Stephen Baratheon POV
He was not a fan of feasts.
They were often a boring, dull affair. More a means for the lord to show off his wealth than anything else. There are often more than a dozen spread of dishes created by the cooks. And more often than not, most of them were not that good. Maybe he was simply being nit-picky but that's just how he felt.
That's not even mentioning the company. It took a lot of patience to listen to the Lords complain about this or that throughout the entire feast. And it took even greater patience to listen to all that, while the lord's daughter was trying her best to seduce him. Sometime that lord's lady wife as well.
He couldn't fathom why any lord would believe that he could earn his respect by offering his wife to him. Unfortunately, such a degrading proposal occurred more frequently than he was comfortable was especially true for lesser nobles who had little else to offer and believed that aligning themselves with a Prince could elevate their status.
No, he did like feasts all that much.
But being a Prince, he was presented with a feast wherever he went. Be it the dingy keep of a small noble. Or the capital Fortress of a Lord Paramount.
Recently though, these feasts have started to become more entertaining. Mostly due to own new hobby if nothing else. Admittedly, he was still not as good at singing as he would like to be. But thanks to Gamer System, he became decent at it pretty fast. And the further he improved, the further the rumours about his new hobby spread. And the more people asked him to perform for them.
Bard Princes were in high demand, he'd found.
So wherever he went, a feast was held for him, and after that feast, he was almost always asked to sing. And being the attention whore that he was slowly becoming, he accepted more often than not.
"…There now, steady love, so few come and don't go~
Will you won't you, be the one I always know?~
When I'm losing my control, the city spins around~
You're the only one who knows, you slow it down~
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Be my baby~
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Be my baby~
I'll look after you~
If ever there was a doubt~
My love she leans into me~
This most…"
One of his favourite songs from his past life eventually came to an end.
A part of his always felt guilty at plagiarising the songs of those talented individuals. But if he could introduce these amazing songs to even a fraction of the people in this world, then he'll gladly bear the guilt.
Plus, he did want to listen to those songs once again. And while his own voice made for a poor substitute, it was still better than nothing.
There was a pin drop silence in the great hall of Sunspear as his song came to an end. And that knew that his basic and mana skills had done their job once again. Singing Lvl 26, Lute Playing Lvl 43, and Mana Resonance Lvl 10.
Singing and Lute Playing probably needed no explanation. But what Mana Resonance did, was that it allowed the listeners to attune to the emotions in the song. Making them feel how he, the singer, wanted them to feel.
If he sang a sad song about the departure of a loved one, then his audience will feel that pain and sorrow personally. Memories will come forth about that time that they lost someone dear to them.
It was one of the main reasons why his listeners were often so spellbound after listening to his songs. Because they were literally spellbound.
The creation of this mana skill was a result of his experimentation with infusing mana into his voice and guitar. At the time, he wasn't sure what to anticipate, nor did he know if anything would come of it. However, by repeatedly utilizing his mana to convey the genuine emotion of his songs to his listeners, he developed this skill over time.
It was a dangerous magical skill since it skirted around the element of mind control. But he didn't feel guilty in using it since he had no intention of using it for something bad. Ever.
Music was gift. And he didn't want to taint it with his usual hunger for waifus and points.
Eventually, his listeners snapped out of their trance and began to applaud. He couldn't help but observe that his audience had grown in number as even the keep's servants and guards abandoned their duties to partake in his music.
As he said, a dangerous magical skill.
He got up from his seat and gave a deep bow to his audience before he sat back down once again.
At the beginning of his voyage, when he first began performing in front of an audience, he wasn't particularly skilled, and he frequently believed that the applause was only out of politeness, as his listeners didn't want to offend the prince.
To a certain degree, his thoughts were likely accurate. However, his abilities had improved since those early days. Although not yet at the level he aspired to, they were sufficiently impressive to garner positive reactions from his audience more often than not. As a result, he no longer felt as insecure about his performances as before.
A hand latched onto his own as soon as he sat down, the Princess of Dorne pressed his arm between her budding breasts and gave him a gentle, loving smile. "That was wonderful, dear. If I knew that you were so good at singing then I would've sailed to Dragonstone a long time ago to hear your voice."
'Woman, we're not even friends. Who're you calling 'dear' and why're you acting like we're close.' He thought but kept a placid smile on his face.
"While Dragonstone may not rival Sunspear's beauty or possess its distinctive culture, I would be honored to welcome the Princess of Dorne to my father's halls should she ever wish to visit." He said, complimenting her for position… since it was the only thing he could genuinely compliment her on.
Because aside from her position as the Princess of Dorne, Princess Arianne Martell was otherwise a thoroughly uninteresting young woman.
Sure, she was beautiful. But with his Shaper power, he could take an old hag from the slums of Flea Bottom and turn her into one of the most beautiful women in the world. So beauty didn't hold as much value for him anymore.
Her cousin Sarella, with her innate thirst for knowledge, was far more interesting to him.
Hell, even her cousin Obara, with her single minded devotion to her weapon, was far more interesting. And that's despite her gruff nature, angry countenance and a rather plain face.
He recognized that he might have been overly critical of Arianne, considering that she was only 14 years old and had plenty of time to mature. However, up until now, he had not discovered anything that particularly captivated him about her.
She professed her interest in ruling Dorne and becoming the greatest Princess the kingdom has ever seen, like Princess Nymeria. However, she lacked any concrete plans on how to improve Dorne, nor did she have a good understanding of its economy, geography, political situation, or military.
Her political acumen seemed limited to seducing younger lords and knights to act on her behalf. Her social circle mainly consisted of her own illegitimate cousins who held little power or connections. And her only allies were those that her situation and circumstance had provided her with.
In short, Arianne was… disappointing.
And while her amateur attempts at trying to seduce him had been endearing at first, they lost that initial charm rather quickly and started becoming annoying as time passed and she grew more and more desperate.
In the end, he felt that the blame should fall on Doran Martell for not doing a better job of raising her. Instead of focusing on his schemes and plans for revenge for Elia, he should have paid more attention to his children and taught his daughter how to become a competent ruler.
"Would you like to sing another song, Prince Stephen?" Tyene Sand softly asked from her place, a few seats away from him. Unlike the black-haired version of her in the show, this Tyene had golden hair, a fair countenance, a gentle voice, and an innocent persona. That, along with her pure white dress made her seem almost etherial. As if something from out of this world.
Her entire innocent facade aroused him like nothing else, despite knowing what kind of person she was on the inside thanks to his Observe skill and canon knowledge.
It was like a young woman with all the qualities of Bellatrix Lestrange, who spoke and acted like Luna Lovegood. A rather amusing combination. And a highly arousing one as well, since he had hots for both Bellatrix and Luna.
"One of your men told me that you have many love songs. Would you like to sing one for us?" She asked with a cute tilt of her head, playing into her innocent persona, not knowing that he was already aware of the truth behind those beautiful blue eyes.
He shrugged. "I don't mind. In fact, the name of the next song is Love Song."
"I would love to listen to that song." Arianne said from his right, still clinging to his arm. "Is there someone to whom you would like to dedicate this song?"
He heard Asha snort from his left but Arianne acted like she didn't even heard her as she continued to gaze into his eyes.
…did she want him to dedicate the song to her?
He wasn't sure if that's what she wanted.
Despite his Observe skill, and his high Intelligence, girls still remained a mystery to him more often than not.
Though, if there was one woman in this world who deserved to get this song dedicated to her, then it would be Mel. But for obvious reasons, he couldn't dedicate the song to her. Nor Asha, who had become his lover since the start of this voyage.
"There is no girl or woman in my life who I hold such feelings for." He lied. "So if you don't mind princess, then I would like to dedicate this song to you."
He really didn't enjoy lying to people. But that's how you played the politics of the Westeros. With lies and deceit. And while his position and power afforded him more leniency toward such matters, it didn't mean that he would be completely exempt from politics either.
"I would love that." Arianne said, acting infatuated with him. Though… he wasn't sure if she was merely acting and not actually infatuated with him.
He didn't want to brag about himself. But his good looks, his position of power, his reputation, his polite way of speaking and his ability to sing… they made for a rather deadly combination when it came to attracting ladies.
If he was even 1/10th as charismatic in his past life as he was in this one, then he would have easily found a girlfriend in his college years.
"Very well. Then this song is for you…" He said as he started playing the tune on his lute. And after playing it for a moment, he finally started singing.
"Whenever I'm alone with you~
You make me feel like I am home again~
Whenever I'm alone…"
—
He let out a yawn as he entered the guest room that was provided to him in the Sun Tower.
With his hyper enhanced biology and his supernaturally high Endurance, he didn't really feel physical exhaustion anymore.
But mental exhaustion was another thing. And talking with new people for hours on end left him mentally exhausted every single time.
He fell on the soft pillowy bed prepared for him and allowed himself to rest for a few seconds before he sighed and got up.
He could rest later, for now, he had work to do.
He bolted the door and closed each window carefully. He searched the room thoroughly for any hidden entrances, ensuring that no one could enter or peek in from the outside. Finally, he sat on his bed, reached for his Inventory, and took out a Glass Candle.
He smiled as he remembered how he acquired this artefact a few nights before the start of his voyage.
—
FLASHBACK
"I'm worried for you." Mel muttered as she cuddled with him, her skin slick with sweat in the aftermath of yet another intense bout of lovemaking.
"You are… worried for me?" He asked, incredulous.
Given that she accompanied him to the Instant Dungeons, she knew firsthand how powerful he was. There was likely nothing in this world that could harm him in a significant way, let alone kill him.
Mel nodded her head slightly. "During your voyage, you'll be separated from the rest of us. You won't know what's happening in your home or how things are going with your projects. You'll be completely unaware of the political situation in King's Landing. You're used to being in control, so not having any control will be difficult for you. It ate away at you when you went to Braavos, even though you tried to hide it from me." She looked into his eyes, her face appearing almost angelic in the dim candlelight.
He grunted at her words. Of course she would find out. She was scarily perceptive like that. Not that he should be surprised, what with the four centuries of experience she has under her belt.
"I can fly back whenever I want."
"Yes, but I would rather that you don't feel homesick in the first place." She said as her fingers traced the grooves in his 8 pack abs.
He raised an eyebrow at that. "You have a plan." He said, knowing that she wouldn't have brought up this topic otherwise.
Mel nodded. "I was recently talking with Maester Cressan, and learned that the Citadel has access to 3 Glass Candles."
He paused at her words and then facepalmed himself.
Of course. How could he forget about the Glass Candles. Sure it has been a decade since he arrived in this world, but he still shouldn't have forgotten something so crucial.
He removed himself from Mel's sinful body and used Inventory to equip his clothes.
Mel looked at him in confusion. "Where are you going?"
"To get those glass candles."
"Right now?"
"Yes." He said, and then remembered the distance between Dragonstone and Oldtown. "I… might be late in coming back. Make up an excuse for my absence if that happens."
"Of course dear. I'll inform everyone that you're having dysentery." Mel said innocently.
He grimaced at the thought and sent her an annoyed look which made her burst into laughter.
"Very funny." He said with a chuckle before he went up to her and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back in a few hours."
"Be safe my love." She said as she cupped his cheeks and he rolled his eyes.
"I'm only going to Oldtown. No Asshai, Old Valyria, or the Land of Always Winter." He said before he walked to the balcony. Then, with a burst of Mana channeled into his body, he took off.
The distance from Dragonstone to Oldtown was 3.5 times longer than the distance from Dragonstone to Kings Landing.
Given that he could cover the distance between Dragonstone and King's Landing in half an hour, he should have been able to reach Oldtown within two hours.
And he would've, if he didn't ran out of Mana in the middle of the flight and had to land in order to meditate and recover his Mana reserves. Twice.
As it was, the journey took almost Three hours. And then he was in Oldtown.
He soared over the sprawling city, relieved that the scent wasn't as pungent as King's Landing. He then utilized his Shaper ability to transform his vision into that of an eagle and surveyed the numerous structures below. Employing his Observation skill, he studied them in detail.
There were only a few large scale buildings in the city, so it didn't take him long to figure out which one was the Citadel.
As soon as he did, he used Glamour magic to make himself look as dark as a shadow before he swooped downward and flew inside the building.
He made sure to avoid the guards, as while the glamour did make it extremely hard to spot him at night, it didn't make him invisible. He still needed to be careful.
Fortunately, the Citadel was lightly guarded. And the guards stationed there were either inattentive and lazy, or easily subdued with a small amount of sleeping gas that he created using his Shaper abilities.
Eventually, he entered the Citadel proper and found himself in the middle of a great library that utterly dwarfed the one in the Red Keep.
The Kleptomania that he didn't knew he had, activated at that moment and filled him with an urge to steal all the books in the library.
There was so much knowledge in this place. So many skill books. Just the thought of how many of his skills he could level up by reading these books filled him with a great desire to take them for himself.
He managed to bring that impulse under control with some difficulty.
Although he despised the Maesters for their monopoly over knowledge and their disdain for magic, he acknowledged that they were the only institution in all of Westeros, if not the entire world, that collected and preserved the history of the world.
Stealing all these books from them would be akin to destroying their order. A bastion of knowledge and education in this otherwise ignorant and illiterate world. And he couldn't bring himself to do that.
So with a heavy heart, he left the library and started roaming through the various corridors instead. Using his Mana sense to find any magical artefact in this world.
The first magical artefact he found, was a Valyrian Chain link hung in the chain of some old maester.
The second was a Valyrian ring that belong to a man that Observe informed him was Gormon Tyrell. An Archmaester of the Citadel and an uncle of Mace Tyrell.
He ignored the Archmaester and went back to searching the Citadel.
It took him half an hour, and a few more false signals, before he felt a powerful magical signal coming from inside a room.
The door was barred shut with chains and a heavy lock so he used Empty ID, broke through the door, and used Escape ID to come back to the world once he was inside the dark room.
He used a Mana ball to create a source of light, and there, at the top of a pedestal, were three Glass Candles.
And as soon as he created the Mana ball, the three Glass Candles started burning as well. An unpleasant light emanating from them that showed him flashes and visions of different, faraway places.
The glass candles were unpleasant, twisted things, and Observe told him that they were made of Obsidian, instead of Valyrian Steel like he thought them to be.
He didn't knew why he thought that they would be made of Valyrian Steel. Maybe the past 10 years have eroded his memory even more than he thought.
It didn't matter. What mattered, was that he'd found what he came here for.
He took two of the glass candles, since he only needed two and didn't want to steal indiscriminately. But then he remembered all the theories about the Maesters being magic hating scholars. And that there might a conspiracy among them to remove magic from the world.
That the Glass Candle Test given to the acolytes was nothing more than a way for them to root out any magically talented person and then discreetly remove them.
He wasn't sure how much truth there was to those theories but he decided to err on the side of caution and took the last candle as well.
A few minutes later, he was flying back to Dragonstone.
Though instead of directly going back to his home, he took a brief detour and arrived at Kings Landing instead.
There, he flew toward the Red Keep and entered through one of the balconies.
Instead, a beautiful blond woman was sleeping in a giant luxurious bed. The curves of the sinful body being highlighted through the thin silky bedsheets.
Her naked form, as well as the smell of arousal emanating from her finger told him enough about what she had been doing before she fell asleep.
He licked his lips as he took in her naked thighs in the sheen of the moonlight, his cock twitching in arousal. He was tempted. Tempted to wake her up and take her right then and there.
She would resist at first, he had no doubt about that. But with how much pleasure he could give her, that resistance won't last for long.
But… it was already getting close to dawn. He didn't have enough time. And the concept of rape still left him uncomfortable despite his blackmail of Lysa Arryn. So he curbed his impulses for the second time that night
Instead, he moved forward and put a finger on her cheek, using his Shaper power to put her to sleep. No point in taking any chances.
Then he scanned her brain. Messing with the brain chemistry is always a delicate and dangerous thing. A small mistake and you could easily mess up a person for life. And unlike the other body parts and organs, you can't simply undo your mistake when performing what was basically a very delicate brain surgery.
But this needed to be done.
With a flex of his will and power, he reduced the number of Dopamine receptors on her brain. And made that change permanent, until he decided to make changes to it himself.
Dopamine was the brain chemical which motivated people to do new things. It was what motivated you to wake up in the morning. What motivated you to brush your teeth, take a bath, get a drink. Basically anything.
With lesser Dopamine receptors, Cersei will be less motivated to do… anything.
She's feel lazy, unmotivated and lethargic for as long as this change last.
And while her new changes will seem confusing to the other people in the Red Keep, it was necessary since he didn't want her plotting against him while he was out on a voyage.
He'll fix her dopamine system once he returns. But for now, it's better for him if she remained unmotivated to fuck things up.
With that, and one last regretful look at her sinful naked thighs, he went to the balcony and flew off toward Dragonstone.
And reached just in time for to see the first rays of dawn break through the horizon.
FLASHBACK END
—
With a thought, he poured a small trickle of Mana inside the Candle and found himself staring at flashes of distant places.
A bit more mana and he gained better control over the Candle, which helped him create an astral projection of sorts.
He still didn't know the intricacies of how the magic of the Glass Candle actually worked. Just that it did, and he knew how to use it.
In an instant, his glowing astral form soared above the skies of Sunspear, beholding the stunning desert dunes of Dorne in the west. With a mere intention and exertion of power, he propelled himself towards the north, the terrain below him whizzing past in a blur. And within a minute, he was levitating above the island of Dragonstone.
He saw the castle in the distance and flew toward it before entering through on of its windows.
Inside, a beautiful redhead was sitting on a bed.
The woman turned to look in his direction and smiled. "Good evening my lord. You're a bit late today."
"Sorry about that. The feast in Sunspear lasted a bit longer than I anticipated." He said with a smile as his hand went to cup her cheek, and passed through her, as if he was a ghost.
Though he did feel a warm sensation on his hand despite being unable to interact with her in this form.
Mel smiled at him. "I got another piece of information from Lynalle this afternoon. I assume you want to know what is going on in Kings Landing?"
"Yes. Start with that."
"Well… there's a new rumour circulating in the Red Keep." Mel smiled. "The rumours says that the Queen is pregnant."
"She wasn't, the last time I checked." He frowned. "And even if she is now, I doubt that it'll show that quickly. Who is spreading this rumour?"
"No one." Mel said. "People are assuming that she's pregnant because of how tired and lethargic the Queen seems to be these days."
"I see. This rumour might do some damage to her in the short term, but nothing much will come of it in the long run. Continue with the other information." He said.
And so Mel did. And over the next minutes, he learned about the political intrigues going on around in the Red Keep, as well as how his various businesses were holding on in Kings Landing.
After that, she proceeded to tell him about the news and happenings of Dragonstone. About how his farms were doing. How his other important projects were progressing. How their trade was growing. And so on and so forth.
And in the end, she told him of the projects and ideas that failed due to one reason or another.
"So the human-waste-fertiliser turned out to be toxic for the plants. And you confirmed this personally?" He asked with a frown.
"Yes, I did. And it's not just the plants that were affected. Even the humans aboard the waste-carrying ship were getting sick. Some of them would have died if I hadn't secretly added a Health Potion to their drinks."
"Is that so…" He said, his frown becoming deeper. He had heard in his past life that turning human waste into fertiliser was possible. But it seemed that there was more to the process than simple composting. "Halt the Operation for now. Give some adequate compensation to the workers. And clean the ships and put them back into dry docks. I'll look into this personally once I return. Till then, use the dung fertiliser as well as the Black Volcanic soil."
"It'll be done my lord. And about the-" He raised a hand to stall her as his real body back in Dorne heard a knock on the door.
"Someone is knocking on my door. I'll talk to you tomorrow Mel."
"Very well. Be safe my lord." Mel said with a smile before he cut his connection with the Glass Candle, and came back to himself.
The transition from his astral form to his real body always left him feeling slightly disoriented. But he was getting better at dealing with it.
He shook his head and put the Glass Candle back in his Inventory. Then he made sure that he looked presentable before he opened the door…
And was the greeted with the sight of a naked Princess Arianne Martell, her assets barely covered by a thin, translucent bedsheet.
The Princess smiled at him.
"Good evening, Prince Stephen." She said as she strutted forward, her hips swinging from side to side until face was inches away from him, her soft breasts were pressing against his chest. "I was wondering, if you needed some company on this beautiful evening."