(First, an extra chapter for reader Ailubao; two more chapters this afternoon. Please add to your favorites to support this post!)
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"Father, I want to go back, may I?" The meticulously trained noblewoman Jenny wouldn't say "I want to go back" with such a definitive tone to her father, but rather softly, "I want to go back." Her true intention was to go back, not that she wanted to.
For the sake of his family's revival and prosperity, Earl Gavin had carefully nurtured Jenny for over a decade. Now it was time for his daughter to repay him. Upon hearing his daughter say, "I want to go back," the smile on Gavin's face gradually froze, and finally, his expression turned grim.
Gavin's daughter, Jenny, was his hope for restoring the family's glory.
"Why?"
Jenny was not only beautiful and well-mannered, but also naturally intelligent. She could see things that her father couldn't see or ignored, and she saw them even more clearly.
After much deliberation, she concluded that it was definitely not a good thing that Duke Tywin had suddenly taken her in as his adopted daughter!
"If Duke Tywin really wanted to adopt me, why didn't he invite my mother to the adoption ceremony?" Jenny said softly, lowering her head slightly, not daring to look her father in the eye.
Lord Gavin was so angry he felt a tightness in his chest and a sharp pain in his heart.
Lord Gavin's wife was named Sybil Spicer. Sybil's grandfather was a merchant, and her grandmother was the "Toad Witch" of Lannister. In the TV series, the young Cersei and two noblewomen consulted the "Toad Witch" about their future. One girl ran away in fright, and the other trembled, but Cersei was not afraid and threatened the witch that she would be punished if she did not reveal the prophecy. That witch was Sybil's grandmother and Jenny's maternal grandmother.
Count Gavin was in dire straits due to his family's decline. In order to maintain the so-called honor of a noble family, he refused to reduce the number of servants and the expenses of his lavish lifestyle. Because he coveted the generous dowry of Hibern's merchant father, he married Hibern, who was not a noble. This became a joke among the nobles of the West at the time.
Tywin's younger brother Kevan rejected Lord Gavin's marriage proposal not entirely because of Gavin's poverty, but partly because of Hebeil, whose bloodline was not noble.
This was a marriage that Earl Gavin later regretted, but he was too poor to annul the engagement, as he could no longer afford to pay the dowry from the Sibel family. If he didn't divorce, the family's noble honor would be tarnished; if he did, not only would he be unable to return the dowry, but he would also damage the ancient honor of the Westerling family.
According to custom, even if a commoner's daughter is adopted, the daughter's parents have the right to enter the ceremonial sanctuary, kneel before the statues of the Seven Gods, apply holy oil, pray to the Seven Gods, and receive blessings from relatives and friends. However, Lord Tywin made it clear in his letter that he did not wish to see Lady Sybil in the Seven Gods' sanctuary in Casterly Rock.
Lord Gavin ignored Duke Tywin's unreasonable demands and happily had his daughter Jenny dressed up so they could travel to Casterly Rock together.
To be befitting his family's noble status, he used four horses to pull his carriage, eight guards, and two coachmen. As for his family relatives, he had lost contact with most of them.
Jenny didn't care about the blessings of other relatives and friends, but she hoped that her mother could be respected by Tywin. However, Tywin did not respect Sybil, which made it difficult for Jenny to shake off the feeling of dignity being hurt. Not long after she left, she finally mustered up the courage to tell her father that Duke Tywin did not respect the Westerling family, so she 'wanted to go back'.
This made Earl Gavin's face turn ashen, and his heart ache.
It took Lord Gavin a while to calm his 'mixed feelings' before he said softly, "Alright, let's go back."
Jenny was overjoyed, her gloomy expression vanishing instantly. Overjoyed, she wanted to wrap her arms around her father's neck and kiss him on the cheek, just like when she was a child. But she sat dignifiedly, motionless. She knew her father wouldn't like her 'insolence'. She was a noble lady, not one to be unrestrained, and needed to maintain her noble elegance.
Earl Gavin reached out and lifted the curtain, saying to the family's groom, "Ayu, hurry up and get going."
"Yes, sir."
Snap!
Snap!
Slap! Slap!
The coachman's whip cracked in the air, and the four fine horses immediately accelerated, the carriage galloping like the wind.
For a good horse, don't actually whip it; just crack the whip in the air and it will understand its master's meaning and run. Not whipping the horse is one of the family etiquette rules taught to the grooms of the Westerling family.
"...Father…" Jenny's voice was full of grievance.
"Jenny, let's get to Casterly Rock as soon as possible so we can finish the adoption ceremony quickly and then we can go home sooner."
*
On the evening of the second day, as the sun set, a huge knight on a tall horse blocked the road on the official avenue north of Casterly Rock. He was surrounded by more than twenty cavalrymen. Apart from a guy with a perpetually smiling face and a petite female cavalryman, the rest of the cavalrymen were either fierce-looking or had a lewd and evil aura about them.
Lord Gavin's carriage was forced to stop, and the eight guards on both sides of the carriage turned pale. Blocking their way was Ser Gregor Clegane, the infamous Mountain of the Westerlands.
"My lord, the Demon Mountain is blocking our way," a guard whispered to Earl Gavin through the curtain.
Inside the curtain, both Earl Gavin and Jenny were shocked.
The Mountain is Lord Tywin Lannister's vicious dog, vulgar and of low character. His followers are all wicked and vicious people, and the Mountain has a notorious reputation for defiling noblewomen.
Earl Gavin lifted the curtain, stepped out of the carriage, and stood on it, taking a deep breath as he spoke: "Lord Gregor, Gavin Westerling greets you."
Gregor's voice boomed like thunder: "Oh! Earl Gavin, is your daughter, Miss Jenny, in the carriage?"
Gavin's expression changed, and eight cavalry guards immediately stepped forward on both sides of the carriage to block its path.
"Sir Gregor, it was Duke Tywin who wrote to invite us to Casterly Rock. He will take my daughter Jenny as his adopted daughter."
"Hmm!" Gregor grunted.
The twenty-odd cavalrymen around him suddenly charged, their lances attacking. The distance was too close, and the attack happened so suddenly that the Earl of Gavin's guards did not even have time to draw their swords before the lances were pressed against their chests, throats, faces, and abdomens.
Earl Gavin and his eight guards were subdued in an instant and dared not make a move.
Gregor and his men were notorious for their tyranny, but it was rare to see them so arrogant towards a nobleman of earl status.
Earl Gavin was speechless, utterly incredulous.
"Earl Gavin, tell your guards and grooms to get out of here!" Gregor shouted, his voice booming so loudly that it made Earl Gavin's eardrums ache.
Earl Gavin's face turned pale, then flushed. He gestured, and the eight guards, their faces ashen, retreated step by step until they reached the back of the carriage. The two coachmen quickly jumped down from the carriage and stood tremblingly on the roadside.
Gregor's cavalry, as fierce as wolves, immediately surrounded the carriage from all sides.
The smiling knight beside Gregor was none other than the smooth-talking Ravander Clegane. He chuckled, untied a large bundle from his horse, dismounted, and strode over to the carriage. He opened the bundle and took out a gleaming bronze plate and two bulging leather pouches.
The young female cavalryman beside Gregor was his adopted daughter, Julie Clegane. She dismounted, nimbly approached Ralph, knelt down, reached out and opened a leather bag, pouring the clear spring water inside into a bronze dish.
Earl Gavin stared blankly at the smiling Ralph and the quick-witted Julie, wondering what these unruly bastards were up to.