Chapter 65: The Party

"It seems your strength is even beyond my initial expectations," the Knight of Flowers remarked with a lingering sense of fear as he glanced at Horas.

The latter was currently being helped by four or five servants who were frantically trying to remove his thigh armor, but due to the extreme deformation, it was proving very difficult to take off.

Horas, meanwhile, was plagued by the persistent, sharp pain radiating from his leg; until the Maester brought the Poppy Milk, hoarse roars and painful groans were the only things he could manage.

"They were just too weak," Arthur said, removing his mask and helmet, taking a cloth from an Attendant to wipe away his sweat.

Winning against those two relied on absolute strength and superior Agility.

When the gap in strength becomes large enough, technique loses its effectiveness.

Although Arthur felt he still lacked a bit of technique, the nobles from the Reach, led by Loras, clearly did not think so.

In their eyes, Arthur had already become strong enough to ignore technique.

After all, the brothers Horas and Hobber were core members of the Redwyne family, a first-tier noble house of the Reach.

Given that the Redwyne family possessed nearly ten thousand troops, the number of noble houses in all of Westeros that could surpass them could be counted on one hand, such as the Lannister family, the Tyrell family, and the Hightower family.

In other words, many liege lord families could not compare to the Redwyne family; how could a knight trained with such a foundation be anything but formidable?

Some of the sharper, less status-conscious scions of second and third-tier families had already changed their attitudes and gathered around the two to chat.

Some among them recognized the Dawn Sword, the ancestral blade of House Whent of Harrenhal, and used it to strike up a conversation.

Arthur generously admitted how it had come into his possession, which also verified what Patrick had said earlier about killing the wild boar.

Consequently, the perception of Arthur by the people of the Reach shifted once more.

It turned out that what he and his companions said was all true, without any exaggeration or falsehood.

The clown was actually me!

This was the feeling of a significant portion of the nobles present.

After today, the reputation of Arthur as a newly emerged powerful warrior would likely spread throughout King's Landing.

He would be mentioned alongside many of Westeros's first-tier knights, such as the Kingslayer, Barristan, and the Knight of Flowers.

There might even be busybodies comparing whether Arthur's freakish strength was greater, or if The Mountain's strength was superior.

Before the two of them actually fought, such debates would surely be plentiful.

After chatting for another half-day, getting a feel for the Lance while riding, and having a free lunch, Arthur, Patrick, Desmond, and the others departed.

They would spend the afternoon preparing for the Knight of Flowers' invitation that evening.

Yes, the Knight of Flowers had invited them to a gathering that night.

The Reach was wealthy, and their liege lord, the Tyrell family, was related to first-tier noble families like the Redwyne, Hightower, and Rowan families, with frequent interactions; thus, the Tyrell family's seat, Highgarden, often hosted grand gatherings, such as masquerades and costume parties.

This custom was also brought by them to King's Landing.

Tonight, there was a gathering that was not large, but extremely high-end.

The attendees were all core scions of first and second-tier families from the Reach, as well as members of top and near-top families from the other six kingdoms recognized by the Tyrell family.

Third-tier heir apparents from relatively remote regions like Patrick, and Sworn Knights from Riverrun like Desmond, could not actually enter such a gathering.

But the Knight of Flowers, for Arthur's sake, had invited the two of them as well.

This made them feel quite honored.

There were benefits to hanging out with a powerhouse like Arthur.

"You look like a rich man," was Desmond's assessment of Arthur.

At this moment, they were heading toward the vicinity of the Red Keep.

Clad in bright yellow silk, Arthur stood tall and handsome, looking very noble.

As they walked, he attracted quite a few passersby to turn their heads.

The oriental dragon pattern embroidered on his clothes made the people they met along the way speculate whether he was a Prince from somewhere or a top-tier foreign tycoon.

After all, the major families of Westeros were well-known to these spectators of the game of thrones, and this antler-horned, snake-bodied pattern did not belong to any of them.

And Arthur's bearing and appearance could not possibly be those of an unknown.

Then he must be an honored guest from the eastern continent; this was the common view of many of the commoners.

"I'm being made to look like a little sidekick," Patrick said, his face full of sourness.

His clothes were made of the same material as Arthur's, but they lacked that same vibrant feel, which left the heir of Seagard full of envy and jealousy.

"I am just an ordinary little noble," Arthur said modestly.

He did not take the gazes of the commoners or the envy of his companions to heart.

How to build good relationships with the great nobles of the Reach was the problem he was focused on thinking about.

Among the top families of the Reach, the Tyrell family had over ten thousand troops, the Hightower family had over ten thousand, the Redwyne family had nearly ten thousand, the Rowan family had about five thousand, and there were countless other small families.

With the standing armies of these four families, it might be difficult for each to produce hundreds of sets of top-tier armor, but it would be easy to scrape together five or six hundred sets.

Arthur fantasized that if he could connect with these four families and use his Tourney prize money to buy hundreds or thousands of sets of armor, that would be truly fantastic.

Even though he had already placed an order for two hundred sets of Iron Plate Armor, with chaotic times approaching, who would complain about having too much armor?

Moreover, their armor was ready-made and produced by large workshops, so the quality control was guaranteed.

The armor produced by the blacksmith shops in King's Landing had to be made to order, and since they were forged one set at a time, the quality was not very stable.

The Knight of Flowers' party was held in a courtyard not far from the King's castle—the Red Keep.

This was enough to illustrate the awkward position of the Tyrell family.

On one hand, they were the liege lords of the most powerful Reach, wealthy enough to buy a large courtyard outside the Red Keep.

On the other hand, they were not at the center of power in King's Landing, only infinitely close to it.

"You must be Lord Arthur Bracken, right? Please, follow me!"

A dozen Attendants had been waiting outside the courtyard for a long time; one of them had clearly been instructed to guide Arthur and his companions. Upon seeing the bright yellow, unfamiliar pattern and the emblem of Seagard, he immediately stepped forward to greet them.

Arthur nodded, and amidst the gazes of the Attendants and passersby—filled with envy, jealousy, and other complex emotions—he silently entered with his companions.

After passing through the long, narrow corridor, they were finally able to enter the courtyard, and then walked into the building, traveling a long way before arriving at the door of a grand hall.

This indicated that the area occupied by this courtyard was quite vast, fully demonstrating the financial power of the Tyrell family.

The Attendant leading the way opened the door for them and gestured for them to enter.

As soon as the door opened, the noisy clamor of people inside the hall reached Arthur's ears; many nobles dressed in gorgeous formal attire were already gathered within, chatting, laughing, and behaving in various ways.

Attendants with beautiful faces and outstanding figures carried fruit platters and fine wine back and forth among them, occasionally being groped by some playboy.

This is the life of the upper class, Arthur sighed, having attended such a party for the first time.

He took a deep breath and walked into the hall.

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)