The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Earl Harrold's town had only one main street.

A rider in a golden cloak galloped down the street, the sound of hooves like rain.

The knight arrived in front of the Earl's castle, dismounted, and quickly ran into the hall.

"Your Majesty the King, Your Majesty the Queen, Ser Sandor Clegane has captured the criminal Mycah," the rider announced breathlessly, his voice loud.

The hall, filled with courtiers, erupted in commotion!

Many noblewomen surrounded Cersei, like stars surrounding the moon, comforting the 'grieving Cersei,' who showed no signs of sadness.

Before the King and Queen could respond, another rider arrived with urgent news.

"Your Majesty the King, Your Majesty the Queen: Duke Renly, Captain of the Kingsguard Ser Barristan Selmy, Kingsguard Ser Mandon Moore, Kingsguard Ser Meryn Trant, and Lord Justice Ilyn Payne, leading one hundred King's Landing guard cavalry, have come to greet the King and Queen."

The King waved his hand, saying nothing, his mood terrible. Two guards, who had been kneeling on one knee, stood up and retreated.

Again, the sound of hooves approached rapidly, and a gold-cloaked guard came to report.

"Your Majesty the King, Your Majesty the Queen, Duke Eddard Stark has found Arya Stark in a forest across the river. Duke Eddard is leading his guards back to town with Arya."

Upon hearing this, the King immediately felt relieved. He drained the wine in his golden goblet and cursed, "Damn it!"

The dense sound of hooves hammered on the main street, reaching the hall. The Hound, Sandor Clegane, returned with his red-cloaked guards.

The Mountain stood among the courtiers, a head taller than everyone else. Everyone who entered couldn't help but notice this burly 'giant.' The Mountain felt a slight worry in his heart. Did the Hound act according to the previous world's trajectory and kill Mycah, or did he bring back a living person because of the phrase he had shouted, 'Butchers and dog keepers are all the same'?

The Mountain actually hoped the Hound could let Mycah go.

Going out to catch someone, failing to catch him, the kid escaping and disappearing, or the kid perhaps being washed away by the river while crossing it – all sorts of accidents were possible.

But the Hound was loyal and brought Mycah back!

Soon, the Hound pushed in a boy with a freckled face, red hair, and a foul odor. Cersei, like a compressed spring, stood up from her seat and rebuked the Hound, "Hound, I told you to kill him. Why did you bring him back?"

The Hound remained expressionless, removed his helmet, and said, "Your Majesty, Mycah says he did not attack the prince."

"He hit me with a stick, a sharpened stick!" Joffrey shouted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His face was filled with disbelief, as if he were shocked by the butcher's son's lies, unable to believe that this lowly fellow dared to distort the truth.

The poor butcher's son, Mycah, trembled. He looked at his toes, which were bare, and the tops of his feet were very dirty.

"Kill him! This lowly fellow doesn't deserve to stand here!" a nobleman spat.

"Take this person away quickly, he smells awful. I can't believe the Stark girl mixes with such crude servants," a noblewoman exclaimed in surprise.

"Kill him, Hound. He's a lying, despicable thing. I can tell just by looking at him," a courtier shouted.

The Hound not killing Mycah on the spot gave Mycah a glimmer of hope.

The Mountain knew that his words to the Hound had had some effect, but what really worked was the Hound's own heart. This was a guy whose true nature was obscured by plate armor and longswords. And the person who caused this obscuration was the Mountain himself!

The Mountain hoped to correct the mistakes of the past!

This correction was not through prayer and repentance, but through action. Say nothing, just do! As for the results, leave them to the Seven Gods.

The world was about to descend into chaos. The King was no longer really the King, and the Duke was no longer really the Duke. Everything at the moment was just a superficial illusion before the coming chaos.

In the Mountain's eyes, King Robert Baratheon was already a dead man, Eddard Stark was already a dead man, and Prince Joffrey Baratheon was also a dead man. Many people in this hall were destined to die badly soon, including himself, of course. However, the Mountain, this butterfly, was working hard to flap his wings, hoping to cause a butterfly effect that could change fate.

Facing dead people, or rather, being a dead person himself, what was there to fear!

Amid the uproar, Cersei's voice became higher and shriller, "Hound, I order you, kill him!"

"Immediately! Now! Dog!" Joffrey shouted. The corners of his mouth turned up, looking stern and inviolable.

"Your Majesty!" The Mountain's voice suddenly rang out, unhurried but suppressing everyone else's voice, "Duke Eddard has already found Arya Stark. Let's wait until Arya Stark arrives and everyone can compare notes. I believe in Prince Joffrey's honor and integrity. Those who dare to attack the prince should be made to bow their heads and confess their guilt in the face of the facts, and die convinced!"

"Dog, you have no right to speak here!" Joffrey looked at the Mountain with a mocking expression, the corners of his mouth raised, a look of contemptuous sneer.

Cersei secretly tugged on Joffrey's sleeve, signaling him not to speak to the Mountain in such a humiliating way.

Cersei had already been rebuffed by the Mountain. This afternoon, when she ordered the Mountain to capture Eddard Stark, the Mountain agreed verbally but didn't move.

This fierce god was the vicious dog raised by her father, Duke Tywin, not the vicious dog raised by her, Cersei. The Mountain and the Hound were different. The Hound swore allegiance to her, while the Mountain swore allegiance to Duke Tywin. The Mountain had never knelt before King Robert, let alone before her father, Duke Tywin.

What Cersei didn't know was that the Mountain was already Duke Tywin's son-in-law, making their relationship even closer. Strictly speaking, the Mountain was Cersei's brother-in-law.

It was just that the Janei Westerling family had declined, and Duke Tywin was only trying to subdue the Mountain and the Westerling family. He had not informed Cersei and Jaime about his adoption of Janei and his presiding over the Mountain's wedding.

In this world, the transmission of information was very backward. If Duke Tywin himself didn't transmit it through ravens, the information itself was closed off and would take a considerable amount of time to reach some people's ears.

King Robert had to stand up and speak. His presence was originally very strong, but he really didn't want to deal with Cersei. Talking to Cersei made him feel disgusted. Cersei had summoned all the courtiers without his consent, deliberately putting on a big show to make trouble, which was what King Robert least wanted to see.

The King and Eddard Stark were brothers from childhood. The King's trust in Eddard surpassed that in his two own brothers. He really just wanted to turn big problems into small problems and small problems into no problems. But he was very unfortunate that his Queen wife only wanted to make things as big as possible, as if she hadn't been tired enough on this trip.

With things being made public in front of the courtiers, King Robert had to maintain Prince Joffrey's dignity and the inviolable honor of the royal family!

If it weren't for the political stability of the kingdom, Robert would have strangled Cersei long ago!

King Robert stood up and shouted, "Everyone is forbidden to make any more noise. When Duke Eddard Stark returns, I will personally ask Arya Stark for the specific details. Whoever violated the prince will be severely punished. But before things are clear, this child must not be killed."

Speaking of the kindness in his heart, the Mountain knew that King Robert and Eddard Stark were on the same path. Otherwise, the two of them wouldn't have become each other's most trusted friends and brothers. They both grew up in Jon Arryn's Eyrie in the Vale, became Jon Arryn's two adopted sons, received Jon Arryn's education, and were all upright, kind, and honorable people! It's just that Robert's resistance to beauties was negative! This was his inherent weakness! And Eddard's weakness was his inability to be flexible!

A rare moment of silence appeared in the hall. But soon, a hearty and pleasant voice broke the suppressed silence. Renly Baratheon and his party had arrived. Duke Renly was a likable person. Before he even entered the room, his laughter arrived first!

The Mountain sighed in his heart: Another person who was destined to die tragically had arrived!