Littlefinger actually wanted to form an alliance with him?
It was almost laughable.
Anyone who had read the books or watched the show knew better than to trust this silver-tongued schemer.
Leo narrowed his eyes slightly, keeping a polite smile on his face as he tilted his head and studied Littlefinger. Petyr stared back with that trademark half-smile, the corners of his mouth curved upward.
"You want to work with me?" Leo asked. "I'm just a foreign second son who isn't even a noble of the Seven Kingdoms yet. What exactly do you see in me that's worth your time?"
"Don't sell yourself short," Littlefinger replied with a chuckle. "I'm an excellent judge of character. Like I said, we're the same kind of man. I can see the potential in you… and the ambition burning behind your eyes."
"Give it some time and you'll soar. Just like how you defeated the Hound after training for barely half a month. That's not something an ordinary man could do. And besides…"
"You're very rich. And money is power."
"As you said yourself: true gold will always shine, right?"
On the surface Leo remained calm, but inside he was surprised. Littlefinger's eyes were sharper than he'd expected. He had actually noticed Leo's hunger to climb the ladder.
"How do you want to cooperate?" Leo asked.
Littlefinger's smile widened. "We can start simple. As I mentioned, money is power. And I happen to know a thing or two about money."
He tapped his fingers lightly on the stone table. "The gold coins from your homeland are excellent—beautifully made and high purity. But to circulate them in the Seven Kingdoms, they must be melted down at the royal mint and recast into our dragons. As Master of Coin, I oversee that process."
"During the melting, we can add a small amount of other metals and create more coins than we started with. Extra profit."
Littlefinger had made his meaning perfectly clear.
Leo put on a shocked expression. "You… you're debasing the coins?"
"No, no, not debasing," Littlefinger said smoothly, shaking his head. "It's simply a necessary step to make the coins more durable and reduce wear. The craftsmen may have gotten the ratio slightly wrong, that's all…"
Leo still looked uneasy. "But… if something like this ever gets exposed?"
Littlefinger smiled. "Although the law states only the crown may mint coins, many of the great houses secretly do it themselves for profit. Everyone turns a blind eye. If it ever came to light, the blame would fall on some greedy lord—not the royal mint. Understand?"
"Besides, even if you have tens of thousands of gold coins, it's a drop in the ocean compared to the total amount of currency in the Seven Kingdoms. No one's going to take a dragon, split it in half, and test its purity."
"Finally, the fact that I'm openly sharing this important secret with you is my show of good faith. Even if I didn't tell you, every time you exchange your coins I could take the same profit anyway. I'm choosing to share it with you because I want us to be friends."
After listening to Littlefinger's pitch, Leo had to admit the man was impressive. Anyone who didn't know his true nature would have been completely taken in. A greedy person would have jumped at the offer and quickly become his accomplice.
And the deeper they went, the more trapped they would become.
Leo thought for a moment, then asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll go to King Robert and expose you?"
Littlefinger spread his hands helplessly. "Then I would simply have misjudged you."
"However, if you did that, you might earn the king's momentary praise, but you'd also make a lot of powerful enemies. This little enterprise isn't just mine."
"So… do you think I've misjudged you?"
Leo smiled and raised his cup. "You read people very well. To a pleasant partnership. I still have several tens of thousands of gold coins. I'll have them delivered to you soon."
"Also… if I manage to reconnect with my lost men, I may be able to recover even more gold. In any case, I hope our cooperation goes far beyond just this."
"Of course," Littlefinger replied, raising his own cup with a confident smile. "I believe our partnership will go much further than this. This is only the first small step."
"Cheers."
"Cheers."
The two men clinked their cups, both wearing fake smiles.
They chatted a little longer before Leo said it was getting late and he needed to return to the inn. He had early training tomorrow morning.
Littlefinger praised Leo's dedication and discipline.
Leo gathered Varyn and the other two men who had finished their "business" and left the brothel. Littlefinger personally escorted them to the door and watched them ride away.
"Just one last piece of advice!" Littlefinger called out, grabbing Leo's arm and leaning in close.
"Remember this—in King's Landing, trust no one."
He patted Leo's shoulder and stepped back.
Leo put on a slightly surprised expression, then nodded seriously and turned to leave.
As he watched Leo ride off into the night, Littlefinger's smile grew even wider. Just as I thought. Most men can't resist the allure of easy gold.
Wit and money—the two weapons Littlefinger was most proud of.
A short distance away, Leo's lips curved into a cold, confident smile of his own.
He knew better than anyone that Littlefinger was the most dangerous man in King's Landing.
In the original story, Littlefinger had said those exact same words to Eddard Stark: "Trust no one."
And that warning had included himself.
It sounded sincere, even heartfelt, but it was actually a taunt—a smug way of saying "I'm already playing you" while pretending to be an ally.
Honest Ned had fallen for it completely.
Now Littlefinger was using the same trick on him.
Too bad for him—Leo was a transmigrator who already knew exactly what kind of snake he was dealing with.
You want to use me?
Fine. Then we'll use each other.
With that thought, Leo rode his white stallion deeper into the night.