55

Chapter 55: Ch 46 What to do with this Money...

Chapter Text

"...And because of that, not only has our supply finally been able to catch up with the demand but this stable period has also given us time to place the foundation for new factories so that we can always be ready for any sudden demands in the future." Jon overheard Robb say before opening the door to the Lord's solar.

"That's excellent news, Robb. It should prove beneficial for us in the—Jon!" Eddard interrupted mid-sentence, looking up with a warm expression as he caught sight of Jon entering the room. "You're finally here."

"Apologies for being late, Father," Jon said, smiling apologetically while closing the door behind him.

Eddard sat comfortably behind his desk which was heavily laden with neatly placed documents. There were three chairs placed in front of the said desk, of which two were already occupied by Robb and, of course, Catelyn, whose face barely even twitched at Jon calling Eddard, 'father'.

"Don't worry, Jon, we haven't started yet," Robb said, vacating his chair for Jon and taking the middle one as a buffer between Jon and Catelyn. "I was just updating Father on the status of the factories."

"...And as a result, not only has our supply finally met the demand, but this period of stability has also allowed us to lay the foundation for new factories. Now, we can be promptly prepared for any sudden demands in the future," Jon overheard Robb say before opening the door to the Lord's solar.

"That's excellent news, Robb. It should prove beneficial for us in the—Jon!" Eddard interrupted mid-sentence, looking up with a warm expression as he caught sight of Jon entering the room. "You're finally here."

"Apologies for being late, Father," Jon said, smiling apologetically while closing the door behind him.

Eddard sat comfortably behind his desk, neatly arranging documents. Three chairs were in front of the desk, with two already occupied by Robb and, of course, Catelyn. She didn't seem bothered by Jon calling Eddard 'father.'

"Don't worry, Jon, we haven't started yet," Robb said, vacating his chair for Jon and taking the middle one as a buffer between Jon and Catelyn. "I was just updating Father on the status of the factories."

"Thank you," Jon nodded towards Robb before taking a seat. Turning to his brother to ask something, he noticed Catelyn, who hadn't moved her head since he entered he decided to greet her, "Lady Stark, I didn't get to see you before... How are you doing?" he asked with an overly bright expression.

Catelyn's eyebrows twitched but instead of giving her usual replies she held it in and cooly replied, "I am fine,"

If it was just a few years before, it would be completely natural for Lady Stark to be short with Jon. After all, she was the Lady of the house, while he was the bastard of her husband, who lived with them and whom he refused to kick out no matter how many times she told him to.

But about two years ago something happened... something that made their relationship suddenly go from an extreme end to a neutral one very quickly, and even almost touching cordial for a while...

And, the simple reason for that was— Lord Stark's decision to leave Jon behind at Bear Island for an indefinite period.

Jon had heard it from very credible resources that Lady Stark had almost squealed like a little girl when she heard that her husband had finally decided to fulfil her most ardent wish.

She was on the clouds for a whole week after hearing that news... she smiled every time she greeted someone, and there was a subtle skip in her steps, and even when she caught Arya doing her usual naughtiness instead of scolding her, she just fondly rubbed her head... which scared the little girl more than anything.

It seemed as if a massive weight had been lifted up from her shoulders... all her fears about Jon one day usurping her children, all her resentment when she felt like an outsider every time her family took his side instead of hers, all her insecurities about Jon looking more and more like his father as he grew up ... all of them just went up in smoke instantly as if they were nothing more than illusions in the first place.

And she was so happy with the decision that she didn't even mind Jon's occasional visits, in fact, she even somewhat welcomed them after seeing how happy they made her children. She thought that it would be alright as long as he grew up to be someone like Benjen in the future... a very close family member but one who only visits them a few times a year.

So over the past few years, their relationship started improving at a slow but steady pace. Starting from occasional greetings to short but cordial conversations, neither of them snapped at each other anymore or constantly found things about each other to ridicule to get the upper hand and it got so good to the point that one time she actually... smiled at him. *Shudder*

Jon swore countless times that it was the truth, even though none of his siblings actually believed him.

It had happened during one of his previous visits. As usual, he had brought various gifts for his siblings and friends, but this time, on a sudden whim, he decided to get one for Catelyn too (which he had never done before, thinking that she would just chuck it back at his face).

So with trepidation in his heart, he gave it to her after making sure that she was all alone (since he didn't want an audience in case something embarrassing happened). After she got over her shock at suddenly receiving the gift, she sceptically looked at Jon and carefully opened it and... immediately gasped, as she was simply amazed by the sheer beauty of the soft dress that came out of the packet. Jon had bought her the very best that the markets of Reach could offer which left her so pleased that she involuntarily gave him a heartfelt smile and thanked him.

That incident left him stunned (and scarred,) for a whole week, his mind constantly wondering if it was just a delusion he had conjured.

Anyway, coming back to the situation at hand... The obvious question at the moment was that, if their relationship had gotten so good recently then what was the reason that she was being so cold to him? What had he done to make her angry at him once again?

And the answer to that was...

"It's good that you're fine..." Jon replied before curiously asking, "But what about Septa Mordane... I didn't get to see her too, is she—"

"Shut up!" Lady Stark abruptly snapped, as if he had touched a sore spot. Her eyes spat fire, and her indifference turned to anger in a millisecond. "As if you don't know—as if it wasn't because of you—"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Jon asked with a completely innocent expression, while his brother tried to calm his mother.

"You really don't know?" Robb asked sceptically as he too wasn't completely buying his brother's innocent act, but Jon still shook his head ignorantly, prompting Robb to explain, "Septa Mordane isn't here anymore... She had been banished from the North,"

"What? Why?"

"Umm..." Robb took a quick glance at his mother before speaking, "It seems that the Septa Mordane was scared that she would be kicked out of Winterfell before long, so... she stole a few pieces of jewellery from here and there probably hoping to have a cushion for her future..."

Jon didn't know if this was something that had also happened in the original timeline and she just wasn't caught or if this had only happened here because the Septa was under so much pressure because of him, (instead of it being the other way around in the cannon). Anyway, the moment he had caught a whiff of her naughtiness Jon had sent her straight towards the trap.

"Oh!" Jon exclaimed, wide-eyed as if he genuinely didn't know, as if he had nothing to do with it. However, it would be hard for anyone who knew him to believe that something like this could happen in his own home without him knowing, "But how is that related to me? After all, I wasn't even here at that time, How could I—"

"How dare you say that! She did all that because of you! If you hadn't been so—" Catelyn almost screeched at Jon in her anger. It seemed that losing Septa who was almost like a friend to the woman was too much for her, and her instincts were screaming at her that the boy was definitely behind it after all, he was after the poor septa from the start.

"Enough!" Eddard said sternly in a low voice, stalling the argument before it could go any further, "What is done is done, and talking about it wouldn't change anything."

"But—" Catelyn wasn't satisfied with not getting her way yet and wanted to get to the bottom of things and for Jon to admit that he was behind her getting caught, after all, it can't just be a coincidence that the maids just happen to gossip about the jewellery going missing (something that Catelyn had been trying to suppress) and Eddard happening to walk by.

"I said enough, Catelyn! The Septa confessed to it herself so it doesn't matter what her reasons were..." Eddard was honestly quite relieved when he found a reason to kick the Septa out of Winterfell as he wasn't too fond of her and didn't particularly like the way she taught his children, but he didn't want to antagonise his wife so he kept her employed, "I merely banished her on your plea for mercy so we should leave it at that and forget about it..."

"Humph" Catelyn knew better than to argue against her husband when he got like that, so she kept her mouth shut even though she was dissatisfied with it.

"Now we got sidetracked enough already so let's get back to the reason as to why I called you here," Eddard said with a serious expression and continued after making sure that they were paying him attention, "Which is this," he pointed towards the thick open book on the desk in front of him.

Jon and Robb took only a moment to recognise what it was, "Isn't that the..."

"Yes, this is the book that contains the finances and accounts over the past decade of not only Winterfell but also the whole North and this..." he turned the book around so that all three of them were able to see it and then his finger pointed towards the page end, "this is the pure profit that we've accumulated over the past year according to the last count by the Maester..."

"Oh! My!" "Sevens!" "Really! This much!!"

All three of them had varying levels of shocked expressions on their faces at seeing the amount written there, though Jon's was a bit more subdued as most of the money had passed his hands before reaching here, so he had already expected something like this to happen.

"Yes," Eddard nodded with a small smile, "I was similarly shocked when I first laid my eyes on it... This is the most profitable year the North has ever seen in not only this decade but this whole century, according to Maester Luwin. And this amount is the one that was calculated after deducting all our expenses, such as our management ones and the taxes to the crown," he emphasised as if afraid that they wouldn't understand what pure profit means, which turned out to be true for someone as Jon saw Catelyn's eyes widen even further from the corner of his eyes, "And this number has been increasing with each passing month and would continue to do so if nothing goes wrong... And the reason behind this is very obvious," He directed his heavy gaze towards his son.

"Jon... I knew that you were a smart kid from the very start, but... even I never expected you to do so much. What you've accomplished in just a few years for the people on the West Coast and even the whole of the North is nothing short of miraculous... I don't think anyone else, not even an adult, would have achieved what you've been able to."

"Thank You, Father," Jon replied with a humble but pleased smile on his face as Robb patted his back proudly.

"And Robb," Eddard turned to Robb next, making him immediately straighten up nervously. "Maester Luwin and I have been keeping a close eye on your work with the factory... And I can proudly say that we've both been completely satisfied with it, You've outdone our expectations time and again. And I can sleep soundly knowing that you're my heir and that Winterfell and the North would be left in very good hands."

"I didn't do that much," Robb replied with a small blush while Lady Stark looked at him with a proud smile and Jon rubbed his head with a fond grin.

*Cough*

"... Anyway, coming back to this," Eddard brought their attention back to the book in front of them, "Every time there have been any excess profits in the past, all previous Lords Starks have mostly done the same with it... That is buying food to stock up and prepare for Winter. But our food stores are already being filled at an unprecedented rate, mostly due to the trade with Reach making food unreasonably cheap. This means that even without any special help from this money, our stocks are estimated to be fuller than ever before so that we will be comfortable even if the Winter lasts a long time."

Eddard continued after seeing all three of them nod, "Now if it was before, I would have simply deposited this money into our vault with the rest of our reserves and forgotten about it until there comes a time when we urgently need it, but... I suddenly remembered something Jon said to me a few years and it made me reconsider my choice." he turned towards Jon who looked as if he had no idea what he was talking about, " 'You're losing money, if your money is not working for you,' that is what you said," Jon's eyes widened with enlightenment as he suddenly remembered that particular conversation where he had explained to Eddard why he always reinvented most of the profits in new and different ventures, "So I need you three to think carefully and give any thoughts and ideas that you have about how we can use this amount in a way that would not only benefit the Starks but the North as a whole, now and in the future..."

The three of them immediately fell silent, chewing over their thoughts, trying to come up with ideas while Lord Stark brought out an empty piece of paper so that he could write down any idea that he liked.

Not long after, Robb became the first one to put forward his thoughts, "Um... Father, How about Moat Callin? We could repair it to its former glory... After all, It's been left in disrepair for too long,"

Eddard shook his head with an amused smile at that, "That is the very first thought that comes to every Stark Lord's mind since the Conquest whenever they get their hands on a little amount of money... Sadly, because of some very glaring reasons, they have always been forced to abandon it before even starting."

"Eh? What are these reasons? I mean other than money..."

"You're right, money was always the most important reason that it never went past conception, but the second one was that repairing it would mean that we would have to man it in the future. Which would immediately send a signal to every single Lord in Westeros... A signal that the North is getting ready for a fight—And we don't want that, Do we?" Robb immediately shook his head at that and Eddard continued explaining calmly, "In addition, it is an absurdly massive piece of Architecture and would take a ridiculous amount of people more than just a few years to even put a dent in it.

"Not to mention if Winter arrived mid-way through and we were forced to stop construction, then it would be the same as throwing money away. Plus it's not a place that sees much use outside of war and what we have at the moment is already sufficient for small ones, so repairing it isn't very feasible at the moment." Robb humbly nodded his head, accepting his father's rejection and then went back to thinking of other solutions.

Jon was the next one to present his idea, "What about the roads, Father," he said presenting the very staple thing a lord should do when he thinking of improving his realm, "It would not only make travel and trade a lot easier and faster, investing in roads would also be a massive boost to the North's Economy for a long time in the future."

"Hmm... It is a good one and also one of the ideas that Maester Luwin presented to me, but..." Eddard sighed and shook his head, "It is also not feasible for the same reason as before... North is too vast and laying down roads is a massive undertaking that would take years and years of summer, and they wouldn't be of much use if they are not completed before Winter, so—"

"But Father, What if we don't create new ones?" Jon interrupted Eddard with a smile on his face, "What if instead of laying new ones, we supply our manpower into repairing and improving the existing ones, which should not take more than a few years of dedicated work? Even if we are only able to bring up the quality of our existing roads, including the Kingsroad, to the level of the other kingdoms in Westeros, it would be a massive boon..."

"That's right, Father," Robb eagerly nodded his head supporting his brother's idea, "Not only would it have a lot of direct benefits for trade in the North, but it would also indirectly help our smallfolks by creating many jobs, which are especially needed now more than ever before... And it would greatly improve the time it takes for us to gather our forces which has always been a massive weakness of the North,"

Eddard closed his eyes and thought long and hard about whether this would be feasible. After a few minutes he opened his eyes and took a deep breath before nodding his head, "It sounds doable. I would have Maester Luwin start drawing the outline for it the very next day, if we work fast then a team could be ready by the week's end to survey and scout the best possible location to start..." he mumbled to himself while jotting down on the paper in front of him before looking up.

"That was a very good idea, son." Eddard praised Jon who gave a pleased smile before he continued speaking, "Now, Jon, even with this undertaking, it would take a long time before our money came into use, so I was thinking about investing in our business in the East. You're leaving for Bravoos soon, right? So do you think, it is time for us to expand further?" If there was one thing, Eddard had learned over the years then it was that there was no safer and more lucrative investment than any business Jon has his hands in.

"That is a wonderful idea, Father," Robb said in an excited tone, "If we are able to increase the reach of our sailors in the East and open up new markets and tap into not only Essosi cities such as Lys, Pentos but also the remaining Westerosi cities such as Kings landing, Gulltown and other, that we haven't accessed yet then it would mean a huge growth for our business."

"That was what I had in mind as well," Eddard said with a nod before turning to Jon, "So how about it? Do you think it is time?"

Jon had been very hesitant to enter the Eastern cities such as Kings Landing, Gull Town and Pentos for two very obvious reasons(One tall and slimy, the other short and fat). But, perhaps it is time to start—Not directly, but maybe through a proxy, "I think that we should divide this problem into two, Father... I will handle the Essos side of things and I don't have any money at the moment since I have an idea of how to procure it (An idea involving a tentacles monster that was currently moving through the depths to the other side of Westeros,) and as for the remaining Westerosi cities, I think it is time for us to let go..."

"Let go?" Robb asked in a confused tone before he saw his brother's eyes and caught up to what Jon was implying, "You mean to open up? But..."

"Don't worry, it won't affect our profits too much instead... it may even increase if we are careful with it," Jon reassured Robb before turning towards to Eddard with an expectant look on his face.

"Hmm... If you think so then I'll write a letter to Lord Manderly so that he knows to expect you soon...I am sure he'll be quite happy with the news."

Catelyn had no idea what in the Sevens these three were talking about with all this vague talk, but she had too much pride to directly ask, especially in front of 'him'... But still, not wanting to be the only one who didn't put forth anything useful, Catelyn said the first thing that came to her mind, "W-What about the Wall?"

Three heads simultaneously turned towards her as she continued, "Benjen always says that the Wall is very poor and that it is always in need of supplies, right? How about sending some aid to them... It would also look good in front of the other Northern Lords," she finished with a hopeful look.

"That is not a bad idea, Catelyn, but..." Eddard said to his wife while glancing towards Jon, "But something regarding just that had been in the works for a while now,"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Jon had already been in talks with Lord Commander Mormont, with the help of his niece Lady Mormont. Since Bear Islands has already become somewhat of a trade hub and is also one of the closest castles to the Wall. We thought that if we are able to open Westwatch-by-the-Bridge, one of the abandoned castles west of Shadow Tower and one that is closest to the sea, then it would be very easy to carry the supplies directly to the Wall from the Sea,"

"So did the Lord Commander agree to it then?" Robb asked curiously.

"Yes, he was very happy to do it as it would help the watch more than anything," Eddard said with a smile, remembering the enthusiastic letter he had gotten from the Commander of the Watch, "He is trying his hardest to make sure that it is up and running by the year-end by which time regular shipment should start sailing from the Bear Island to the Watch."

Catelyn was disappointed that her idea didn't pan out but at least she wasn't completely useless—

"Too bad, Lady Stark," Jon said in an innocent tone, "Better luck next time..."

"You—"

Eddard sighed as the bickering started in front of him once again with Robb trying and failing to mediate between them. If there was one thing he didn't miss about Jon not living in Winterfell anymore, then it was this...