Game of Thrones: From a deserter to a high-ranking official

Chapter 69 Johanna Swan and the Swan Family

Ries's high-class slave market was a far cry from the ordinary slave markets filled with sweat and despair. It was more like a luxurious showroom displaying "special goods." The air was thick with expensive incense, rather than the blood and filth of a traditional slave market. The cages held not emaciated laborers, but beautiful bed slaves, graceful dancers, skilled craftsmen, and even a few unsullied soldiers with vacant eyes and strict discipline.

"Stop looking at Tiberius." Jules pulled Tiberius's head away from the Immaculate's fine armor. "You can't afford those people! They're too expensive!"

"But Uncle, they're really strong!"

As Tiberius knew the original plot, he was well aware of the power of the Unsullied, an absolutely loyal and unwavering heavy infantry force.

Three thousand Unsullied were enough for Daenerys Targaryen to trade a baby dragon for the "Good Lords"! This is enough to show the strength and value of the Unsullied!

But in the end, I didn't buy it, because it was ridiculously expensive.

At a stall decorated with silk, Roger, the slave trader from the Hein family, was pouring out his grievances to Vito, holding a silver cup. He took a gulp of millet and angrily slammed the cup on the table:

"Brother Vito, tell me! What the hell is this?!" He spat as he spoke. "That Earl Alar Sven of Stonehelm! The Sven family, supposedly the oldest and most prestigious family in the southern Stormlands! His own niece, Johanna Sven, a genuine noblewoman, fell into the hands of pirates and I bought her. I asked her uncle for a thousand gold dragons, isn't that reasonable? I checked, she's a perfectly innocent girl, untouched!"

He waved his glass excitedly, spilling the wine.

"But guess what? The Earl of Stonehelm replied with a bunch of bullshit! Something about 'family honor cannot be tarnished,' and 'the Sven family has its own considerations'!"

"To hell with considerations! He wouldn't even part with a thousand golden dragons for his niece! Now look what's happened, this girl's stuck with me! I can't keep raising her for nothing, the next step will probably be sending her to 'Perfume Garden'! Damn it!"

Vito would occasionally sip his wine and offer a few words of flattery. Meanwhile, Tiberius Mod stood before a huge iron cage containing a young girl who seemed out of place among the other "merchandise": she wore a worn but decent dress, her golden hair was somewhat disheveled, her face was covered in dust and weariness, but her back was ramrod straight, and her azure eyes held no pleading, only a stubborn wariness.

She is Johanna Swin.

Jules Maud stood beside him, his face unusually grim. He had heard Rogge's words and seen the girl's plight in the cage; his fists clenched involuntarily.

Jules could no longer contain himself and stepped forward, his voice low but filled with unbelievable anger: "Miss Johanna Swin? Your uncle... the Earl of Stonehelm, actually refused to ransom you?!"

In the moral world of Jules the "trustworthy," mutual support between blood relatives is the greatest and most natural contract, and such a betrayal is simply appalling.

Johanna trembled slightly in the cage. She looked at Jules and Tiberius with even greater wariness in her eyes.

Although the two spoke the common language of Westeros, and Tiberius was far too young, she dared not relax in her desperate situation. She nodded stubbornly, her voice hoarse, but she tried to remain calm:

"Yes, sir. It seems... the honor of the Sven family is more important than the fate of a niece." His words carried an undisguised bitterness and self-mockery.

Tiberius did not speak immediately; his gaze darted quickly between Uncle Le and Johanna.

He keenly caught the unusual anger and...some indescribable concern in Jules' eyes.

He recalled his Uncle Jules's unintentional adherence to Westeros aristocratic etiquette, and a thought flashed through his mind like lightning:

It seems my "trustworthy" uncle is hiding quite a few secrets related to Westeros...

Just then, Lisanro Luojiaer swaggered over with several newly purchased, robust artisan slaves.

"Hey! Tiberius! What are you looking at here? These craftsmen are quite good, aren't they? I'm thinking of sending them to..."

Tiberius immediately interrupted him, his face instantly switching to a perfectly timed, slightly pleading smile. He pointed to the slave trader Rogge, his tone as relaxed as if he had spotted an interesting toy at the market:

"Lisanro, you've come at the right time. Do me a favor, pay this Mr. Rogge eight hundred gold dragons for me. I've taken a liking to Miss Johanna, I want her."

Lisanro paused for a moment, then followed Tiberius's finger to the disheveled but undeniably noble girl in the cage, before glancing at the bewildered slave trader, Rogge. The eight hundred golden dragons were like pocket money to him.

Therefore, he hardly hesitated.

"Ha! I thought it was something big!" Lisanglu laughed heartily, pulled out a parchment book with the seal of the Luojia family from his pocket, wrote down the amount on the parchment, tore off the note with his signature, and casually tossed it to the merchant Rogge.

"Eight hundred golden dragons! Take them and go to Luo Jia'er Bank to collect them! This girl is mine now!"

The slave trader, Roger, hurriedly caught the check, his expression quickly shifting from astonishment to ecstatic joy!

Compared to buying the erotic park, this deal was like a windfall! He hurriedly bowed and said, "Thank you, Young Master Lisanro! Young Master Tiberius, this money..." He stopped talking as soon as he saw Tiberius's eyes.

"Young Tiberius, your heart is as kind as ever! Here, take the man!"

"Lazybones! Bring me that slave contract for Miss Sven!" Roger cursed at his subordinate, giving him a kick in return.

Jules stood to the side, looking at Tiberius with a rather complicated expression.

Meanwhile, Johanna Swin, trapped in the iron cage, stared in disbelief at the boy who had decided her fate with just a few words. Her azure eyes were filled with shock, confusion, and a hint of bewilderment at having escaped a desperate situation.

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Back at the mansion, in a relatively quiet room, Tiberius did not linger. In front of Johanna, Jules, and Vito, he took out the slave contract that had just been signed.

"Vito, light the candles," Tiberius commanded.

Vito took out a flint and then lit the candle.

Tiberius held a corner of the contract close to the flame. The parchment quickly curled up, charred, and turned into a small clump of ashes that fell to the ground.

"Miss Sven," Tiberius looked up at the astonished Johanna and said calmly, "you are free now."

Johanna stared incredulously at the ashes on the ground, then at Tiberius, her blue eyes filled with confusion and a renewed glimmer of hope.

Tiberius continued, “Write a letter to Lord Alar Sven of Stonehelm. Tell him that you have been freed and are now under the protection of a man of great respect in Lys, a renowned knight named Jules the Keeper of the Faith, and his White Legion. Stonehelm only needs to send a reliable ship to ferry you back to Westeros. Until the fleet arrives, you will be a guest of the White Legion, receiving the courtesy and protection befitting your status.”

As he spoke, Tiberius's gaze inadvertently swept over Gule.

He noticed that when he burned the contract and declared Johanna free, his uncle's taut jawline seemed to soften, and a barely perceptible hint of...satisfaction flashed deep in his eyes.

When he suggested that Johanna write a letter and wait for the family to come and pick her up, there seemed to be a hint of...reluctance mixed in with that sense of satisfaction?

Tiberius glanced at Jules, then at Johanna, and understood.

"Well, Uncle is over thirty now, it's about time he settled down and started a family." Tippi raised an eyebrow.

What is this supposed to be? A love story about Ries?