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

Chapter 70 Mercenary Love Life

A few days later, in the evening, Tiberius was frowning as he painstakingly carved the basic vocabulary assignment Vito had given him onto a wax tablet with a stylus—his effort to escape his semi-literate state. Meanwhile, Vito sat to the side, legs crossed, leisurely flipping through his newly bought "Collection of Lis Poems".

Suddenly, Vito seemed to remember something, put away the poetry collection, raised an eyebrow at Tippi, and revealed a smile that was a mixture of gossip and cunning.

"Hey, Tiberius, do you know what?" he whispered, as if he were about to share some incredible secret.

Tiberius didn't even look up, replying irritably, "What do you know? If your information can't help me sort out these damn verb conjugations and collocations, then shut up."

Vito didn't care at all, leaned closer, and his smile became even more "lewd": "This afternoon, Commander Jules... came to see me in person."

Tiberius paused slightly as he wrote, finally raising his head with a puzzled look: "Looking for you? What for? Does our dear Lord Lisandro have another 'brilliant idea' that he needs our help to implement?"

"Hehe," Vito shook his head smugly, "none of that! The Commander... came to ask me for the book!"

"Books?" Tiberius was even more puzzled. "What books? 'A Brief Analysis of Tactics'? 'The Geography of Essos'? It can't be 'The History of Ries', can it?"

Vito's smile blossomed like a chrysanthemum: "He asked me if I had... well, 'something with beautiful writing,' 'a story about...emotions between people.'"

Tiberius was stunned.

"What is that?" Tippi asked, a little puzzled, but he already had a vague answer in his mind.

Vito continued reciting the book titles in his characteristic, teasing tone: "Ahem! So, I dumped all my 'treasured collection' on him: *The Love Letters of the Mill Perfume Party*, *The Heartbreak of the Water Dancer*, and that out-of-print copy of *The Faceless Man and the Countess*... basically, all my 'treasured collection'!"

Tiberius's iron pen clattered onto the wax tablet. He opened his mouth, watching Vito's winking and gesturing, then imagined his usually unyielding uncle, like a cast-iron statue, studying what he considered a third-rate romance novel, *The Enchanted Lisbeth*, under the oil lamp…

His expression shifted from shock to bewilderment, finally settling into an extremely complex mix of wanting to laugh yet desperately holding it back. In the end, he simply let out a long, meaningful "Oh..."

Vito patted him on the shoulder, looking like he understood, and hummed a tuneless little tune as he continued reading his love poems.

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half a month later.

Tiberius held a letter from Westeros in his hand, a cryptic smile playing on his lips. He entered Vito's room and saw the crossbow captain lounging with his legs crossed, engrossed in reading the "Collection of Lys's Poems."

"Vito," Tiberius said, waving the letter in his hand.

"Well, how should I put it? For Uncle Le, it might be good news. But for Miss Sven, it's absolutely terrible."

At this point, he himself couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Vito looked up from the poetry collection, raising his thick, dark eyebrows. "What's wrong? Is there an echo from Stonehelm? What did Count Alar Sven say?"

Tippi smiled slightly, his tone tinged with sarcasm: "I followed protocol and wrote to Count Alar Sven, telling him that his niece was safe and sound and that he only needed to send someone to fetch her. And while I was at it, I reimbursed him for the 'safekeeping fee' for those eight hundred golden dragons... Guess what?" He paused, mimicking the affected tone of a nobleman.

"The Earl replied that he was busy with affairs of the fiefdom and that this matter concerned the family's reputation, so it was not convenient to make a fuss about it... He also 'subtly' threatened me not to try to extort the noble Sven family in such a clumsy way."

Tiberius shrugged: "To put it bluntly, they don't want to spend a single penny, and they don't even plan to keep the people. They've completely severed ties and dumped the people on us."

Upon hearing this, Vito was not surprised at all. Instead, he grinned, revealing his teeth stained yellow by tobacco: "Hehe, then he better stay busy and not be able to spare any time! After all, right now..." He gestured playfully in a certain direction in the mansion, where there was a room that had just been carefully cleaned up, right next to Jules' bedroom.

"After all, right now... our commander seems quite 'satisfied' with this neighbor? Hmm?"

"Indeed." Tippi suppressed a laugh, but began to make plans in his mind.

【Brilliant!】Tiberius began to weigh the pros and cons in his mind.

[A young lady of noble birth, practically expelled from her home, paired with a mercenary leader who is 'suspected' of being a nobleman... could they be considered a good match?]

Tiberius, holding the reply, found Johanna Swin, who was quietly reading in the room temporarily arranged for her. The girl's complexion was better than before, but a faint layer of sorrow and uncertainty still lingered between her brows.

"Miss Johanna," Tiberius began, his tone calm, "I have some very 'bad' news."

Tiberius simply relayed the contents of Earl Sven's reply without embellishment, but it was enough to make Johanna's face turn pale instantly, extinguishing the last glimmer of hope for her family in her blue eyes, replacing it with deep disappointment.

Tiberius did not rush to offer comfort, but instead changed the subject, beginning to inquire carefully as if assessing a valuable asset:

"You are fifteen years old, a member of the Sven family... Are you able to go to school?"

Johanna paused for a moment, then instinctively replied, "Yes."

Can you write?

"meeting."

"Very good. What about bookkeeping and arithmetic?"

"...I've learned a little." Johanna's voice was filled with confusion.

"Grammar, rhetoric, logic?" Tiberius pressed.

Johanna nodded; this was the basic education for aristocratic young ladies.

A flicker of surprise crossed Tiberius's eyes as he continued, "Flower arranging, painting, and needlework...?"

"They have dabbled in all of them."

"Musical instruments? I've heard that some Westeros girls play the flute, harp, violin..."

"I can play the flute and harp, and I know a little about the violin," Johanna answered truthfully.

Tiberius took a deep breath, his face showing undisguised shock and admiration: "By the Seven Gods! You truly are... multi-talented."

This contrasts sharply with his original self's situation, where he was semi-literate and most of the people in the legion were roughnecks.

Johanna became somewhat uneasy under his detailed interrogation and couldn't help but ask, "Excuse me... what do you intend for me to do next?"

Although Jules Maud is the official leader of the White Army, the astute Johanna immediately realized that Tiberius was the one in charge in some matters.

For example... regarding her whereabouts.

Tiberius did not answer directly, but instead turned and fetched several rolls of parchment, a quill pen, and a bottle of ink. He placed these items on the table in front of Johanna.

“The first thing,” Tiberius pointed outside, “is that unreliable crossbowman mercenary captain…” He paused, his facial muscles twitching as he spoke, seemingly recalling Vito’s “lowbrow” poetry and barely suppressing a laugh.

"Well, out of... enthusiasm, he wrote some stories and poems promoting Jules the 'Keeper of Faith.' As for the writing style... well, it's quite 'distinctive,' but it needs some deeper 'polishing.' I wonder if you could help? As for some details, you can discuss them with my uncle Jules directly; he's the person involved and knows best."

"Uncle, this is all I can do to help you," Tiberius thought to himself. "If even this you can't handle, then there's really nothing more I can do."

"And his legionary history records may also need your help to organize and polish. Of course, for the main historical fact verification, we still need to ask my uncle Jules, since he was the one who built the legion." Tiberius quickly added, as if he had "suddenly" thought of something.

In short, don't look for anyone else, just look for my uncle!

"The second thing," Tiberius said, his expression turning serious. "Our White Legion now needs more people who can hold a pen and do accounting than soldiers who can only hold weapons. I see that you have the basics in this area, and I hope you can assist with some of the legion's paperwork and accounts."

Then Tiberius did something that surprised Johanna even more. He pulled out several parchment deeds—the deeds to the manor bestowed by Lisandro, the deeds to the shops near the port, and several documents representing ownership of the ships.

"Third," he said, pushing these contracts, which represented enormous wealth, in front of Johanna and looking at her solemnly.

"In the future, these industries... will need a meticulous, knowledgeable, and trustworthy woman to manage them."

He paused deliberately, giving Johanna time to process the weight of his words.

"So, Miss Johanna, please believe me," Tiberius's voice was sincere and powerful, "here, in Rhys, I can proudly say that the wealth you will need to learn and manage in the future will be far greater in scale and complexity than that of many countesses of Westeros."

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Inside the study at the White Army's base.

Originally intended for Tiberius to organize for Johanna's document processing, it now became the place where Jules Maud felt most uncomfortable.

[What kind of nonsense is going on in Tiberius's head!] Jules thought to himself.