King's Landing, The Red Keep.
The entire iron throne was both shocked and furious at Roman's actions in The Crownlands, but there was nothing they could do.
Nowadays, Stannis and Renly were both eyeing the iron throne covetously, and both brothers claimed to have the right of succession to the iron throne.
Cersei couldn't even think about sending troops to fight Roman; she didn't even know if she could hold off the stag's attack next.
Even more troublesome, The Reach had cut off supplies to King's Landing, citing concerns that the war would harm their interests.
"Damn it, what are those stupid roses doing? Are they trying to blackmail us with this?"
Cersei screamed, and Joffrey was no better off.
Recently, the residents of King's Landing had begun to experience hunger, and they naturally directed their anger toward Joffrey.
The people of King's Landing had dared to storm the Dragonpit and fight dragons when they still existed; now, they naturally had no filter when it came to Joffrey.
Coupled with the fact that Joffrey was known for his cruelty, all sorts of filthy insults directed at him came out easily, and they even dragged Tommen into their cursing.
However, when the topic turned to Myrcella, everyone avoided talking about her.
Myrcella was indeed Cersei's daughter, but she was also Roman's fiancée.
In the previous years, in order to collect data on various diseases and build his presence in King's Landing, Roman had specifically opened free clinics, sold cheap medicine, and popularized hygiene knowledge in the city.
For Roman, he just didn't want the cesspool that was King's Landing to explode; if those 500,000 people were struck by plague and cholera, Harrenhal wouldn't be able to escape either.
But to the commoners of King's Landing, Roman was practically a savior, a saint descended to earth.
Out of respect for Roman, everyone chose not to talk about Princess Myrcella, pretending they didn't know she existed.
As for Cersei, listening to the people's abuse while receiving constant bad news of defeats from the front lines, she was now on the verge of madness.
"Someone, write to my father and ask him to come and support the iron throne as soon as possible! Tell him that guy Roman is wreaking havoc in The Crownlands, and House Harford has already lost vast swathes of territory."
"Your Grace, Lord Tywin said earlier that he had to deal with the Riverlands first, and then..."
Cersei: "Are you defying me?!"
The Attendant dared not talk back, and quickly went to write the letter to Tywin, but still cursed in his heart: "Crazy woman. With a person like this as Queen Regent, King's Landing is no place to stay. I have to find a way to escape!"
While King's Landing was starving, Roman was rapidly growing and expanding in the northern part of The Crownlands.
One day, Roman led his troops to sweep through the territory of a landed knight. This knight refused to surrender and declared that he would fight Harrenhal to the bitter end.
Roman simply flew into their residence, killed all the resistors, and then turned back to break open the city gate.
Roman loved tough nuts like this. If the nobles surrendered, he would have to consider how to settle them after the war, but if they didn't surrender, he could just kill them—simple and brutal.
Once the lord's castle was occupied, the people of the area would submit directly. In addition, Roman would implement Harrenhal's policies locally.
Many residents of The Crownlands finally understood how good a life the people of Harrenhal lived—no inexplicable taxes, no deadly forced labor, and the lord would even build roads and irrigation canals for them, the commoners.
Having experienced the benefits of Harrenhal, these commoners were often even more fanatically devoted to Roman than the locals of Harrenhal.
This led to a polarization in Roman's reputation, with different versions circulating among the nobles and the commoners.
The nobles said Roman was a humanoid dragon, who would kill everyone in every castle he conquered to eat their flesh, then burn it to the ground.
The commoners praised Roman's benevolence and justice; his army was strictly disciplined and committed no offenses; his laws were complete and clear, and in enforcement, he did not avoid the nobles and treated everyone equally; his policies were generous and kind, and he was deeply loved.
Fili, hearing the praise for Roman from the people in various places via raven, said with joy: "Lord Roman! Look at these reports, the common people of The Crownlands are full of praise for you. Everyone is very cooperative with our policies and management, and our operations in the area have met almost no resistance!"
The ministers in the tent heard this and all showed proud expressions. Roman also raised his teacup and said to his subordinates: "Any achievements I have are all thanks to your coordination and support. We cannot drink alcohol in the army, so we will use tea instead. I, Roman, toast you all!"
After a round of cheers, Roman and several others discussed future plans.
"I plan to slowly attack the nobles of The Crownlands in the future, advancing step by step. I don't seek speed, but I must be steady. The land we conquer must be firmly held in our hands."
"Therefore, we must systematically purge those landed knights and nobles. Those who are willing to surrender will be sent to Harrenhal to be entertained, and those who are unwilling to surrender and haven't been killed will be locked in the dungeon."
"As for work with the populace, we must do that too. We need to make the residents of The Crownlands realize that by swearing allegiance to Harrenhal and the Hean Family, they can enjoy policies of light taxes and labor, be well-fed and clothed, and receive the protection of Harrenhal."
Roman specifically emphasized post-war recovery and local construction. The minister of the engineering department had already brought over the Harrenhal construction team.
Now that these construction teams had the help of giants, the speed of building walls, digging defensive works, and building houses for refugees was incomparable to before.
Roman had also made advance preparations for the future coalition of The Crownlands nobles, mainly through a two-pronged approach of ravens and scouts, providing early warnings around the captured castles and armies.
At the same time, Roman also spread his various policies everywhere to win over the hearts of the people.
Before the fighting even started, the people of The Crownlands were already alienated from their own lords. After all, Roman had proven that he would not launch attacks or looting against ordinary people, so unless one had been rewarded by the lord, why wouldn't I just wait where I am for Roman to arrive?
Oppose Roman, and you get your fill of arrows and catapult stones; if you're lucky enough, you might even be hammered into the sky by Roman. Submit to Roman, and you get benefits by sitting still, and later you can get land and tools.
With this, the nobles of The Crownlands could only mobilize the people in their immediate vicinity. People a little further away would turn a deaf ear to their own lord, and if pushed too hard, they would even tip off the Harrenhal soldiers, and then Roman would charge over with cavalry and cut down the conscription officers.
The Crownlands, Antler Keep.
Those lordly families loyal to the iron throne gathered together, discussing with grim faces how to deal with Roman's offensive.
Everyone argued back and forth without reaching a conclusion.
"If you ask me, we should assemble a large army and charge directly into the Harrenhal soldiers' ranks to fight them!"
A noble retorted: "And then get shot through by the giants and ballistae of Harrenhal? Have you forgotten how those knights of House Harford died? By the Seven, each of them had several crossbow bolts as thick as small saplings stuck in them at the time!"
"Then what do we do? Not resist and surrender, then have all our territory stolen by that monster Roman? That guy Roman doesn't even spare criminal landlords; he confiscates land and distributes it to the commoners. Do you also want to just give away the land and wealth your family has worked so hard to accumulate?"
The group of nobles feared Roman's military power but could not bear to part with their family lands that had been passed down for hundreds of years. They decided to exhaust their wealth, recruit soldiers, hire mercenaries, and use every means to protect their property.
In the end, the nobles of The Crownlands assembled a coalition of 9,000 men, preparing for a decisive battle against Roman at Antler Keep.
"Scouts have confirmed that the army Roman is leading has only 4,000 men. 9,000 against 4,000—our coalition has the advantage!"