Chapter 220: Chapter 218: Support from the Highgarden
Refreshing green light filtered through the diamond-shaped stained glass windows embedded in the wall, and the breeze gently blew the fragrance of roses from the courtyard into the house.
Samwell stood at the door with Margaery, with a smile, he greeted, "Lady Olenna."
"Caesar." Lady Olenna's tone was complicated.
She turned her head to look at her granddaughter, and said, "Margaery, let me talk to him alone."
"Okay." Margaery obediently nodded, gave the man another comforting look, and then left.
When there were only two people left in the room, Lady Olenna sneered and said, "Awesome, Caesar. You forced my son to admit that a deer is a horse. With this ability to turn black and white, I have to admit that I was still a rookie before I saw you."
Samwell smiled, sat down on the chair opposite Lady Olenna, poured himself a cup of tea, and said, "Madam, you should think about why the nobles of the Reach would rather believe my lies, and I don't want to admit the facts about the Duke Mace. But this time, it's not so much about black and white, but that Lord Mace betrayed his followers ."
"Don't scare me here!" Madam Olenna curled her lips, "Oh, really? If it wasn't for Margaery's sake, I didn't intervene this time, do you think you can win so easily?"
"I'm always grateful for your mercy." Samwell showed a sincere smile, Lady Olenna, I also know that you have resentment in your heart. But please believe that I have no disrespect to the Tyrell family.
This time is also an act of self-preservation. I hope we all can forget this unpleasantness so that we can face the future together—the future of the Caesar family and the Tyrell family."
Madam Olenna's face finally eased, she looked at Samwell with piercing eyes, and asked a rather blatant question: "Sam, tell me, do you really want to sit on the Iron Throne?"
Samwell took a sip of tea, and said in a flat but firm tone: "I promised your granddaughter that I will return her a king."
"Ambition is really big." Lady Olenna chuckled, "But yes, with dragons, who wouldn't want to be the next 'conqueror'?"
She changed the topic, and her tone became stern again: "But you need time to grow, and during this period, do you know what you need to do most?"
"Avoid being the target of public criticism," Samwell blurted out, obviously having thought about this issue carefully.
"Very good!" Lady Olenna smiled for the first time, "It seems that you are still awake. Let me give you a piece of advice."
"Please .."
"The more you want to sit on the Iron Throne, the less you can climb up. Remember, the one who laughs last laughs the happiest."
Samwell nodded slowly, thinking that this was the meaning of "slowly claiming the throne":
"Thank you, I will keep your advice in mind."
Lady Olenna stared into Samwell's eyes, convinced that the other party had really listened, and then she nodded in satisfaction and said, "Then, what should you do next? Help Stannis Baratheon against the Lannisters?"
"No." Samwell shook his head decisively.
"Why?" Olenna looked like inspecting a student.
"If I help Stannis sit on the Iron Throne, not only will he not be grateful, but he will regard me as a threat because I have dragons."
Samwell said calmly, "Not only him but also the three families. In order to drive the dragon family out of the Westeros continent, they started a war, and now that I have hatched another dragon, I am afraid it will be difficult to have a friendly attitude."
"That's right.". Olenna nodded approvingly,
"Although you and Stannis are still related by marriage, this blood relationship can't help you.
The Florent family supports you now, but they just want to use you to control the reach.
From the standpoint of them, they won't need you in the future.
You see, will that old Alester recognize you as his grandson? In my opinion, he will definitely declare you a remnant of the Blackfyre and demand that the entire realm to attack Eagle Island."
Samwell nodded silently.
Lady Olenna was right. The power of the Florent family is not enough.
The foxes in Brightwater City will give priority to supporting Stannis.
Lady Olenna asked again: "So, Sam, in the next war, what position should you, or the Reach, choose?"
"I have already made a death feud with the Lannister family, so we can only support Stannis, but this is only nominal support,"
Samwell smiled slightly, "In fact, we sit and watch the alliance of fish, wolf, deer, and eagle compete with lions."
"Just sit and watch?"
"Of course not. We still need to take this opportunity to increase our strength!"
"How?" Lady Olenna kept asking.
"The Reach borders Dorne, the Stormlands, and the Western Territory.
If we want to expand, we can only go in these three directions."
Samwell said after considering, "First of all, the Western Territory must not be attacked, because it will directly lead to the lion's counterattack, tantamount to helping Stannis attract firepower.
Secondly, the Stormlands may be difficult to attack. After all, we support Stannis in name, so we can't attack the deer's lair.
Therefore, I think Dorne is the only one. It just so happens that Dorne has formed an alliance with the Lannister family, and our dealing with Dorne can be regarded as weakening the opponent, and it is hard for Stannis to say that we stand idly by."
"Attack Dorne?" Madam Olenna sneered, "You think one dragon can conquer Dorne? Have you forgotten that Aegon the Conqueror had three dragons, adult dragons! None of them could make Dorne submit."
"Of course, I know that Dorne is difficult to conquer." Samwell was also a little helpless,
"But this is the best choice for us at this stage. Moreover, we still have Natalie Dayne in our hands.
When the time comes, we will use the Dayne family to fight the Martell family. I believe that the resistance of the Dornish people would not be so fierce."
Madam Olenna still shook her head: "You underestimated the Dornish people, and you also underestimated the Martell family. Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken".
This family, in terms of strength, is actually at the bottom of the nine major families in Westeros, but such a family that is not considered powerful has never been conquered by force.
If you seriously understand the relationship between the Iron Throne and many wars between Dorn, especially in the case of the First Dornish War, perhaps such a rash decision will not be made."
Samwell tried to argue: "Of course, I understand the First Dornish War, it's just..."
"Do you really understand?" Madam Olenna interrupted, "Then do you know how many people died in that war?"
"It lasted nine years, exactly nine years. It was nine years when House Targaryen had three dragons! All the towns in Dorne were burned by dragon flames, and more than once, the sand around the towns was melted, it turned into glass. It is impossible to count how many people died."
"But at that time, Dorne had become a smoky desert, famine, plague, and drought were raging. Passing merchants said it was a cursed land."
"However, House Martell still did not submit, and Princess 'Yellow Toad of Dorne ' declared that she would rather see her subjects perish than become slaves to a dragon.
The Dornishmen could not defeat the Iron Throne on the frontal battlefield, but they used harassment, assassination, poisoning, and other means to make the enemy miserable."
"It can no longer be called a war, but an ugly, bloody, and terrifying assassination and revenge. Countless nobles from the six realms died due to various despicable methods.
Even the 'Conqueror' himself was nearly assassinated three times. Queen Visenya was also ambushed, and Queen Rhaenys, who was riding a giant dragon, was shot by a crossbow arrow from Hellholt and died after being inhumanly tortured in the dungeon of the Uller family.
"The 'conqueror' who had conquered the other six countries finally realized that he could not conquer Dorne and announced his withdrawal. And since then, throughout his life, he has never launched any wars.
"Think about it, Sam, are you really going to chew on the hardest bone?"
Samwell listened silently. Of course, he knew this history, but he had never felt the blood and cruelty so clearly.
"The Dornish people hate dragons," Madam Olenna concluded, "If you set foot on the land of Dorne with that white dragon, you will immediately awaken the hatred and anger hidden in their hearts for more than ten generations. Trust me, you can't conquer Dorne. The little Dayne girl can't help you either."
Samwell said helplessly: "But apart from Dorne, I have no better choice."
"No, you have."
"Where?"
"Stormlands."
Samwell frowned upon hearing this: "But wouldn't this offend Stannis? I have already been fighting with the Lannister family, and if I offend the Wolf Deer Eagle Alliance again, wouldn't I become a public enemy of the whole realm? Of course, I also know that even if I don't fight the storm, the fish, wolf, deer, and eagle will be hostile to me, but I must at least give an explanation to the nobles of the reach. If they know that I am so arrogant that I will challenge the nobles of the whole realm, I am afraid that many families will give up on me."
"Normally that's true, but the Lions made a fool of themselves, so you have a chance." Madam Olenna showed a mysterious smile and handed a letter to Samwell, "This is the letter of appointment from King's Landing I just received."
Samwell took a look: "The king legalized Robert's illegitimate son? And made him Lord of Stormlands?"
He realized at once what Lady Olenna meant by chance.
"Stannis will definitely veto the legitimacy of this illegitimate child!" Samwell's eyes sparkled, "And we can also use the excuse of helping the Baratheon family eradicate the bastard and stretch our hands into the storm!"
"That's right. Lady Olenna smiled and nodded, "Compared to Dorne, the Stormlands are much richer, and their bones are much softer. Moreover, there is only a forest and a river between it and King's Landing. In the future, if the two northern kings are about to decide the outcome, it is very convenient for you to intervene."
Samwell thought about Madam Olenna's suggestion and felt that the Stormlands was indeed a more suitable target than Dorne.
Although this may arouse Stannis' vigilance and hostility, as long as he expresses his support on the surface and has a plausible excuse, Stannis will only eat as he will is be worried that the reach will completely fall to the lion's side, even if he knows he will pretend not to know.
"Okay!" He made up his mind, "Then it will be the Stormlands."
Madam Olenna reminded: "However, you can't let your guard down for Dorne. Although they suffered heavy losses this time, Doran Martell is not an easy person to deal with, you have to be careful."
"I understand."
Samwell nodded and then asked in an expectant tone, " Lady Olenna, since you have approved me, then my and Margaery's marriage..."
"Be engaged first." Lady Olenna said, "Wait for three years for the formal marriage."
Samwell had already guessed that Lady Olenna would not agree to get married right away, but three years is not too much...
Or just mess with Margaery's belly, and see if Lady Olenna will marry her granddaughter.
Well, that's a good idea.
Samwell showed an innocent smile: "Yes."
Perhaps because she was worried that this would chill Samwell's heart, Lady Olenna added: "Don't worry. After the engagement, the Tyrell family will be your solid backing. We will fully support your ascension to the Iron Throne."
"Okay."
"Now, on behalf of the Tyrell family, I will give you the first present." Lady Olenna smiled and handed over a parchment.
Samwell took it and unfolded it, only to find that it was a letter of appointment for a viscount.
At the same time, the title column on his attribute panel immediately changed to Viscount of Eagle Island.
There are also five free attributes attached to his stats.
[END]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone