7 Tyrell
Velas Tyrell stared at Glory, who was squatting on the ground, observing it for a long time, completely forgetting his true purpose for coming here.
Margaery and Loras also squatted on either side, reaching out occasionally to try and touch Glory, but each time Glory avoided them, and then they would retract their hands when Glory bared its teeth in a threatening manner.
As for Glory, its eyes were filled with displeasure, glaring at Lord Linde; it had been playing happily on the mountain, only to be called back and surrounded for observation, which made it feel like Lord Linde was deliberately punishing it.
Lord Linde, meanwhile, stroked its head to soothe its emotions, while also preventing it from accidentally harming the three Tyrells.
At this moment, Velas Tyrell couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "This is truly astonishing! I never imagined a Shadow Lynx could grow so large.
The largest Shadow Lynx recorded in books was the King of Shadow Lynxes defeated by Qing Shou Jialesi, but even the size of that Shadow Lynx described in the book doesn't compare to Glory."
"Perhaps it's because Glory is an albino Shadow Lynx," Lord Linde then fabricated an excuse.
Velas Tyrell shook his head, saying very seriously, "Albino Shadow Lynxes have appeared in the past in the Vale and the Red Mountains, but none have grown this large.
Moreover, Lord Linde, you've mistaken something; Glory is not an albino Shadow Lynx.
True albino Shadow Lynxes are entirely white, not black and white patterned like Glory.
And ordinary Shadow Lynxes also have black and white stripes, just not as distinctly separated as Glory."
As he spoke, he pointed to Glory's tail and ears, like a scholar specializing in biological research, and said, "Glory is more like a hybrid of a Shadow Lynx and another unknown species.
Its ears are much larger than a normal Shadow Lynx's and are usually kept tightly folded against its scalp.
A Shadow Lynx's ears can only be fixed on its head and cannot fall back or lie flat.
Glory's tail is also completely different from the Shadow Lynxes of the south; its tail is much longer.
Southern Shadow Lynxes only have a short section tightly against their rear."
Lord Linde looked at Velas Tyrell with some surprise; he had been with Glory for so long and hadn't noticed so many details.
He hadn't expected Velas Tyrell to discover so many anomalies after only observing Glory for a short while, which gave him a completely new perspective on Velas Tyrell.
After listening to Velas Tyrell's analysis, he asked with some confusion, "Are Shadow Lynxes divided into northern and southern types?"
"Of course, they are divided into northern and southern types.
All animals of the same species in the world will adapt themselves according to different environments.
The significant environmental differences between the South and the North naturally affect the animals inhabiting these two places."
Velas Tyrell explained very seriously, "A scholar once wrote a record of Shadow Lynxes.
He traveled to the Everfrost Land north of the Wall and saw the Shadow Lynxes there.
In his notes, he mentioned that the Shadow Lynxes there, in order to withstand the cold, run easily on the ice fields, and turn quickly, not only have thicker fur and better gripping claws, but also longer tails, almost as long as their bodies."
Lord Linde listened to Velas Tyrell's narration, looked at the tail behind Glory, and said, "It seems Glory is not a northern species; its tail is quite a bit shorter than its body length."
"I also believe it's not a northern species." Velas Tyrell nodded, then pointed to Glory's eyes and continued, "Have you noticed that Glory's pupils are also completely different from a Shadow Lynx's?"
"Pupils?" Lord Linde lifted Glory's head, pulled back its eyelid to look at its pupil.
This action seemed to make Glory uncomfortable; it shook its head vigorously, broke free from Lord Linde's hand, then rubbed its eyes with its paw, and let out a low growl of displeasure at Lord Linde.
Lord Linde stroked Glory's head in apology, and at the same time said to Velas Tyrell, "No difference, aren't they also vertical pupils like a cat's?"
"Lord Linde, you're mistaken.
Cats only have vertical pupils when hunting; normally, they have almond-shaped pupils, and sometimes round pupils."
Velas Tyrell shook his head, correcting Lord Linde's understanding, and said, "Furthermore, although people often use cats to describe the agile hunting movements of Shadow Lynxes, a Shadow Lynx is not a cat.
Its lineage is closer to a lion, so a Shadow Lynx's pupils are dot-shaped, shrinking to a nearly invisible point when hunting, leaving only the whites of its eyes.
That's why many people attacked by Shadow Lynxes describe their eyes as pale as a dead person's skin, which led to the rumor that Shadow Lynxes are messengers of the Stranger."
Then he looked at Glory's eyes again and said, "Glory's pupils look more like snake eyes or dragon eyes."
Velas Tyrell speculated casually, while Lord Linde, as the listener, couldn't help but be stunned, because he felt that Velas Tyrell might have hit on the answer.
Glory's pupil changes might indeed be a mutation caused by its absorption of dragon soul from the Resentment energy.
At this moment, Velas Tyrell suddenly tried to reach out and touch Glory.
Glory's reaction was more intense than it was towards the other two Tyrells; it jumped up from the ground, turned its head, lowered its body, fully bared its fangs, and let out a threatening growl at Velas Tyrell.
Fotimo and the accompanying guards immediately stood in front of Velas Tyrell, drawing their weapons, ready to defend against Glory's attack.
The two young Tyrells were clearly frightened by Glory's intense reaction; after a moment of stunned , they burst into loud sobs.
Velas Tyrell, on the other hand, appeared very calm.
While comforting his younger siblings, he signaled to Fotimo and the guards that he was fine, and at the same time apologized to Lord Linde, saying, "I'm sorry, this is my fault.
I didn't heed your warning, Lord Linde, thankfully nothing serious happened."
"It's alright, this little fellow won't allow anyone to touch it except for me," Lord Linde said, stroking Glory's taut neck.
"Nameria fed this fellow for several months, and once, when she tried to touch it, it almost bit off Nameria's hand.
Thankfully, Nameria was prepared and wore steel plate gauntlets at the time."
"Nameria? Is that the Countess of Tengshi Town?" Velas Tyrell asked with a curious expression.
Lord Linde smiled and said, "Yes, but she doesn't like to be called Countess, nor does she like to be called Lady Countess.
She often says a count is a count; does the title of count distinguish between male and female, like animals?"
"Countess Nameria is truly special." Velas Tyrell smiled after hearing this, and then asked, "The rumor says that only by defeating this Countess in a duel can one be qualified to marry her, is that right?"
Lord Linde said in a deep voice, "Lord Velas Tyrell, you are mistaken! It is to be qualified to pursue her; only those who defeat her in a duel are qualified to pursue her."
"Is Countess Nameria very strong?" Velas Tyrell asked again.
"Very strong." Lord Linde said truthfully, "No one in the entire South should be able to defeat her in a direct duel—no, to withstand even one round of her attacks.
Prince Oberyn of Dorne should be able to defeat her.
As for the Westerlands, the Mountain might be able to withstand a few rounds of her attacks, but he would still ultimately die beneath her great axe."
"That strong?" Velas Tyrell looked surprised after hearing this.
"Hmph!" Fotimo was clearly very unconvinced by Lord Linde's judgment and said, "Why do you say the Red Viper of Dorne can defeat her?"
"Because they have competed." Lord Linde felt there was no need to hide Nameria's relationship with Dorne, after all, this relationship was known to those who knew it, and putting it out in the open might even benefit Nameria.
So he said truthfully, "When I led my troops to Tengshi Town, I happened to meet Prince Oberyn.
He was very concerned about Nameria's safety and wanted to take Nameria to Dorne, but Nameria refused, always believing herself to be a Southerner, the Lord of Tengshi Town, with the responsibility of defending her land, and that even if she died, she would die in Tengshi Town."
Hearing Lord Linde's narration, everyone present had a vivid impression of the Countess of Tengshi Town in their minds, and they held her words and actions in high regard.
Velas Tyrell pondered for a moment, then consulted Lord Linde, "Lord Linde, you must have heard from Lord Fotimo that I'm going to Godgrace in Dorne in a few days to participate in the martial arts tournament there.
This is my first time participating in a martial arts tournament, so my father is worried and has called you here from your bandit suppression duties, mainly to escort me on the way.
Besides participating in the martial arts tournament, I also want to do something to improve the relationship between the two regions.
Countess Nameria and Dorne's…"
"I don't recommend you do that, Lord Velas Tyrell." Before Velas Tyrell could finish speaking, Lord Linde understood his thoughts and directly advised against it, "Nameria doesn't have much affection for Dorne.
If you want to take her to Dorne and use her lineage to help you improve relations between the two regions, it will only backfire in the end."
"I understand." Velas Tyrell quickly understood Lord Linde's meaning and laughed self-deprecatingly, "Master Moras always says I'm too young and don't understand human nature.
I used to dismiss it, but now it seems he was right."
Fotimo comforted him, "Lord Velas Tyrell, you've already done very well."
Velas Tyrell smiled, clearly not taking Fotimo's words to heart.
Then he asked curiously, "You've met Prince Oberyn, what do you think of him?"
"He is a very charming person." Lord Linde said truthfully, "If I hadn't joined House Tyrell, and if he had invited me at the time, I think I would have unhesitatingly followed him to Dorne."
When Velas Tyrell heard Lord Linde's words, he not only showed no displeasure, but instead said with a look of relief, "It's a good thing Garlan met you first, Lord Linde, otherwise House Tyrell would have lost a legendary figure."
The guards present had no objection to Velas Tyrell's statement; in their eyes, being able to have such a giant beast as a pet indeed merited the title of a legendary figure.
However, if Velas Tyrell had been referring to Lord Linde's other circulating title, the First Swordsman of the Seven Kingdoms, then they might have been somewhat unconvinced.
At this moment, Fotimo suddenly asked curiously, "Since you met the Red Viper, then you two must have competed, right? What was the result?"
Lord Linde did not answer the question, only looked at Fotimo with a smile.
Fotimo also did not press further; he seemed to have seen the answer in Lord Linde's expression.
Velas Tyrell watched their enigmatic exchange with interest.
"Big cat, big cat is leaving!" Margaery pointed at Glory, who was quietly preparing to leave, and shouted.
Lord Linde looked at Glory, waved his hand, signaling that it could leave.
Glory, as if relieved, quickly jumped onto the rooftop, and with a few leaps, disappeared from everyone's sight.
Lord Linde led Velas Tyrell and the others into the house; the guards waited outside at Velas Tyrell's command.
Upon entering the house, Velas Tyrell immediately saw the Lost Country Knight armor set placed on the armor stand.
He was very fond of jousting and naturally also liked knight armor.
Lord Linde's knight armor was clearly completely different from the knight armor of the Seven Kingdoms today.
This difference was not only in style but also in the structure of the armor.
To the untrained eye, the Lost Country Knight full plate armor and ordinary knight full plate armor appeared no different, but only someone like Velas Tyrell, who understood the structure of knight armor, knew the vast difference between the two.
The simplest difference was that the joint locks on this knight armor were much more flexible than those on current knight armor; more flexible joints meant that a knight wearing this armor could perform more movements.
"Lord Linde, may I pick it up and look at it?" Velas Tyrell politely asked Lord Linde.
"Of course." Lord Linde nodded; he was not worried about the Lost Country Knight full plate armor being copied.
In fact, when he first produced the blueprints, he had considered the issue of it being copied.
However, he knew very well that even if it were copied, probably few people would be able to wear such a full plate armor, and even if they could put it on, fighting normally would likely be very difficult.
Just as Lord Linde had guessed, when Velas Tyrell picked up the simplest arm guard, he had already mentally dismissed the possibility of imitation.
The main reason he changed his mind so quickly was that the armor was too heavy.
Flexible joint locks, capable of more movements, naturally also meant that the joint locks needed to withstand more friction, impact, and twisting, so the strength of the joint locks had to be increased.
Unless Valyrian steel was used, the only way to increase the strength of the joint locks currently was to increase their thickness.
This made the size of a single lock on the Lost Country Knight full plate armor equivalent to the size of two locks on normal armor.
Moreover, and more importantly, as the locks increased, the steel plates connected to the locks naturally also had to be thickened.
If one plate was thickened, the other plates also had to be correspondingly thickened, otherwise there would be weak points, making them prone to cracking.
This resulted in the entire Lost Country Knight full plate armor being twice as thick as other full plate armors, and its weight reaching more than twice as much.
Such heavy armor would be difficult for an ordinary person to even walk in, let alone fight.
"Lord Linde, can you still fight while wearing this armor?" Velas Tyrell put the armor back on the stand and asked with great curiosity.
Lord Linde didn't speak, only smiled.
Velas Tyrell immediately sensed the enigmatic communication between Fotimo and Lord Linde just now and instantly understood Lord Linde's meaning.
Then, he said, "I really want to see you fight in this armor, Lord Linde."
Lord Linde said in a deep voice, "Then, Lord Velas Tyrell, you'll have to pray that we encounter enough enemies on our way to Godgrace."
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