The moment Prince Linde's figure disappeared from the courtyard, Grand Maester Pycelle's voice, reciting the Kingdom's laws, also stopped. Then, everyone was heard breathing a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders, and their faces showed relaxed expressions.
On the other side, after Prince Linde followed Jaime out of the courtyard, the two arrived at the Red Keep's main hall.
"Alright! No need to go any further!" Prince Linde smiled and said, "You have already helped Queen Cersei and Prince Joffrey out of a difficult situation. There's no need to pretend to have something to discuss with me."
Jaime stopped, looking a bit awkward, and said, "Joffrey was just curious about the legendary dragon horn, he didn't actually want it."
Prince Linde smiled noncommittally, then said, "Speaking of horns, how was the winter horn, which was stored in the Red Keep back then, lost? This thing should have been very strictly protected, right? How could it have been lost?"
Jaime also looked bewildered and said, "I'm not clear about the specific details. King Robert lost interest in it after looking at it twice. After that, Jon Arryn was always in charge of it. After Jon Arryn died, when we checked the Prime Ministers Tower, we found that the box where the winter horn was stored was empty. So we only know that it's lost, but we don't know when it was lost."
Hearing Jaime's words, two people came to Prince Linde's mind: one was Lysa Tully, and the other was Littlefinger Petyr Baelish.
It was not difficult to tell from Jaime's words that the box in which Jon Arryn kept the winter horn must have been very securely stored and protected by a dedicated person. It should not have been taken away so silently, unless the person had an unusual status and could take any item from the Duke's treasury in plain sight. And there was only one person with such status in the entire Red Keep, and that was Lysa Tully.
Connecting this with the news he received some time ago that Littlefinger had close contact with people from the Doomsday Faith, he had reason to suspect that Littlefinger had secretly instructed Lysa Tully to steal the winter horn.
Although the winter horn was damaged and Velas couldn't repair it, that didn't mean there was truly no one in this world who could repair it. Perhaps the Others Beyond the Wall had a way to repair this artifact, and then, using this artifact, cause the Wall to collapse, removing the biggest obstacle preventing the Others' army from moving south.
"That thing is just a broken antique, is it worth you taking it so seriously?" Jaime said dismissively.
"Didn't you feel it?" Prince Linde turned to look at Jaime and said, "The temperature has been rising these past few years. The North didn't even snow the winter before last, and even the Wall reported that some of the ice on the Wall was melting."
Jaime asked, puzzled, "Isn't that good? The long summer weather keeps the Others from coming south."
Prince Linde said in a deep voice, "This year I received news that the Others have started to become active in the Ghost Shadow Forest near the Wall. A Ranger patrol encountered an Other attack and was completely wiped out."
Jaime questioned, "It couldn't have been a Savage Tribes attack, deliberately made out to be an Other attack, could it?"
Prince Linde did not refute, but continued, "In addition, news has come from the Savage Tribes on the Frozen Coast that Others leading wights have been discovered moving upstream of the Frozen River towards the Frostfang Beyond the Wall. All signs indicate that the Others have begun to move south, and this also suggests that this long summer should be coming to an end soon."
Jaime shook his head and said, "Impossible! The Citadel sent out a forecast not long ago that this summer would continue..."
"I can tell you clearly that the long summer will end this year, and the weather will get colder and colder, a long winter will come, and this long winter may be very long, which is also the reason for the Others' southward movement." Prince Linde interrupted Jaime, and said with a serious expression, "I speculate that the winter horn should have been sent to the Others Beyond the Wall. I hope those Others cannot repair that artifact, otherwise, we will be in trouble."
"Sent to the Others Beyond the Wall?" Jaime said, completely shocked, "How could anyone come into contact with the Others? Don't the Others hate all life?"
Prince Linde said in a deep voice, "There are always some people among humans who worship the Others, just like Craster back then. The Doomsday Faith currently circulating secretly in the Seven Kingdoms is a group that believes in the Others, thinking that the Others' state of life is a higher form of life. They hope to become Others, so they want to help the Others move south and bring this world into Doomsday."
"The Doomsday Faith believes in the Others?" Jaime was completely stunned and said, "Doesn't the Doomsday Faith originate from the god of calamity? How did it become believing in the Others?"
"The preachers of the Doomsday Faith merely deliberately donned a facade of the god of calamity faith, using this disguise to avoid investigation by the Seven Gods Church. From the way they are spreading among the lower classes of the Seven Kingdoms, they have clearly been very successful." Prince Linde explained, then added, "However, very soon the Seven Gods Church will issue an excommunication order declaring the Doomsday Faith to be heresy, and will arrest followers of the Doomsday Faith throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Their people in other kingdoms should be cleared out very quickly."
Jaime said in a deep voice, "I will tell my father about this. He should assist the Seven Gods Church in clearing out these cultists."
Prince Linde was noncommittal about Jaime's decision. He just looked at Jaime with a slightly profound gaze and said, "I am telling you this not just to cooperate in eliminating the Doomsday Faith, but to tell you that winter is coming, so prepare well!"
After speaking, he turned and walked out of the Red Keep.
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