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"Theon, get up. It's already time for training!"
Inside the banquet hall, Owen, already dressed and fully awake, splashed a jug of cold water straight into Theon's face.
"I greet your mother..."
Lying sprawled across the long table in the middle of a wonderful dream full of women, Theon was so badly startled by the cold water that he shot to his feet at once, still dazed, letting out a very impolite greeting.
"Lord Robb already went to the yard. You know the punishment for being late. Everyone else is already there. I was the only one who came to wake you. Shouldn't you be thanking me?"
Owen watched Theon hopping around like an idiot, shaking the water off himself. Inside, he was thoroughly enjoying it, but he kept a serious expression on his face as he spoke.
Hearing that, Theon looked around.
Sure enough, several servants were cleaning up the banquet hall, which was still a complete mess, and among Winterfell's officers, only the two of them remained.
"Thanks, Owen. Let's go!
I don't want to go through that again, doing those ridiculous, painful frog hops around the yard.
But why does the right side of my face hurt so much?"
Theon called for Owen to hurry out of the hall with him. At the same time, he ran his tongue along the inside of his right cheek, feeling the soreness, and asked him.
"You really don't remember anything from last night? You got way too happy yesterday and kept trying to drag Robb off to see the redhead Ros, saying you wanted to have some group fun.
Then Lady Catelyn decided to give the right side of your face a 'gentle massage'! Hahaha!"
Owen, who had managed to keep a straight face until then, remembered the sight of Theon being slapped the night before and finally could not hold it in any longer. He burst into laughter.
"She knew I was drunk and still hit me that hard?
Ah, stop laughing and move already!"
Once he found out it had been Lady Catelyn who hit him, Theon grumbled while rubbing his face, rolled his eyes, and dragged Owen, who was still laughing uncontrollably, toward the yard.
That day, the soldiers' training went on as normal, without being affected at all by the revelry of the night before.
The prisoners and the wounded had already been separated and settled the day before by the officers.
The spoils, the military merits, and the compensation for the dead were still being counted, and would probably take a few more days before everything was ready.
...
Once the morning training ended, Robb immediately went to the council hall to deal with the affairs that had piled up over the course of more than half a month.
"Maester Luwin, that should be about it for today. In a little while, send ravens in my name to every house in the North, telling them to come to Winterfell and collect the seized goods.
At the same time, post a notice at the main gate. Anyone who can prove they were the rightful owner of goods taken from an attacked caravan may come and claim them."
After spending most of the morning finally dealing with the accumulated matters, Robb gave the order to Maester Luwin at his side.
"Very well, I'll take care of it immediately."
The maester nodded and headed straight for the rookery.
Robb had been speaking with Dacey, who was still serving as his personal guard, asking whether Bran had shown any unusual behavior recently, when the guards outside the council hall announced that a soldier had come to deliver a report.
"My lord Robb, the Imp of House Lannister has arrived in Winter Town and is heading toward the brothel.
Lord Theon has already taken men to follow him. He asks whether you want us to arrest him."
An armored soldier entered the hall and immediately delivered his report to Robb.
Knowing well what sort of man Tyrion was, Robb shook his head and said,
"Tell Theon to invite him here. Hm, tell him to invite him politely."
"As you command!"
The soldier received the order and left. Not long afterward, Tyrion and his three companions were brought there by Theon.
"Ha, I only went to the Wall to take a piss, and when I came back it feels as though many, many days have passed.
Winterfell has changed a great deal, hasn't it, Young Wolf?"
The moment he saw Robb, Tyrion spoke in a teasing tone, with that usual mocking manner of his.
"Imp, you'd better show more respect to our lord. Otherwise..."
At Tyrion's tone, Theon frowned and spoke in warning.
A crooked smile appeared at Tyrion's lips, and he answered without the slightest fear,
"Otherwise what? You'll chop me into pieces even smaller for your master?"
"You..."
"That's enough, Theon."
It had to be admitted that, despite his appearance as a libertine, Tyrion had taken the skill of mocking and provoking others to its absolute limit.
Seeing how easily Theon was getting worked up, Robb raised his hand and cut off the argument before it could continue.
"Tyrion Lannister, I found a secret letter in House Bolton's possession, sent by someone important in the West.
Would you care to see it?"
"Aha, from that sentence alone, I don't even need to read the letter to know who wrote it. It must have been my dear father, who loves leaving traps all over the place.
At most, he saw Lord Eddard heading to King's Landing and you taking over Winterfell not long ago, so he decided to encourage House Bolton to cause you some trouble.
He just never imagined you would end up defeating and capturing Roose Bolton."
Tyrion lived up to his reputation for intelligence. With only a hint, he understood everything.
What was more impressive was that he said all of it without the slightest restraint, right there in front of everyone.
Seeing such an interesting Tyrion before him, Robb abandoned the words he had originally planned to say and spoke just as directly in return.
"Tyrion, your debauchery is only an outer shell you built because you were despised by your own house. Of course, you like that shell. And you probably enjoy living inside it.
But beneath it, you are a very intelligent man with a good heart, simply a man who pretends to be worse than he truly is."
"Wow! Lord Robb, after an evaluation like that, I hardly know how to respond.
I had no idea I was such a great man myself."
The moment Robb finished speaking, Tyrion kept smiling and replied in an exaggerated, playful tone.
But the brief flicker of confusion in his eyes showed that those words had hit him in some way.
"Tyrion, join House Stark. I will make you my right-hand man and give you enough room to show your talent. No one but me will be able to give you orders.
You are intelligent enough to tell whether the invitation I'm making is sincere or not."
Seeing Tyrion caught off guard by his words, Robb pressed on and spoke in a clear voice.
The instant his words fell, the entire council hall sank into silence.
No one had expected the two of them to start discussing something so important in such a direct way, right there on the spot.
Tyrion could feel the sincerity in Robb's words.
Because of that, even he, who was usually so quick with his tongue and so skilled with words, stood frozen for a moment, not knowing how to answer.
Behind him, the two guards wearing the roaring lion armor of House Lannister exchanged a silent glance.
In their minds, after hearing a conversation like that, there was little chance they would leave that hall alive.
But they had no intention of waiting passively for death either. Each could read in the other's eyes the same readiness to fight to the end.
As for Yoren, the wandering crow of the Night's Watch, who until then had been acting as though invisible, he watched the scene with a knowing expression.
At the moment the hands of the two Lannister guards began slowly dropping toward the hilts of the swords at their belts, Tyrion, having already regained his composure, suddenly burst into laughter and said in a loud voice,
"Lord Robb, as you yourself said, I am nothing more than a dwarf despised by my own house.
Whatever your true intention in saying all this may be, I ask you not to waste so much effort on me. It isn't worth it."
"Tyrion, remember what I'm telling you today. When you reach the end of the road, I will be the best choice before you.
Ah, and tonight you may stay in a guest room in the main keep. The same room you had on your last visit. All right?"
"This time, there's no need to trouble yourself on my account. The girls out there are surely missing my silver stags... hm, and my little lion as well. Hahaha!"
After saying that, Tyrion bowed in farewell. But when he turned his back, his face had gone heavy and still.
The two Lannister guards, clearly relieved, followed him out.
Yoren of the Night's Watch also gave Robb a bow. From beginning to end, the man had not said a single word. Then he turned and left as well.
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