Heh.
Without much thought, Aegor could tell that the plan Myrcella proposed indeed met both the standards of "reasonable" and "legal" at the same time. The Northmen would certainly have complaints about it, but until the Queen fell from power, they wouldn't be able to find any valid reason or excuse to openly oppose it. It was an unbreakable, open scheme.
He raised his eyes and glanced at Myrcella with a look of surprise.
It was a good idea, of course, but on a larger scale, it was merely an excellent upper-mid-tier political tactic, not some unprecedented masterstroke. If Aegor truly put his mind to it, he and his advisors could definitely have come up with something similar after some discussion. What surprised him wasn't the trick itself, but rather the fact that such a sly and cunning political maneuver had come from the mouth of a girl with big, innocent eyes and a sweet, obedient face.
It seemed the saying held true: you can't judge a person by their appearance. Those ten years Myrcella spent growing up in the Red Keep as a princess hadn't been wasted after all.
Living at the political heart of the Seven Kingdoms from childhood could certainly explain why the girl could come up with a plan that required such sharp intuition and sensitivity. But just as Aegor was beginning to feel a bit reassured, another, larger question began to cloud his mind. Why was this little girl racking her brain to offer him advice and strategies again and again? What was she after?
Did she still feel indebted to him for taking care of her two brothers? Or did she hope to emulate Gan Luo, becoming a brilliant advisor at a young age, and use this as her way of recommending herself, squeezing into the Queen's faction as his little strategist?
He looked at the little princess with a curious, probing gaze, but even after staring at her long enough to make her cheeks redden and turn away, he received no answer. Finally, he had to turn his face back, nod, and play dumb. "Good idea. I'll make time to set it up and ensure the search for both the real and the fake Umbers proceeds in secret. We won't let that duck fly out of our mouth again."
"Mm-hmm." Myrcella nodded, then looked up at him again, as if she had said all she wanted to say, and yet... still seemed to be holding something back. Her hesitant, pitiful look, like she wanted to speak but couldn't, was a textbook case of having something to say but not knowing how to say it.
Aegor felt a mild itch on his scalp. He had a vague idea of what Myrcella wanted to ask, but unfortunately, he didn't dare bring it up himself. He didn't have many sharp subordinates or advisors at the moment. Logically, when he encountered someone smart, he should recruit them into his think tank. But he couldn't just recruit anyone.
If Myrcella were a shrewd and seasoned elder like Ser Denys Mallister, he could just ask openly, "What do you want?" and bargain freely. If she were a boy, he'd probably laugh, pat her on the shoulder, and say, "You've got talent, kid. Come with me." And if she weren't the daughter of Jaime and Cersei, despite bearing the Baratheon name, he could perhaps keep her close, calling her a secretary but treating her as an advisor.
But she wasn't any of those things. She was a young girl, once a princess, and by blood, the "granddaughter and niece" of Lord Tywin, the man who killed Daenerys's father. From any political angle, she was a potential threat to the Queen. At a time when Daenerys Targaryen was fighting to reclaim the Seven Kingdoms, if he suddenly brought this former princess and incest-born daughter into his camp as an advisor, people thinking he was swayed by her youth and beauty would be the least of his concerns. Once it reached the Queen's ears from a political angle, it would be serious trouble.
And with snakes like Varys and Roose Bolton lurking nearby, the matter of "if" would quickly become "when." Aegor couldn't afford—or rather, wasn't willing—to take that risk.
He had originally planned to fulfill one of Myrcella's wishes to repay her for her service as an insider. But now, in this treacherous quagmire where he could barely protect himself, it seemed he didn't even have the ability to grant this little princess what she truly wanted.
Myrcella probably understood how difficult her situation was. She lowered her head, a hint of grievance in her expression. After a while, unwilling to make Aegor too uncomfortable, she softly changed the subject. "Lord, how long do you and the Queen plan to stay in Winterfell?"
...
Originally, they were supposed to leave in a few days, but now it seemed they wouldn't be able to leave for ten days, maybe even half a month.
Aegor felt annoyed just thinking about it. He suppressed the urge to frown and was about to offer a polite reply and take the opportunity to excuse himself to attend the council meeting, when suddenly, a flash of insight struck him like lightning in the back of his mind.
Wait, this matter might not be so simple after all.
Aegor hadn't planned on doing anything with Last Hearth before. Not because he was particularly noble or upright, but because, compared to the gains and losses of a single castle, his ambitions were larger and his plans more strategic. He hadn't had time to waste brainpower on small prizes. Only because Myrcella's plan was so simple and feasible had he decided to go along with it. But now... to be precise, ever since the Queen made that unwise strategic decision during the war council earlier, the situation had subtly, yet significantly, shifted.
Daenerys's requirement was that all the Northern Lords, without exception, must recognize her legitimacy and send troops to support her conquest of the South. Under this premise, using political tactics to cleverly claim Last Hearth suddenly gained a much greater significance beyond just "acquiring a lordship." It gained the significance of gaining a seat among the Northern Lords—and not just any, but one of the Great Houses.
Assuming there were N Northern Houses excluding the Starks, and Daenerys required all N to pledge allegiance, then once Myrcella's plan succeeded, he could have the new "Lord of Last Hearth"—real or fake—publicly swear allegiance to Daenerys as House Umber. That would complete 1 out of N of the Queen's requirements in advance, reducing the number of Houses he and Petyr needed to persuade from N to N minus one. It eased the pressure measurably.
The most brilliant part of the plan was that even if he ultimately selected a child to impersonate an Umber heir, he could still tell the Queen the whole truth openly. As long as this "Lord Umber" actually controlled the territory of Last Hearth and pledged loyalty to Daenerys, then for their purposes, he was the real Lord Umber—the noble Daenerys hoped to win over. Whether he was truly a blood descendant or not would be irrelevant to her, and Aegor would not bear the crime of deceiving the Queen.
A seemingly insignificant side move had, because of perfect timing, been forcefully elevated into a brilliant and critical maneuver.
His thoughts spun rapidly, and Aegor's expression shifted from regret to surprise. He widened his eyes and once again looked at Myrcella with astonishment.
"My lord?" Myrcella hadn't been present at the war council, so she couldn't understand why Aegor's expression suddenly changed mid-walk. She met his gaze, clearly expecting an explanation.
"Thank you for the idea, Lady Meave. As it happens, I've just run into a new problem regarding how long I'll be staying in Winterfell. I'm at a complete loss, and since you seem to be full of good ideas, perhaps you can hear me out and see if anything comes to mind?"
Aegor smiled warmly, then shared the details of the recent council meeting with her, including the Queen's new task. Not only that, but he even cautiously mentioned some of Littlefinger's recent suspicions regarding the relationship between Varys and Aegon.
Strictly speaking, the internal conflicts and faction disputes among the Queen's advisors were private matters, not to be shared with outsiders like Myrcella. But their time together, though not long, had given Aegor a reliable impression of her. She was intelligent, discreet, and trustworthy—people like that always deserved more trust, regardless of circumstance.
Upon hearing everything, a deeply puzzled look appeared on Myrcella's face. "Why does the Queen have to make things so difficult for the North? Isn't the most important task right now to quickly march South and clean up the mess in King's Landing that's been festering for half a year? After all, isn't the Iron Throne her goal?"
(Exactly what I've been saying.)
Aegor nearly shouted that out loud. Even a thirteen-year-old child could grasp the basic principle, yet Daenerys, in her stubbornness, couldn't see it.
"Exactly. But the Queen's mind is set, and no one can change it. What do you think? Is there any way to complete this task?"
As soon as she started thinking about the problem, the disappointment vanished from the little princess's face. She blinked, her lashes fluttering, and looked up at Aegor cautiously. "Can I... speak freely?"
"Of course."
"If the Queen truly insists on all the Northern Lords pledging loyalty, then she won't be able to return to the South this year." Myrcella's small face turned serious. "Even during the War of the Faith, when my father—King Robert—was at the height of his power and summoned the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms to march on the Vale, only eight or nine out of ten responded. Did that mean the nobles who failed to arrive on time were disloyal or supported the rebels? Of course not. Some lived in remote regions and received the summons late. Some were too poor to raise troops and preferred to pay a fine. Some even got lost on their way to the battlefield. The ones who openly refused the summons were rare, almost nonexistent."
She took a breath, then added, "Even a King crowned by the Seven Kingdoms couldn't get full compliance, so how can the Dragon Queen, who hasn't even sat on the Iron Throne, expect greater obedience—especially in the North, where she's not well liked? I think if half of the Northern Houses are willing to raise troops for her, that would already be remarkable. If she insists on complete obedience and tries to punish one or two Lords who refuse to send troops, even those who had agreed to help might become discouraged."
It was nearly the same judgment he and Petyr had reached. Now that he thought about it, the little princess's logic was sharp and her thinking clear, very much like her "uncle and uncle" Tyrion. Was this a family trait, or had she been subtly influenced by the Imp during their time together?
"Exactly. So my current plan is to first win over more than half of the Northern Lords, then use that as a basis to convince the Queen that it's the best possible outcome." Aegor nodded approvingly. Still curious, he asked again, not really expecting a solution, but wondering if she might provide something valuable. "If we lower the difficulty, do you have any ideas?"
"Hmm..." Myrcella thought hard, rubbing her small hands together. After about half a minute, she finally spoke, hesitating. "There is one way, but using it would take great courage, trust, and the mental preparation for the worst. Would you like to hear it, my lord?"
(To be continued.)