Chapter 3: Don't worry, I understand.

The merchant ship did not enter the massive port of Pentos but continued on its journey. It sailed across the bay, past a beachhead, a huge lighthouse, and entered a smaller but cleaner port.

In the distance, mansions with roofs covered in blue and red tiles suddenly appeared in view.

These mansions were built along the mountain, facing the direction of the sunrise. At the highest point was a massive red temple.

Illyrio beckoned Viserys and Daenerys to jump off the merchant ship and onto a small boat that was already prepared. Then, with the assistance of Illyrio's trusted men, they rowed the boat slowly into a hidden docking spot beneath one of the mansions' water channels.

Viserys did not speak a word along the way, merely glancing around discreetly.

Illyrio seemed quite pleased with this, thinking Viserys was impressed by his cautious and secretive approach.

After disembarking from the small boat, Illyrio led the way through a narrow and winding hidden path. They passed through a wooden door and found themselves in Illyrio's courtyard.

They were in a corner of a garden, with a clean cobblestone path surrounded by various flowers, evergreen trees, and ivy. On one side was the sea, and on the other was a splendid building with tall brick walls.

Compared to a modern park on Earth, the courtyard was not very large. One could easily see the courtyard's brick walls from both sides, topped with a row of iron spikes.

As a private courtyard, it was considered luxurious.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Your Majesty Viserys, and Your Highness Daenerys," Illyrio greeted them with a serious expression.

"Hmm," Viserys responded solemnly, "This is a nice place, Governor Illyrio. When will the banquet begin?"

"Banquet?" Illyrio's expression was a bit strange, as if he hadn't expected Viserys to ask such a question in this situation, but he quickly covered it up, "Of course, Your Majesty. Please follow me."

Under Illyrio's guidance, the group quickly entered the building. Illyrio then called for eunuchs and maids to take Viserys and Daenerys to wash up—yes, besides the usual maids, Illyrio even kept eunuchs to take care of daily affairs and guard the courtyard.

"Wash up?" Viserys questioned, "Is this a custom before banquets in Pentos?"

"Uh?" Illyrio finally sensed something odd. Since they landed, Viserys's attitude towards him had subtly changed, and at this moment, he finally understood.

How should he put it? Before, he had willingly played the role of Viserys's minister of finance, and Viserys had treated him as a subordinate. But after landing, Viserys acted as if he was routinely attending a banquet at the host's place.

Illyrio couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, pardon my rudeness, but is there a misunderstanding about this invitation?"

Viserys lifted his head and straightened his back, "Governor Illyrio, rest assured, as long as your guests do not mock me as the 'Beggar King,' I will not cause any trouble at the banquet and will absolutely ensure your honor." Seeing Daenerys's puzzled expression, Viserys also assured, "Daenerys will be the same. Don't worry, she is very quiet at banquets and will not provoke those noble ladies."

His demeanor seemed accustomed, always ready to socialize at a banquet.

Illyrio frowned, certain that Viserys must have misunderstood something.

But before Illyrio could say anything more, Viserys eagerly asked the eunuch summoned by Illyrio to lead him to wash up, then told the equally bewildered Daenerys to follow the maid.

Illyrio wanted to explain the current situation to Viserys: "Your Majesty..."

"Governor Illyrio, no need to say more," Viserys interrupted him again, wearing an ambiguous 'I understand' expression on his face, "Rest assured, I understand."

'What exactly do you understand?'

Illyrio was momentarily stunned.

The scene was somewhat absurd.

The eunuch and maid, not having received instructions from Illyrio, did not dare to act rashly. Viserys waited patiently with a smile on his face. Daenerys kept her head down, lost in thought.

"So, what about what we discussed before?" Illyrio asked in astonishment.

Viserys still had that 'I understand' expression on his face and nodded, saying, "Of course, I understand, Governor. After the banquet, I will act as if nothing happened. I swear on the honor of House Targaryen!"

Illyrio's eyes flickered with various thoughts, but he didn't say more. Instead, he waved his hand, signaling the eunuchs and maids to take the two to wash up.

Viserys didn't know what Illyrio was thinking, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that if Illyrio wanted to continue using this new Viserys, everything previously discussed would need to be reevaluated.

Given the situation, it was time to renegotiate.

Viserys's strategy was simple: no matter how poor his acting skills or how weak his words were, he needed to convey a signal to Illyrio:

'Ah, what, wasn't everyone just playing along, making me, an exiled prince, a guest to enhance your grand banquet? Were you serious about helping me reclaim my throne? I thought we were joking, just having fun, brother.'

Regardless of how Illyrio responded, as long as he didn't flip the table, Viserys could somewhat seize the upper hand.

If Illyrio felt deceived and couldn't swallow his anger, resorting to violence—

Then it would be up to this beggar king to say, "My sword has never been blunt."

However, in Pentos, murdering a guest at a banquet was a heinous crime.

To some extent, as long as both sides didn't tear each other apart, the likelihood of resorting to violence was very small. After all, in a dignified situation, not everyone acted like the Freys.

Of course, Viserys had actually considered another strategy: first, he would pretend to be submissive, trying to obtain a few dragon bones from Illyrio to see if he could activate the "Collect Dragon Souls" task and awaken the power of the ancient King Gleeok buried within him. Then, depending on the situation, he would decide whether to play tricks on Illyrio.

(A/N: King Gleeok- Three-Headed Dragon of Zelda 'Tears of the Kingdom' )

However, thinking carefully, even Daenerys's blood, the "Mother of Dragons," had no effect. So even if he obtained a few dragon bones, they might not be useful.

Speaking of which, the notion that "he had the power of King Gleeok within him" was actually a "question" for Viserys. From a personal perspective, ever since he crossed over, there had been no change in his constitution compared to his original self, aside from having a different soul.

He had neither gained strength nor acquired magic.

In other words, biologically speaking, he was still just an ordinary Targaryen descendant and not a humanoid magical elemental creature like King Gleeok.

There was nothing he could do about it. The entity that imprinted the task mark in his mind was lazy. Aside from issuing tasks, it never provided any guidance on how to complete them, leaving everything up to him.

In the world of Hyrule, after obtaining the 'materials of King Gleeok,' he had no idea how to 'become King Gleeok.' He had prepared many plans but never thought the first attempt would succeed—oh, right, his first plan was to swallow them whole.

It must be said, swallowing monster materials whole was very risky and extremely painful at first.

King Gleeok was a pure magical elemental creature, and the materials dropped after being killed included the liver, wings, and horns, all of which were hard, huge, filled with magical elements, and extremely difficult to swallow.

Fortunately, as he slowly finished swallowing the liver, he gradually transformed into King Gleeok, growing scales and a dragon head through magic. As he devoured the wings and horns, he eventually became the complete King Gleeok.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to experience the strength of a magical elemental creature's body before he was brought to the world of A Song of Ice and Fire by some force, becoming an ordinary human again.

Even though he couldn't feel it now, Viserys was certain that the knowledge of having "the power of King Gleeok within him" was unquestionable.

So, his problem was figuring out how to collect dragon souls.

Without a doubt, "Mother of Dragons" Daenerys was his closest clue. Although Daenerys currently seemed to have little connection with dragon souls, that didn't mean it would remain the same after the red comet appeared. It was known that Daenerys had many divine qualities in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, being the first of her kind in hundreds of years in the Targaryen family: "Unburnt," "Mother of Dragons," and "Dragon Dreams."

With all these buffs, she was undoubtedly the "chosen one."

Viserys vaguely remembered that, according to the original plot, he and Illyrio would conspire to sell Daenerys to Khal Drogo, the Dothraki horse lord, in exchange for tens of thousands of troops to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. After crossing over and absorbing Viserys's memories, he found that Viserys had no knowledge of the Dothraki horse lord at this moment.

Originally, this simple-minded Viserys only vaguely knew that he would eventually give up Daenerys, selling her to gain power.

However, the people he considered were powerful nobles from the Free Cities, who were not mentioned in the original work.

Of course, he sometimes considered some Westerosi nobles, but the thought that they supported the usurpers who overthrew the Targaryen dynasty made him abandon the idea.

So, the context became clear: the one who proposed the plan to sell Daenerys to the horse lord in the original work must have been Illyrio.

But now Viserys does not intend to sell Daenerys, nor does he want to be controlled by Illyrio and the conspirators behind him.

Mix up the plan and buy time.

This is why Viserys began to play dumb.