WILOW-Ch.449: A Personal Matter

Red Keep, King’s Landing

POV of Domeric Pendragon 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The sack was removed, and everyone could see the beaten and bruised form of Petyr Baelish, who had a cloth wrapped around his mouth so he wouldn’t be able to speak.

"Petyr!!!" Catelyn cried out, "Bolt... Your Majesty! What does this mean? Release him at once."

He gave the woman a disinterested glance. But he wondered if she truly understood the situation she was in.

When an Emperor was speaking, and the people he was addressing were two kings, it would take either great courage or sheer stupidity for someone to interrupt him and oppose him.

Perhaps she was now relying on the power that came with being a Queen. But despite all the things she could have done, the woman chose to defend Petyr Baelish the moment she saw him.

Domeric felt a momentary urge to tip his hat to Catelyn for defending the man she cheated on her husband with and who was pregnant with his child, right in front of her husband.

When Domeric glanced at King Eddard, he could see that, although King tried not to show it, he was seething with anger. And apparently, this anger was directed at both Petyr Baelish and his wife, Catelyn Stark.

This was obviously something Domeric expected. One of the main reasons he brought Petyr Baelish here was to see the situation between King Eddard and Catelyn Stark resolved.

He couldn’t leave one of the newly formed kingdoms with a ticking time bomb.

Of course, he couldn’t directly reveal what happened between Petyr and Catelyn Stark. That would have been a great insult to King Eddard.

Therefore, the official reason Petyr Baelish was here was the consequences of the crimes he committed as Master of Coin during King Robert’s reign. And a few other crimes.

Whether the Petyr and Catelyn issue would be resolved here depended on King Eddard’s reaction. If he preferred to resolve the matter in a more private setting, that was acceptable to Domeric as well.

As long as this issue was resolved...

"Queen Stark. Please remain quiet until I’m done speaking."

The woman fumed and was about to show her anger, but King Stark suddenly said. "Woman, back off and shut your mouth."

She did what her husband said, but continued to glare at him.

Ignoring him, Domeric turned his head back towards the Great Hall and spoke again.

"A few years after Lord Jon Arryn became the Hand of the King to King Robert Baratheon, he appointed Petyr Baelish as the Master of Coin of the Realm." He said, picked up one of the many dozens of ledgers his men had brought, and threw it to the bottom of the steps leading up to the dais on which the thrones rested.

"This man returned that favor by embezzling a large amount of gold from the throne." He gestured to his men, who opened the chests one by one.

All the chests were filled with gold dragon coins.

He picked up another ledger and opened one of his pages. "After my men interrogated the information out of him, we found where he had hidden all of his wealth and took it from him." He said, "The total comes up to 1.1 million in gold coins. 300,000 of which is here. The remaining is within the Iron Bank of Braavos under different names."

"Aside from that, the man had also invested heavily in real estate and other businesses whose value amounted to about 1.2 million gold coins." He said and gave the ledger to King Aegon. "All in all, the Kingdom of Ashborn now has 2.3 million gold dragons when earlier it had none."

Of course, the amount Petyr stole from the throne was far greater than that, but Domeric had no intention of returning the gold dragons he had taken from Petyr so far.

If Petyr hadn’t invested most of his stolen money in real estate and transferred it to Iron Bank, Domeric would have already acquired them too.

"After House Tyrell forgave their loan to the Iron Throne, this much gold is more than enough to pay off the Iron Bank of Braavos and the Faith." He said, "The only one the Iron Throne now owes any gold to is House Lannister. But because they started this war, which resulted in the death of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of innocents, and considering the crime they’ve committed against House Targaryen, I declare the Iron Throne’s debt to them to be Null and Void."

He pointed at the gold. "This is my third gift to you, King Aegon. A removal of all the debt of the Iron Throne and a fresh start. I hope you use it wisely."

The King took a deep breath, nodded to him, and said. "I will, Your Majesty.

There was a pin drop silence as the Stark men under King Aegon removed the gold and took it to the treasury.

"But Petyr Bealish’s crimes weren’t limited to abusing his position as Master of Coin and embezzling funds. The reason Petyr Baelish was a gift not only to King Aegon but also to King Eddard was that he had also committed numerous crimes against House Stark." He said.

After saying this, Domeric glanced at Catelyn Stark out of the corner of his eye, and their eyes met.

Domeric could see that Catelyn’s eyes, which had been glaring at him angrily just moments before, were now filled with fear, and her face had turned deathly pale.

It seemed she was finally beginning to understand the situation she was in.

Domeric then continued, "According to what we learned from Petyr Baelish’s interrogation, he was involved in the death of Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, and also attempted to kill Brandon Stark, King Eddard’s son."

"He did what?"

"What? Attempted to kill Bran?"

King Eddard and King Aegon were the first to react, and the Great Hall immediately fell into a state of shock, with people beginning to talk among themselves.

After all, either of these two accusations alone would have been enough to cause a major incident at the Red Keep.

After allowing this to continue for a while, Domeric made a gesture to Varko.

"SILENCE!" And with Varko’s shout, silence once again fell over the Great Hall.

Then Domeric added, "Petyr Baelish’s crimes are not limited to this, but his trial will be another day. King Aegon and King Eddard can arrange his trial at an appropriate time for crimes committed against their kingdoms and houses."

"Now, let’s move on to my final..." Domeric began to speak, but his words were interrupted by King Eddard.

"Your Majesty, with your permission," King Eddard said.

"Go ahead, King Eddard. Do you have something to say?" Domeric asked.

"With your permission, Your Majesty, I wish Petyr Baelish put on trial now for his crimes against the Royal House Stark," King Eddard said.

"Now? Today is your and King Aegon’s coronation day, King Eddard. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to do it another day?"

Even though Petyr was to be tried, this trial had to take place in a court before the nobles. But King Eddard could obtain what he wanted to learn from Petyr privately

Then, he could skip the part of his trial involving Catelyn Stark and, if he wished, punish Catelyn privately.

That’s why Domeric asked him this question, to remind him of the consequences of his actions. But still, if King Eddard wanted to proceed this way, Domeric wouldn’t stop him.

"That would normally be the case, Your Majesty. But I have suspicions of another crime Petyr Baelish committed against the Royal House Stark. And his accomplices may try to silence him. Therefore, I do not wish to leave it to chance." King Eddard said.

"Wouldn’t it be better to examine the evidence His Majesty has brought regarding Petyr Baelish’s crimes before putting him on trial, King Eddard? I can give you my word that nothing will happen to him while he is imprisoned in the Red Keep," said King Aegon.

"This is a personal matter, and I need answers immediately, King Aegon, Your Majesty. I want Petyr Baelish to be tried for adultery, along with Catelyn Stark."

King Eddard said, and the Great Hall erupted again as the shocking news fell upon them.

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Next Chapters’ Name:

Ch.450: The Trial Begins

Ch.451: Petyr Baelish’s Crimes Are Being Revealed

Ch.452: Guilty or Not Guilty