"Indeed, this is a rare and excellent sword!"
King Jaehaerys held "sweet widow" in his hand, examining it carefully. The specifications of this Valyrian sword were similar to the dark sister of the Tankrian Family, but its decorations were much more luxurious.
The luxurious scabbard and hilt were inlaid with various precious gems and gold threads, and the end of the hilt was set with a ruby the size of a quail egg.
Others might not feel it, but Daenerys could sense a faint magical fluctuation within this ruby.
"Great-grandfather, look at the Ancient Valyria script on the blade. That should be the family motto of a Dragonlord Family from the Ancient Valyria period, right?!"
Daenerys asked seemingly casually, but her gaze was fixed on King Jaehaerys's expression, afraid of missing any slight reaction from him.
"With God!"
Softly chanting the words on the sword, King Jaehaerys gradually fell into deep thought, his cloudy eyes seeming to lose focus, yet becoming exceptionally profound.
"Oh, I remember now! This is the family motto of the Iperion Family."
"The Iperion Family, the Beleris Family, and the Augustus Family were among the top three great families out of the forty Dragonlord Family."
"The Iperion Family was most known for producing sorcerers and blacksmiths, so they were always responsible for forging Valyrian steel weapons for the Valyrian Federation."
Upon hearing this, Daenerys immediately pressed, "The Iperion Family? Why have I never seen any records of these Dragonlord Family in the family's library?"
King Jaehaerys looked at Daenerys with affection and said, "What? Is Little Daenerylla also very interested in Ancient Valyria?"
Daenerys nodded earnestly and said, "Who wouldn't be interested in that great and magical land?"
"Hahaha! If it's just interest, there are plenty of stories about Ancient Valyria, whether in Westeros or Essos! Those bards' stories probably wouldn't be finished even if they told them for a few more centuries!"
After speaking, King Jaehaerys looked at Daenerys with interest and continued, "But more people are not just simply interested in hearing these stories. They want to explore more truths through the stories of Valyria, and thereby gain benefits and power from them!"
"During the Blood Century, so many descendants of Dragonlord Family and their dragons perished. It wasn't entirely due to the hatred of the East Continent people towards Valyria."
"What makes people more insane and unscrupulous than hatred is often profit! The dragons, magic, Valyrian steel, and the methods of creating Dragonstone, as well as the immense wealth remaining from Valyria, were the real reasons for their demise."
Although King Jaehaerys, in front of Daenerys at this moment, was completely the image of a carefree and loving Old King, his profound gaze seemed to see right through her.
So Daenerys directly asked, "Does Great-grandfather mean that House Targaryen did not lose some of Ancient Valyria's heritage, but rather deliberately let it be lost?"
Facing Daenerys's confusion, King Jaehaerys did not answer directly, but instead asked, "Why do you think so?"
Daenerys smiled and retorted, "That depends on whether the destruction of the Valyrian Federation was an act of God or man-made?"
"Hahaha, interesting little girl!"
"It seems you must have seen a lot of things in your dragon dream, right?"
Daenerys pretended to be unconcerned and said with a hint of pride, "Does the forging of Dragonstone and Valyrian steel count?!"
At this moment, King Jaehaerys's expression suddenly became a bit more serious, saying, "Little Daenerylla, this world is far more complex than we can understand or perceive. Whether it's man-made or the judgment of the gods! What you must remember is that absolute power is indeed very important, but it cannot solve everything."
"The human heart is the most unpredictable, human nature is the most cold and selfish, human wisdom is the easiest to be blinded, but human power is the greatest!"
"A qualified lord, or king, doesn't need to do many things themselves. They must know how to identify, select, and employ people, and find ways to make their subordinates willing to work and fight for them. That is the main concern of a good lord and a good king."
"A great lord and king must naturally learn to be selfish. But they must know that their greatest selfishness is to consider the world as their own…"
Daenerys couldn't figure out why her Great-grandfather had suddenly started lecturing her on the art of governance.
However, as a revered Old King, to impart his life's wisdom to Daenerys in such simple words, she naturally listened with utmost seriousness.
After all, she had only lived for just over 30 years in two lifetimes combined, so how could she truly understand the art of governance?
Although she had made Dragonstone New Island flourish, it was mostly due to her foresight and the capable individuals she had gathered through her identity as a royal princess.
King Jaehaerys spent an entire day in his bedroom, teaching Daenerys the art of territorial management. He spoke from morning until evening, and even their lunch was simply eaten in the living room.
And perhaps because King Jaehaerys had been too lonely in recent years, or because Daniella was such an excellent listener, always able to infer from what she heard, the Old King, over 60 years old, showed no sign of fatigue after a full day of speaking.
"Great-grandfather, it's dinner time. Let me accompany you to the dining room first."
"Very well! You must be tired of listening to this Old King ramble on all day, aren't you?!"
Daenerys quickly shook her head and said, "How could that be? As long as you are willing to talk to me, I would rather stay by your side from now on!"
King Jaehaerys burst into laughter upon hearing this, "I think among all the princesses of our House Targaryen throughout history, you are the cleverest! And the boldest! Hahaha!"
"Miss Audrey, Miss Alicent, please come in!"
Daenerys called over the two handmaidens currently most favored by King Jaehaerys to assist King Jaehaerys and herself to the dining room for dinner.
After dinner, Daenerys and the others accompanied King Jaehaerys for a half-hour stroll in the Red Keep's garden before helping him back to his room to wash up and go to sleep.
Perhaps because King Jaehaerys had spoken too much today, he quickly fell asleep.
Daenerys took the opportunity to borrow the two Valyrian Steel ancestral swords of House Targaryen—Blackfyre and dark sister—and went to bed with them.
In her sleep, Daenerys indeed entered the dream of Valyrian forging Valyrian steel again.
However, this time, amidst the changing scenes in the dream, Daenerys actually dreamed of a very strange scene!
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