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"Traitor to the realm! Spit on him!"
"Traitor! Coward!"
"Murderer! An animal, just like a wolf!"
The moment Eddard appeared, a wave of insults erupted across the square before Baelor's statue and crashed over him like a tide.
Atop the platform, seeing the crowd so riled up, Joffrey smiled and, deeply satisfied, shouted to the two Gold Cloaks escorting Eddard.
"Bring him up here!"
The Gold Cloaks led Eddard toward the platform. Along the way, the smallfolk of King's Landing hurled insults at him without pause, and one man in the crowd even spat a thick glob of phlegm onto his body.
Without saying a word, Eddard endured all that humiliation and climbed onto the platform, his eyes filled with determination.
Behind Joffrey, Jaime and Ser Barristan watched Eddard being insulted, both of them showing a trace of discomfort on their faces.
Perhaps, because they also possessed a certain knightly spirit, they felt that a knight of noble character and steadfast honor should not be subjected to such humiliation.
Joffrey was the complete opposite. His face shone with joy, almost laughing aloud, as he pointed to the reserved place on the lower level of the platform and said:
"Heh, take him over there. High Septon, you may begin!"
"As you command, Your Grace."
The High Septon, dressed in splendid robes, answered Joffrey. Then he raised his hands toward the people in the square and gestured for silence as he shouted:
"Silence! Today, under the gaze of the Seven, before the Great Sept of Baelor, blessed by the gods, we shall all bear witness...
Eddard Stark, former Hand of the King, Warden of the North, and Lord of Winterfell, will confess his crimes!"
As soon as the High Septon spoke, the entire square quickly quieted. At his words, every gaze turned toward Eddard.
Eddard turned his head and looked across the platform from one end to the other, starting with Joffrey, who was smiling openly.
Then, with a faint self-mocking smile at the corner of his mouth, he spoke loudly.
"At this moment, I do not have so many titles.
I am only Eddard Stark, of House Stark.
Before the old gods and the new, I acknowledge my crimes!"
After saying that, he paused briefly and continued.
"I acknowledge that my greatest crime... was clinging to honor with rigid stubbornness. And showing foolish, insane mercy.
It is precisely because of these sins that I now stand here, ready to receive punishment!"
Hearing those words, Joffrey's smile faltered. He was just about to open his mouth and interrupt, but Cersei stopped him, because Eddard had already continued.
"My dearest friend, my king, ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and protector of the entire realm, Robert Baratheon's rightful heir..."
As he said this, Eddard first cast a glance at Joffrey, who was now staring at him filled with expectation, and at Cersei, who wore a smile on her lips.
Then he turned to the smallfolk in the square before Baelor's statue and let out a roar that seemed to rise from the depths of his soul:
"... could never be this bastard born of incest between Cersei Lannister and Jaime Lannister, Joffrey Hill!
My friend Robert Baratheon left no legitimate children!
And more than that, he was murdered by the Lannisters!"
"Shut him up! Don't let him keep speaking!"
"That's impossible! All of it is a lie! He's a liar!"
Eddard's furious, rapid speech drained all color from Cersei's face. She began shouting, ordering the Gold Cloaks to stop him from continuing.
Joffrey, meanwhile, pointed at Eddard with his face twisted in rage and began screaming at the crowd, trying to explain that it was all a lie.
At first, the people in the square had been so furious with Eddard for another reason besides Robb and Bloodwind.
Eddard Stark was known throughout the Seven Kingdoms as a symbol of integrity, justice, and honor. Seeing such a man confess to treason was like watching a public figure with an impeccable reputation collapse before everyone's eyes. The deeper the love, the fiercer the disappointment.
But now, instead of confessing to treason as the Gold Cloaks had announced, he was revealing a monstrous scandal.
And by instinct, the smallfolk wanted to believe him.
Cersei felt the crowd's gazes, heavy with contempt, sweep over her and Jaime like sharp blades.
Furious, she shouted.
"What are you two waiting for? Shut his mouth now!"
Only then did the two Gold Cloaks holding him react and rush to stop him.
But Eddard, even with his hands bound, suddenly slammed his shoulders forward and sent both men flying away.
Behind him, Sandor leaned forward as if to intervene, but seemed to remember something and ended up standing still.
"Everything I have said is true! And I ask the old gods and the new to bear witness!"
"You liar! Tell the truth the way you're supposed to!
Otherwise, I'll exterminate all of House Stark, mount your heads on spears, and show everyone the fate of liars and traitors to the realm!"
Seeing Eddard knock down the guards and continue speaking, Joffrey furiously descended from the top of the platform, strode up to him, and began shrieking almost in falsetto while pointing a finger at his face.
Looking at that boy consumed by rage, Eddard remembered the son who, the day before, had spoken of not kneeling before anyone, with light burning in his eyes.
With firm eyes, he shouted.
"In the name of Eddard Stark, Hand of the King, and in the name of King Robert Baratheon of the Seven Kingdoms, I swear.
In all of Westeros, no matter the size of the house, no matter whether their blood is noble or lowborn, whoever destroys House Lannister and avenges King Robert Baratheon... shall be the sole rightful heir to the Iron Throne!"
"Liar! You damned liar!"
Hearing this, Joffrey reached the peak of his fury. He suddenly turned, snatched the sword from the waist of a Gold Cloak, and charged at Eddard with it.
"No!"
"Stop!"
The moment Eddard finally said everything he needed to say, a weight seemed to lift from his chest. Seeing Joffrey rushing at him with the sword, a serene smile appeared on his face.
Pshht!
Joffrey, who had learned swordsmanship and had some basic training, drove the blade straight into Eddard's heart with a precise thrust.
When the pain struck his chest, Eddard's vision began to blur.
On the platform, Cersei was white as paper, her arm raised, trying to stop it.
Jaime had leapt down from the platform, likewise trying to stop Joffrey.
Varys looked stunned, Pycelle and the High Septon were gaping, and Petyr Baelish, hidden near the shadows, was smiling.
All those images began to recede from his vision as darkness drew near.
In his final moments, a single thought crossed Eddard's mind.
Robert, you bastard... since you never truly cared about that iron chair, then let it at least serve as the reward for avenging you!
The instant Joffrey killed Eddard, the entire crowd, which had been frozen silent in shock until then, erupted into a colossal uproar.
The sacred square before Baelor's statue turned into a chaotic marketplace.
Some believed Eddard, others doubted him, and others still wavered between faith and suspicion. Everyone spoke at once, voicing their opinions.
"Chop his body into pieces and feed him to the dogs!"
After killing Eddard, Joffrey's fury had still not subsided. He turned to the Gold Cloaks and gave the order.
"As you command!"
Joffrey released the bloodstained sword, and when he turned around, he saw Cersei's face and the faces of the counselors around him, all dark and unreadable. Only then did he realize that perhaps he had done something wrong.
Immediately, he said to Sandor:
"Hound, take me back to the Red Keep!"
"Yes."
Cersei watched her son walk away, not knowing what to say.
Farther below, Jaime looked back at her, and their eyes met.
...
By the time Robb received the news that his father had been killed by Joffrey, a month had already passed.
It was when the Wind Witch arrived at White Harbor, and Lord Wyman Manderly personally came to greet him.
After hearing Wyman recount his father's final words in a grave voice, Robb completely lost control. He raised his head to the sky and let out a roar, pouring out all the pain and hatred that had built up inside him.
Only in that moment, when he understood that Eddard had changed, that he had not done as he had in the original timeline and insisted on proclaiming Stannis the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, did Robb realize the truth.
His father had already abandoned the honor he had clung to his entire life.
He had refused to leave King's Landing in order to open a path for his son.
And more than that, to pave a road for him where he would not need to kneel before anyone.
Amid the piercing pain, Robb also understood something else with equal clarity.
The oath of vengeance Eddard had left behind, offering the Iron Throne as the prize, would very likely turn the future War of the Five Kings... into unprecedented chaos, a war of a hundred kings.
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