The Mountain of Ice and Fire

To control someone, you give them what they want.

This art of persuasion wasn't something only Lord Tywin mastered, Gregor understood it just as well.

To win Jeyne's favor, he had to give her what she desires most.

Jeyne's first wish? For Gregor to call off their engagement.

If Gregor did that, Jeyne would be overjoyed, but Gregor himself would be miserable. So that option was out.

Next best was to satisfy her second, third, and fourth desires. 

All Gregor had to do was figure out what those were!

Words can echo, but money speaks louder.

One gold dragon coin.

With just a single gold dragon, Gregor's smooth-talking knight, Raff, managed to extract detailed information about Jeyne's life.

No heights, weights, or measurements like on Earth, but plenty about her personality, interests, and talents.

For a practical, analytical mind like Gregor's, after analyzing those little details, he knew Jeyne's second greatest deSere after ending the engagement was a young nobleman, Ser Ado Serrett.

But what truly captured a girl's heart, it was a cat.

When Jeyne's mother, a merchant's daughter, married into the Gawen family, she brought a cat with her as part of the dowry.

A year later, Jeyne was born, and that cat became her constant companion from her earliest babbling days.

The cat had accompanied Jeyne through childhood and adolescence, until the day it passed away when she was just fifteen.

That cat gave Jeyne a bond deeper than most family ties.

Even after its death, she couldn't free herself from her love for that cat in another world. Her longing was deep and painful.

Though cats could be bought from across the Narrow Sea if you had the money, the Gawen family was poor. Her father, Lord Gawen, had to sell land again just to scrape by.

Buying a cat was a huge expense, and even then, you had to be lucky, the cats had to be smuggled over by merchants, and you had to outbid others.

Usually, nobles and merchants agreed on deposits well in advance before any cat was "procured."

Who would reveal Jeyne's preferences to Gregor's knight, Raff, just for one gold dragon?

It was the very same fellow whom Gregor had effortlessly brushed aside when he tried to barge into Jeyne's room.

For Raff, coaxing every detail from the guard around Jeyne was child's play. His words were sweet as honey, irresistible.

For Gregor, it was all part of the game.

Before crossing over, he was a master of schemes and witty comebacks, a king of smooth talk in group chats.

Besides, money is the best debater in any world, always eloquent, always persuasive.

With one gold dragon, Sweetmouth easily drew out every detail about Jeyne's life from her guard.

That cat came from a noble family in Crownlands, the Blount family.

The current head of the Blounts was famous: he was the sword instructor for Sandor Clegane, the Hound, and also Gregor's first swordmaster.

All 1,500 soldiers of the Lannister family in Casterly Rock, cavalry and infantry alike, had trained under this knight, Ser Boros Blount.

The Blounts had recently purchased a cat, beloved by Lady Blount herself.

There's a saying: everything is arranged for the best.

Gregor was a man of action.

He forcibly bought that very cat from Lady Blount as a wedding gift for Jeyne, arriving unannounced to demand it.

Then, Raff used underhanded tricks to get the cat drunk, and Gregor, smelling of wine, carried out the plan exactly as intended.

…..

When Gregor and Jeyne slowly descended from the Maester's Tower, Lord Gawen's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

The beast still held the beauty, and the beauty still cradled the cat.

A strangely harmonious scene.

The family guards stayed silent.

The five soldiers sent by Lord Tywin had vanished, probably back to their drinks.

Since Gregor hadn't forced Jeyne, they dared not provoke him.

If anything went wrong, though they shared Lannister blood, they were still Gregor's men.

This savage beast could only be befriended, never antagonized.

No trouble meant it was time to withdraw.

"Jeyne!" Lord Gawen's voice was heavy with mixed emotions.

His obedient daughter of fifteen was about to take the name Clegane.

Jeyne finally noticed Lord Gawen and the guards, surprise flickering in her voice.

"What's going on? Why are you all here?"

Lord Gawen felt awkward. His daughter was so quick to lean toward a monster? But then he saw the cat, the pure white little creature with amber eyes.

"Ser Gregor, please put me down." Jeyne spoke softly.

"Of course."

She realized her gentle, coaxing tone was the only way to calm Gregor's impatience.

Though his arms felt like steel, strong and unyielding, Jeyne no longer felt afraid of his strength.

She didn't even realize it herself.

Blame that cat.

Jeyne called her Angela.

"You all..." Lord Gawen gestured toward the Maester's Tower.

"Oh, Angela was sick. Ser Gregor and I went to the maester's apothecary to get some medicine. She's much better now. Want to feel her? Her temperature's normal, and her eyes are bright again."

Gregor let out a drunken burp in agreement and loudly praised Jeyne's frantic medical skills.

He just hoped those strange, colorful potions she made him drink wouldn't actually make Angela sick.

Playing to her interests worked perfectly.

Jeyne carried Angela into her room without a care in the world.

Gregor asked her to help look after Angela, and she gladly agreed.

She was happy to do Gregor that favor.

Such a rough knight, Jeyne didn't fully trust him to care for Angela on his own.

Lord Gawen sighed deeply.

Even a fool could see this was just Gregor's little trick to win his daughter's heart.

Jeyne was smart, not easy to fool, but she was still a woman.

Right now, Jeyne was just a little bit more foolish than a fool.

Under Gregor's brusque invitation, Lord Gawen and the family guards all went off to drink with him.

Jeyne returned alone to her room, closing the door behind her to make a cozy embroidered nest for Angela.

"Lady Jeyne!" a polite voice called, tinged with apology.

Jeyne startled and turned around to see a courteous knight standing at her bedroom door.

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