glared at the soldier, shutting down the slightly vulgar line of questioning, but his mind suddenly cleared. That explained it. When he first met Daenerys, he too had felt that strange tingling sensation in his muscles. At the time, he assumed it was a psychological effect caused by the setting and atmosphere. Now it seemed that it wasn't due to manner or poise, nor some abstract kingly aura, but rather the True Dragon's might inherited from the blood of House Targaryen.
The question he had asked the two guards was whether they noticed any difference about him. Not whether he seemed more imposing. Yet they still gave that answer, which confirmed that R'hllor hadn't lied. With the red god's scale implanted in him, he now possessed the same awe-inspiring presence. What remained uncertain was whether the soldiers were just flattering their superior or if his aura was truly stronger than the Queen's.
That would require long-term observation and careful judgment.
Oh, right. According to the goddess, this deterrent effect should also work on animals. The nearest place with animals was the stables. He wondered whether the horses would become more docile and obedient when they saw him, or if they would become agitated and neigh in fear.
Just as he signaled to the guards to follow him to the stables for an experiment, Aegor saw two hurried figures approaching.
Melisandre and Moqorro. These two high-ranking priests, who normally carried themselves with profound mystery and control, were now in complete disarray. They rushed toward the building at a near-trot, stumbling over each other in a state of panic and urgency, and met Aegor head-on just as he was about to leave.
(To be continued.)