"Father, I'm fine..."
His back was sore, and Rhaegar tried to cheer up and speak.
"Baelon, my son, did I disturb you?"
Viserys sat helplessly on the edge of the bed, reaching out to touch his son but not daring to do so.
"No, I wasn't asleep to begin with."
Baelon smiled, reaching out to take his father's large hand and reassuring him, "I have the blessing of the White Stag, I can live to be a hundred years old."
Viserys grasped his hand tightly. He held onto it and nodded, "You're right, you are a child blessed by the Seven Gods. Pain cannot make you succumb."
Trying to force a smile, Viserys attempted, "Tell me, someone said that you... Is it true that the wound was caused by trying to tame the dragon?"
Baelon regretted, "Yes, I nearly tamed Dreamfire's flame."
"Seven hells! Dreamfire, that's the ever-irritable Dreamfire."
Viserys almost collapsed, unable to believe his eldest son had been so bold.
Lei Gao explained, "But I really almost gained Meng Huo's approval."
"I didn't see what you said. I only saw my beloved son lying in the hospital bed with large blisters on his back!"
Viserys whispered with pain, a lesson learned.
He was not only expressing his anger but also worried that the loud noise would scare his eldest son, who had been seriously injured.
Rubbing salt in the wound, Lei Gao's face turned red, "I didn't lie, I can feel the anger in Menghuo's heart for being imprisoned. He recognizes me!"
He growled, eyes filled with fear.
Baelon exclaimed, "Someone changed Dreamfire's chain. During the last step of the recognition ceremony, Dreamfire became angry at the chain, and then went mad and attacked me."
"Chain?" Viserys exclaimed, frowning.
"The chain holding Dreamfire is abnormal, forcing it to throw itself to the ground."
Baelon immediately spoke the truth.
Viserys thought deeply, wondering who had changed the chains and for what purpose.
Leonor's voice came from behind, "Your Majesty, Sir Ilic is outside the door, should I call him in?"
After recovering from his thoughts, Viserys said angrily, "Summon him, I want to ask how he protected the child."
Eric entered the room, walked to the bed, and knelt on one knee.
Viserys looked at him sternly and said coldly, "Carefully explain today's itinerary, especially why Baelon was injured. Do not miss a single point."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Eric said, recounting his day's journey truthfully.
From the Red Keep to the blacksmith...
from entering the dragon's lair to meeting Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon...
from Baelon training the dragon alone to escaping from the dragon's mouth...
In a few minutes, Ilic completed everything in detail. A clear path.
The more Viserys listened, the darker his face became. He looked at Ilic with anger, blaming him for not following Baelon step by step.
Leonor spoke at the right moment, "Your Majesty, the bachelor named Menas is very suspicious. We can start with him to thoroughly investigate the matter."
"Where is the illegitimate son?" Viserys asked.
Ilic whispered, "I imprisoned Menas in the dungeon."
"Sir Harold, you should handle this matter yourself."
Viserys nodded and sent the experienced Harold to act.
With the suspect in hand, Viserys's anger slightly diminished, and his attention returned to Baelon.
Baelon hesitated, "Father, Menas shouldn't have the guts to assassinate me, can you spare his life?"
Viserys snorted, "You're still thinking about others now, I really don't know if you're kind or stupid."
Still, he did not reject the eldest son's plea and instructed Harold to grant someone a reprieve.
Baelon turned to look at Eric and said softly, "Sir Eric has faithfully fulfilled his duty, but I am too arrogant. You..."
"It's okay, I know what you're going to say," Viserys interrupted, took his hand, and said impatiently, "I won't punish him, okay?"
"Thank you, father."
Baelon lay on the bed honestly.
For a moment, father and son fell silent.
Seeing this, Leonor gestured to Eric and Melos and cleverly left the room.
After a while, Viserys looked out the window at the sunset and hesitated, "You... did you really almost tame Dreamfire?"
"Yes, if it weren't for that cursed chain, I would have succeeded," Baelon replied disappointedly.
Viserys fell silent again after hearing this, and a severe look crossed his low eyes.
Menghuo is a fully grown adult dragon. Although his size is not as good as Vermisor's, who was born at the same time, his ferocity is far superior to young dragons like Syracuse and Sea Smoke.
Even stronger than Queen Red Melias and Bloodworm Colakxiu.
The eldest son obviously could tame such a powerful helper.
He was trapped by a ridiculous chain and almost lost his life.
This kind of loss and psychological gap was unacceptable to Viserys.
Gently stroking Baelon's short, tousled hair, he said deeply, "Good boy, my father will make the decision for you."
Baelon said, "I recently dreamed of a dragon's lair. You told me to believe in my dream. I want to do that."
"You have the talent of a dreamwalker. Whatever you say, I will listen carefully."
Viserys was greatly moved when he heard it was related to prophetic dreams.
Baelon used the same rhetoric he had used when speaking with Rhaenyra.
Focusing on the damage to the dragon's lair: "Dragons cannot be bound with chains, otherwise they will be cursed!"
Viserys thought, "Do you mean that Dreamfire's out-of-control fire this time is the so-called curse?"
"Dreamfire's out-of-control fire is mostly the work of man, not a real curse," Lei Gao said threateningly, "This time may just be a reminder that if you use chains to restrict the dragon's freedom, it will definitely lead to more terrible consequences."
He said, convinced that experiences in ancient books are absolutely true.
If Meng Huo had not been chained, he would not have suffered harm.
Viserys's expression was unpredictable, and he finally decided, "Dreams will not be false. I will start a thorough investigation of the dragon's lair and eliminate the rats in the dark."
"But the family's dragon master cannot live without a lair. King's Landing, and the dragon's lair will still be there. Guard it, you can remove the chains appropriately."
Baelon agreed with his father's approach and said, "As long as the dragon is no longer trapped with chains, the curse will have no way to be fulfilled."
As the sky darkened, Viserys looked at his eldest son with anguish and bid farewell, "Rest well, I'll come to see
you tomorrow."
"Alright, see you tomorrow."
Baelon bid farewell obediently and watched his father leave the room.
After everyone left, the room fell silent.
Baelon was left alone, lying on the bed in despair and smiling.
How could such a large area of burns be okay?
It was just a simulation in front of his father.
"Hiss, the power of the dragon's flame is truly unreasonable. A small spark cannot burn me to death."
As he gasped in pain, Baelon couldn't help but feel afraid.
Thanks to the effect of [blood and fire], otherwise, his fragile body definitely couldn't withstand the burns from the dragon's flame.
He feared that he had been burned from his back to his chest.
"Thank you again, Balerion!"
Baelon thought of Balerion's skull placed in the center of the church, and his eyes gleamed with joy.