Chapter 42: Rhaeggar's Choice
Offering the "crown of love and beauty" to the girl you like is the most high-profile way of confession in Westeros, and almost all women who receive this "confession" gift will gladly accept each other's courtship.
Of course, it also has some restrictions, first, that an unmarried man cannot give it to a married woman, and second, that a married man must give it to his wife, and if this is violated, it will be considered a great insult.
In the eyes of others, Rhaegar is just enjoying his good time as a champion, enjoying the cheers and applause of the people, tasting the slightest affection in the eyes of the girls, and the envy or jealousy in the eyes of the men.
Or in order to show his extraordinary bearing, in order to show his heroism, the wind of a king, shaking his cloak to be cool.
Only Rhaegar himself knew that he had walked so solemnly because of his inner struggle, and he saw his wife, Elia Martell, smiling at him with an elegant and polite smile, her head bowed, and a hint of girlish sylvanity between her eyebrows.
There is no doubt that this "crown of love and beauty" should have belonged to her, and almost everyone thinks so.
The bits and pieces of his beautiful wife were put back in front of Rhaegar's eyes, and the timid maiden who had just come from Dorne seemed to be resurrected before his eyes; And the tired but proud look on her face when she gave birth to Aegon.
Rhaegar looked at Lyanna again, Lyanna's face was full of pride and joy, and her eyes shone with something called "anticipation", as Rhaegar slowly walked towards Elia, the proportion of anticipation in Lyanna's eyes began to decrease, and her bright eyes began to turn gray, full of loss.
On the one hand, there are worldliness and ethics, as well as the bondage of her husband's fidelity to the marriage vows, and on the other hand, in the face of the loss of the most important woman in her life, Rhaegar is caught in the middle and does not know how to choose, and people can even notice that Rhaegar is slightly sluggish.
Rhaegar truly loves Lyanna, and he knows that Lyanna loves him just as much, "How nice it would be if he hadn't been married!" Even if it's just two years in the morning for me to meet her! Rhaegar couldn't help but think.
He finally made a decision, a decision that tended to his nature, his heart began to beat for her alone from the moment he saw her, and his soul had already flown to Lyanna's side, hoping to stay with her for a long time.
"I just want to tell her that I love her! Even if I never see her again. Rhaegar said to herself.
In full view, Rhaegar eventually walked past his wife Elia and placed the "crown of love and beauty" on Lyanna's head in the midst of everyone's stunned eyes.
I don't know if Dali Ha'an's prayer came true, and the stunning Elia Martell and her female companions also experienced the feeling of being "skipped". Illya watched Rhaegar "skip" in front of her, angry, frightened, surprised, and sad, and in an instant filled the woman, who was not already healthy, and knocked her to the ground, fainting.
"This is the only wayward decision in my life!" Rhaegar said to herself.
An imperceptible smile flashed across Lyanna's lips, and she bowed her head shyly, allowing Rhaegar to place the "crown of love and beauty" on her lap. She knew how difficult it was for Rhaegar to make this decision, and she knew how affectionate and persistent Rhaegar was to love her.
Does Lyanna love Rhaegar? The answer is, of course, love, compared to his fiancé Robert, who "cheated" before marriage, Rhaegar is so handsome, romantic, noble, and elegant, Rhaegar is the first dream lover in the eyes of girls in the Seven Kingdoms, which girl doesn't think about spring? In those haunting spring dreams, Rhaegar is just a faceless man with silver hair, and although even in the dreams, handsome is Rhaeggar's main label, but not as real as Rhaegar in reality.
However, the real Rhaegar fascinated her more than the silver-haired man in Lyanna's fantasy, not only the handsome, melancholy and singing prince, but also the soul who pursued freedom as much as herself, and since that kiss yesterday, Lyanna's dreams have been filled with Rhaeggar's figure.
What Rhaegar shows her is a real Rhaega who is not the unattainable "Dragon Prince", but the living soul who is bound by the world but longs for freedom, a young lover whose heart beats for her alone.
But more importantly, the two are like the only pair of magnets in the world, attracting each other, Rhaegar loves freedom, so does Lyanna, both of them have the same temperament and encounters, they pursue freedom but do not get freedom, they seem to be a pair made in heaven, God cruelly divided them into two halves, for them, only with each other can they make themselves a complete life.
The two seemed to be frozen in this moment, and they looked at each other with such affection in their eyes, as if they were newlyweds at a wedding, and if any pastor would ask them, "Would you like to be each other's lifelong companions, whether they are poor or rich, healthy or sick?" Obviously, Lyanna and Rhaegar would reply in unison, "I do!" ”
Unfortunately, this beautiful moment did not become eternal, although it seemed eternal to them, but for the rest of the audience on the field, it was tantamount to rolling thunder.
"Wronged!" Han Xing, who had already known this, couldn't help but cry out, although he knew that without this bad relationship between the two, there would be no Robert's rebellion, but in the past, Lyanna and Rhaegar were just two characters in a book for Han Xing.
But from the moment Han Xing met Lyanna, Lyanna was no longer a phantom with an unclear face in Han Xing's eyes, but a real, living person!
How could he bear to see this poor, lively, beautiful girl end up on that tragic path, and end up being a stone statue in Winterfell with an unclear face and a cold corpse lying in a sarcophagus?
Han Xing vowed to save this girl, this is the first time Han Xing has tried to change the plot to save someone, but he will not regret it because he does not want to see this girl end up so dismal.
The audience was in an uproar, as mentioned earlier, it would be considered a great insult to give the "crown of love and beauty" to a married woman or to someone other woman who was not his wife, and Rhaegar had taken both at once.
But he's the "Dragon Prince", isn't he? People simply did not dare to say anything to accuse him.
Sir Barristan Selmy only felt the sky falling, and thought to himself, "Maybe I should fight to get him injured and win him?" Prince Rhaegar has always been level-headed, how could he do such a thing that insults the virtues of knighthood? ”
Brandon's face was flushed, as if it were a ripe tomato, and anyone could tell that he was about to "explode"! But the "wild wolf" seems to be wild and rough, but in fact he is delicate, and in the end he endured it and did not make trouble.
In fact, if everyone were in the North right now, I'm afraid that Brandon would attack Rhaegar directly, which is almost a double insult to the Baratheons and Starks.
Of course, he didn't know that Lyanna had secretly promised Rhaegar that this "frivolous prodigal" was going to sow discord between the two families, or covet his sister's beauty.
Ed still has a cold poker face about this, but he obviously won't be happy.
Robert was chatting with Jon Arryn and Ian Hunt, but he didn't pay attention to what Rhaegar was doing.
Although he only smiled slightly when he heard others mention this later, everyone close to Robert knew what new heights his hatred for Rhaegar had reached, and Rhaeggar's behavior was equivalent to wearing a "green hat" on him in public! Thinking of the later falling out between Robert and Ed over the affairs of Rhaeggar's children, you know how much Robert hates Rhaegard, and he calls Rhaegar a "dragon" and is even more indifferent to the death of Rhaeggar's wife and children at the hands of the "magic mountain".
Regatzema departed, giving Lyanna one last affectionate look, as if to remember her face, and then fulfill his promise never to see her.
As he turned around, under the cover of the armor, a little tear crossed the corner of Rhaegar's eye.
How cruel Heaven is to Yourself! What a grueling thing it is to meet the right person at the wrong time!
If it still had even the slightest mercy, it shouldn't have allowed me to meet Lyanna, let alone fall in love with her! My Lyanna! How can I survive without you, and how can I get the courage to face my future life? Even the Iron Throne is boring to me.
At least he and Robert still agreed that the Seven Kingdoms and the Iron Throne were not as important as a Lyanna, after all, Robert Baratheon I would say, "Lyanna, my Lyanna, even the Seven Kingdoms cannot fill the void left by the loss of Lyanna." And "All I wanted was Lyanna, but the Seven Gods gave me an iron chair!" ”
No wonder my Celestial Empire people will use "the country and the city" to describe the peerless beauty, Lyanna is obviously a well-deserved beauty who is close to the country and the city.
As Brandon led the nobles of the North to leave first, the nobles from all over the country also retired. In the end, the Harrenhal jousting tournament became a complete farce.
As Lyanna leaves, Robert sees the sadness in her eyes, which he immediately interprets as disillusionment in himself because Rhaegar has tarnished her reputation and that he has not immediately challenged Rhaegar to defend her dignity.
"Rest assured, my lady, I will wash away this shame for you, and I, Robert Baratheon, swear in the name of my family that I will make Rhaegar Targaryen pay the price!" With that, he firmly left Lyanna's eyes, leaving her with only a back.
This is probably the toughest Rhaegar has ever been in front of Lyanna.
With the Harrenhal jousting tournament over, Han Xing followed Jon Arryn back to Eagle's Nest.