Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 20: The Return of Illyrio

"In the past twenty days, they never mentioned leaving the courtyard. They didn't even ask?"

Illyrio sat fatly in the main seat in the study, listened to the reports from the butler and Annie, and finally began to ask questions.

"Yes, master." The butler answered seriously.

"You just said that you used the word 'pattern' after observing it these days. Can you tell me what this pattern is?" Illyrio asked.

"That's right. He would sleep in bed until noon every day. Before his sister's legs were healed, after lunch he would pick up a book from the cupboard in the living room, go to his sister's room and tell her a story. He would usually leave after telling her a story, then take the book and walk around the courtyard. He would walk around in circles in the courtyard until the sun went down. After his sister's legs were healed, he would take his sister for a stroll in the courtyard after lunch, reading a book while walking, occasionally commenting on the scenery of the garden. Sometimes he would tell his sister the story in the book, and sometimes he would let his sister read the book by herself. After dinner and nightfall, he would lock himself in the room to practice swordsmanship, and the training time would last for several hours. This is what he did every day, day after day."

Illyrio thought for a moment, then asked, "Well, why do you think he is doing this?"

"I don't know anything else, but judging from his performance, reading is just a cover for training. He is training himself, and it is very effective." The butler replied, "His behavior can be regarded as hard training, and he trains like a soldier. During the day, he seems to be walking in the courtyard, but in fact he keeps walking. He rarely sits down to rest, and even wears out a pair of new shoes. At night, he practices swordsmanship. He has almost changed these days. He has gained weight, his steps are steady, and his back is straight. He looks more like a noble than when he first came."

Illyrio subconsciously asked, "You mean he is quietly training himself to be a king?"

"That's right." The butler lowered his head and replied, "I think so."

Illyrio was silent for a moment, then looked at Ani, who was quietly standing by the side. "What do you think?"

"I feel the same way," Ani replied. "He is almost a different person from when he first came. If I saw him for the first time now and the owner told me that he was a noble man, I would have no doubt that he was born noble."

Illyrio's expression did not change. He only asked in a deep voice, "Besides this, have you found anything else?"

The steward answered, "He burned the dragon-bone necklace in a fire one night. The silver was blackened, but he always wore it on his wrist. That is all there is to say. That is all Viserys has."

Illyrio was silent for a moment, as if he was digesting what he had just heard. After a while, he asked, "What about the girl?"

Ani gave the answer: "The girl keeps her mouth shut. She is very dependent on her brother and follows him around all day. She is timid, suspicious, and has no personality. She allows him to control her. She is on guard against me. She neither asks me anything nor answers my casual questions. She responds to all my advances with silence. She shows interest in what I say but never asks questions. Sometimes she follows Viserys, and Viserys asks her to stop talking, but she doesn't say a word the whole day."

"Viserys is wary of us," Illyrio said. "He does not fully trust me, and he certainly cannot trust you either."

"But it's not that we didn't notice anything." Ani said, "The girl is not afraid of heat. Once, the bathtub was filled with hot water just brought from the kitchen, and the girl got into the tub without saying a word before the old woman who brought the water adjusted the water temperature. The bath water was extremely hot, but she didn't say a word, nor did she show any discomfort. I secretly arranged hot water for Viserys several times to see if he would do the same, but every time he took the initiative to have the water temperature adjusted with cold water."

Illyrio's expression changed when he heard this, and he looked thoughtful, but no one knew what he was thinking about. In the end, he only said vaguely: "Perhaps the Targaryens are indeed magical." -

"Governor Illyrio, you are finally back!"

Even before Viserys arrived, loud cries of delight could be heard from outside the dining room door.

The tone seemed to be something he had been waiting for for a long time, and it made Illyrio speechless for a moment, and he took back the opening remarks he had prepared.

Illyrio looked up and saw that Viserys was the first to come through the dining room door, followed by the butler he had sent to lead the way, and finally Daenerys.

Viserys had an earnest smile on his face. He took long steps, trying to maintain his dignity but unable to hide his excitement. He walked into the dining room in two steps and walked straight to Illyrio. He laughed loudly as if trying to suppress his excitement, "Governor Illyrio, what did you gain from Westeros? Tell me quickly!"

Only then did Illyrio understand what the steward and Ani meant when they said Viserys had changed.

Recalling the first time he met the king, Illyrio felt that he was worthy of the title of "Beggar King". At that time, he was wearing dirty and tattered clothes, his eyes were gloomy, his face was yellow and haggard, he was tall and thin, his posture was a little hunched, his hair was messy and unkempt, and he was a little neurotic. When he talked to people, his hands were uneasy and trembling slightly but he tried hard to restrain it. When he was excited, his voice would become high-pitched, and there was a fanatical look in his white lavender eyes.

But now it has only been more than 20 days since I last saw him. The king's face has changed a lot. His pale face has become red, his face is clean and trimmed, his sunken cheeks have grown flesh, his long hair is combed to shine like molten silver, and although he is still very thin, his straight body can already support his clothes. Illyrio has no doubt that Viserys can attract many young girls at the noble banquet just by looking healthy and handsome. The only thing that has not changed much is the excitement and enthusiasm in his purple eyes, and you can vaguely see that there is madness hidden under this body.

[He is indeed training himself to be a king, at least physically.]

When Illyrio came back, he had made all kinds of calculations, and he thought that the only way for the king to cooperate with the Dornish was to form a marriage alliance. Princess Arianne Martell of Dorne was still unmarried, and Prince Doran always considered some older candidates for her marriage. There were also people of the right age who asked Prince Doran to marry the princess, but Prince Doran refused them all. Now it seems that the Dornish had already promised the princess to Viserys, and they were waiting for Viserys to return to Westeros and support him to regain the Iron Throne.

Now seeing Viserys like this, Illyrio was even more convinced that the Dornish and Viserys had secretly communicated somewhere where Varys couldn't see - even though Varys still had an ambiguous attitude towards the matter, they had searched through the reports from the little birds in recent years, but still didn't know at what point the two sides had secretly made peace.

But Viserys is now in Illyrio's hands, and he must find out the king's true plan as soon as possible so that he can plan his next move.

Thinking of this, Illyrio bowed his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, please take a seat first."

What Illyrio didn't know was that when Viserys heard Illyrio's "Your Majesty" as usual, his face was full of excitement and joy, but he felt guilty in his heart. When he got up at noon today and heard the butler say "The master is waiting in the dining room," he was so busy with excitement that he didn't hear what the butler said after that.

(End of this chapter)