The Mountain of Ice and Fire

"Hey!"

A soft, clear voice.

Edmure looked up.

In the flickering torchlight of the dungeon, a pretty little face looked timidly through the iron bars.

A snow-white hand reached through the bars, offering a wineskin.

The haggard-looking Edmure perked up at the sight of the wineskin.

He strode over, took the wineskin, reached through the bars, and touched the little darling's hair: "Elinor, how did you get in here?"

"I sneaked in through the small side door." Elinor's tone was slightly excited. Her big eyes looked at Edmure, filled with a jumble of emotions.

Edmure unscrewed the stopper of the skin, tilted his head back, and took a swig. With a loud gulp, he swallowed a large mouthful of the drink, but it wasn't wine: "Milk?"

"Yes, Sister says drinking milk is good for the body, it makes you healthier and stronger."

"Did Lady Genna ask you to bring it?"

"No, it was when Sister was having breakfast, she told me to drink more milk, and then I thought of you! You're in the dungeon, you definitely can't get fresh milk, so I asked the servants to fill the wineskin with milk. If I used anything else, I couldn't get it through the bars."

"Have you been to the dungeon before?"

The little girl nodded. "I've been to many abandoned places in Crakehall. But..."

Edmure felt a small surge of emotion. He had defiled this little girl. To be honest, he felt very ashamed and very… guilty towards Elinor!

He knew himself. When drunk, he could indeed do some ridiculous things. Many noblewomen in the Riverlands had had one-night stands with him after drinking, which was why his father, Lord Hoster, disliked him so much.

His father, Hoster, believed that a man like Edmure, who indulged in wine and women, would never amount to much.

"But what?" Edmure pondered how to apologize to Elinor. But would that even matter? Would it be bad for the little girl! Shouldn't this kind of thing be left unsaid!

The little girl had a hint of childlike fear towards him, a little curiosity, after all, he was a Riverlander, and a lot of goodwill. He couldn't see any hatred or disgust in her eyes, nor could he see the humiliation Edmure had brought her, nor the little girl's feelings of inferiority after that incident.

The little girl seemed to have more sunshine than shadows!

"—But, the milk I gave you isn't the milk we drink?" Elinor smiled, revealing two small tiger teeth, which were very cute. Her smile was also beautiful, like a little angel.

"Oh, what is it then?"

"I have a Lyseni cat."

"Uh-huh, I've seen it, very beautiful."

"I wanted to get you milk, but I was afraid Sister would find out, she's very smart, she can often guess what I'm thinking just by looking at me, so I didn't dare ask the servants for fresh, delicious milk. I told them my Lyseni cat wanted to drink milk—my cat was given to me by Sister, and Sister's cat was given to her by Brother-in-law when they got engaged in Casterly Rock. Lord Tywin is my sister's foster father—I asked the maids to fill the wineskin with the best milk to feed my cat, and it had to be heated and kept warm, and sugar added. So they gave me this wineskin of milk, is it good?"

The amount of information in these words was quite large. It was the first time Edmure had learned that Genna was Tywin's foster daughter.

"Very sweet, and very delicious, you're so smart! Although it's a wineskin, there's not a trace of wine in the milk." Edmure praised sincerely. At the same time, he thought, when this innocent little girl grows up and becomes sensible, how much will she hate me for taking her virginity. It was something her future husband valued, and it was a stain on a noble lady's reputation, damaging her honor.

"I'm happy as long as you like it! My maids all know that my Lyseni cat is very greedy and picky, they washed this wineskin many times with hot water, if there was even a trace of wine, the Lyseni cat would smell it and walk away.—Sister said, it's worth doing anything for the man you love." Elinor's little face turned red, she smiled shyly, and looked down at her small hands. Her two small hands were twisted together, showing her inner entanglement and unease.

Edmure felt as if he had been struck in the chest!

What was this little girl saying?

It's worth doing anything for the man you love?

What was she thinking?

She was just a child! Edmure couldn't believe it!

Edmure grabbed the wineskin and took several large gulps of milk, as if he was drinking wine. Then he felt his whole body heating up, and sweat broke out on his nose and forehead. The milk was indeed still warm, but it wasn't strong liquor.

"Listen to me, Elinor... what happened between us... uh... that thing... right..." He couldn't go on, so he raised the skin again. He found himself unable to face Elinor's large, twinkling eyes with a hint of fear.

"I know what you want to say, I'll grow up, Lord Edmure." Elinor said earnestly, "You only have to wait one more year at most."

"...No, it's not like that..." Edmure felt that this matter was so troublesome, even more difficult to face than a duel.

"Are you looking down on me, or looking down on my family? I know my mother is the daughter of a spice merchant, but I'm not, I'm the daughter of a Countess. My sister's foster father is Lord Tywin. If, if you think I'm not worthy of you, I can also ask my sister and brother-in-law to plead with Lord Tywin, asking him to take me as a foster daughter too. Lord Edmure, I hope I can be worthy of you, I will study ladylike etiquette well, and I won't let your honor be damaged!"

Edmure's eyes widened, his mouth opened, and he looked at the little girl giving him a 'lesson' with a childish face. He suddenly found himself speechless.

"I...actually know everything..." Elinor suddenly lowered her voice, her face flushed, "I often lie on the door during the day and watch my dad and mom being intimate in the room. After my sister and brother-in-law got married and came back from Casterly Rock, the sounds that night were so loud, I lay by the window and watched them... I know everything, Lord Edmure."

Edmure was dumbfounded!

The little girl with no life experience thought she knew everything? She was still so naive!

Edmure, who really knew everything, found himself like a little boy who didn't understand anything.

"...Is this what you think... or what your parents taught you..."

"You're the heir to House Tully of the Riverlands, who wouldn't want to marry a great noble like you? In the future, you will be the great lord of the Riverlands, with the same status as Lord Tywin. If I marry you, I will surpass my sister Genna and brother Raynald, am I right? If you marry me, in the future, I will be the respected Lady Edmure. Apart from the King, no one will have a higher status than me, not even Dad! He's just an Earl. Brother-in-law is even worse, he's not even an Earl! Sister, at most, is just a Duke's foster daughter, but I will be a Duke's wife!"

Edmure looked at Elinor in surprise. He couldn't believe that a little girl was so 'worldly wise'. These secular words came out of her little mouth, and yet she was so innocent and pure. He felt as if a huge goose egg had blocked his throat. He had difficulty breathing, and the hot sweat on his face was flowing even more.

"Are you hot?" Elinor asked with concern. "I'll go find my sister, I'll think of a way to see if I can get you out first."

"...That...Mountain imprisoned me, no one would dare to let me out!"

"Brother-in-law is no longer in Crakehall."

"Where did he go?"

"He went to welcome your three hundred thousand gold dragons. The Westerlands are mountainous, and the gold mines in many mountain ranges have been exhausted. Some miners and mercenaries have become mountain bandits. Brother-in-law was afraid that the bandits would find out and steal your gold dragons, so he took more than a hundred soldiers. My uncle Rolph also went, and that bald man from Clegane village also went, the guy whose face is always twitching, I don't like him very much. He soaks Damon's right hand in wine, puts it in a large glass bottle, and forces others to admire it when he has nothing to do. He's not very clear-headed, and his eyes look at people like nails, a bit scary!"

However, Edmure could see that the little girl wasn't that afraid of Polliver Clegane, he could see that from her eyes.

"You don't seem particularly afraid of him."

"That's right, he's my brother-in-law's dog, no matter how ferocious he is, he won't bite me! I'm just a little afraid of him." Elinor said frankly.

Edmure found that the little girl had become calmer, her words were more fluent, and the distance and that hint of fear in her big eyes were gone.

"Elinor, can you help me get out? My father is sick, I have to go back and see him."

"I have a way to get you back, but I know that after you go back, you won't come to see me again. You think I'm a child, I don't understand anything. You'll soon be hanging out with your friends, drinking, hunting, and visiting brothels, right, men are like that. You'll also go to King's Landing to participate in the tournament. There are many prostitutes, noblewomen, and ladies in King's Landing. With your family status, they will all be willing to get along with you, and then you will completely forget me, forget me completely, won't you?"

Edmure looked at Elinor's opening and closing little red mouth, and didn't listen to her words at all. He only cared about the first sentence Elinor said: I have a way to get you back!

"Hey, beautiful Elinor, you said you have a way to get me back?"

"Yes!"

"What way?"

"You'll forget me when you go back, won't you? You won't think of me again. Even if I grow up in the future, and you're still single, you still won't think of me, and you won't come here to see me, I know." The little girl pursed her lips tightly, as if struggling inwardly.

"No, absolutely not!" Edmure decided to lie. "If you grow up in the future, and I'm still single, I will definitely marry you, I promise!"

"Are you serious?" Elinor's big eyes were full of bright light, "Swear!"

"I swear!" Edmure felt his heart suddenly become as hard as iron.

*

Lady Sybell had already examined Elinor's body and found no obvious injuries.

The past few days had also calmed her down, Elinor's emotions were also very stable, and she clearly stated that she would marry Edmure when she grew up. Thinking about Edmure's family background, Elinor marrying him was truly a high climb, just like she was willing to pay money to marry Lord Gawen back then.

Edmure was twenty-five years old this year, only fourteen years older than Elinor, this age gap was nothing, some noble lords married new wives who were thirty years older.

However, Edmure was not a noble young master who would easily compromise, he had a big temper, and he was unwilling to agree to be engaged to Elinor, he only agreed to accept compensation. If Mountain hadn't insisted on locking him up, Lady Sybell felt that accepting compensation was also acceptable, for example, one hundred thousand gold dragons? Or five hundred thousand? This price seemed a bit high, but Edmure was a rich man.

Knock knock knock!

A servant was knocking on the door.

"Come in!"

The person who came in was the jailer of the prison: "Madam, Lord Edmure requests to see you."

Mountain was not there, Lord Gawen had gone to inspect the territory in the south, Genna was busy receiving the nobles who were arriving one after another from all over the Westerlands, selling them thermometers, hourglasses, collecting their gold dragons, and teaching them the milk sterilization method.

This was Lord Tywin's decree. Although it was a bit difficult and deprived Crakehall of the opportunity to make a fortune from milk, Mountain said that it should be resolutely implemented and not bargain with Lord Tywin.

Genna and Maester Ysilla only taught these Westerland nobles one kind of milk sterilization method, which could keep it fresh for a long time, but they wouldn't say more. Maester Ysilla was also helping Genna with her work.

"Did Edmure say what he wanted to say?"

"Edmure seems to have figured it out, he may propose an engagement to Madam!" The captain of the jailer said respectfully.

"Oh!" Lady Sybell hesitated with a slow reaction, and then she was overjoyed.

She smiled, unable to restrain the joy in her heart. This surprise came a bit suddenly: "Quickly release Lord Edmure first, arrange for him to groom himself properly, and I also need time to put on makeup!"

"Yes, Madam!"

*

Edmure changed into a bright gold-striped dress, wore a belt with sapphire embellishments around his waist, and clipped a gorgeous silk cloak with a silver trout brooch on his shoulders. His hair was combed very neatly, his full beard was shaved clean, and the sharpness in his eyes disappeared. He looked ten years younger at once. As if transformed from a rough young man into a resolute teenager with sharp edges.

In the room were Lady Sybell, dressed in a very noble and elegant manner, Lady Genna, and Maester Ysilla with a friendly smile.

"Lord Edmure, you said you wanted to see me." Lady Sybell got straight to the point. She put away her smile and joy, her face was cold and hard, and she maintained the Countess's indifference and aloofness towards Edmure.

"...Madam...things have come to this...I am willing to take responsibility for that night...Miss Elinor is almost twelve years old...innocent and sweet, slender, and well-developed, just like a fifteen-year-old girl. I hope to get engaged to her first, and we will get married after she has her first moon blood. I must be responsible for the honor of House Westerling and House Tully." Edmure spoke in a stuttering tone, ending with firm and decisive words.

Lady Sybelle heard Edmure's words with her own ears and saw Edmure's people with her own eyes. Joy filled her heart, but she said calmly, "Lord Edmure, I will discuss this matter with Earl Gavin and Ser Gregor. Earl Gavin should be back in about two days, and Ser Gregor will take about three days. Can you give us a few days?"

"As you wish, Madam!" Edmure bowed, half-curtsying, with elegance and politeness.

Lady Sybelle looked at Jenny and Maester Asa, who nodded.

Jenny said, "Lord Edmure, please forgive Ser Gregor's rudeness and recklessness. I apologize to you on his behalf. I'm sorry, he shouldn't have locked you in the dungeon. This is not the etiquette of hospitality."

"I was at fault first, Madam. During my time in the dungeon, the Seven Gods reminded me to correct my mistakes in time and return everything to peace and joy. The honor, reputation, and antiquity of the Westerling family are no less than those of the Tully family. I believe that Miss Elinnia is a beautiful elf sent to me by the Seven Gods, and I am willing to marry her!" Edmure was polite and showed the heritage of a great noble.

*

Three days later, the Mountain and Earl Gavin returned together. Jenny and Lady Sybelle went to meet them outside the city, accompanied by Earl Edmure, who had his face shaved clean and neat.

*

ps: I have something to do today, the update will be late, sorry, but fortunately I managed to post a chapter before midnight.