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  To wele the arrival of the king and queen, everyone in Winterfell was busy. They informed Robb that he should take care of himself to ensure everything erfect for receiving the king. Meanwhile, Cately daily with Maester Luwin to ensure all preparations were made, cheg everything—drinks, rooms, food, and other details.

  elia, Sansa, and Arya were also io choose the most elegant and appropriate clothes for the occasion. Catelyn even specifically instructed elia to wear the three new dresses she had prepared for her. However, elia disliked wearing the long and unfortable skirts.

  Despite this, elia did not want tue with Catelyn and simply agreed calmly and silently.

  "Oh my God! How they’ve grown so fast!" Catelyn and Maester Luwin received the hat the king’s party was about to arrive in Winterfell. Both rushed out through the city gate, and upon reag the base of the tower, they saw Bran’s giant wolf croug, and Catelyn, momentarily distracted, marveled at the creature’s rapid growth. However, something immediately caught her attention.

  "Brandon!" Catelyn quickly turned, following the giant wolf’s gaze. And, as she feared, she saw Bran climbing dower wall of the high tower. Instantly, she reprimanded him severely.

  "I saw the king! There are hundreds of people with him!" Bran said excitedly, gripping the stones of the wall and desding skillfully, ign his mother’s worried tone.

  "How many times have I told you not to climb the walls? How many times has even Lia scolded you? Why do you never listen?" Catelyn was furious but also frustrated. Despite her warnings, the whole family seemed to let Bran climb as he pleased. Only elia supported her on this, but Bran simply didn’t listen. The towers were very tall, and an act would be fatal.

  "But they’re ing! You see them on the main road!" Bran defensively replied, stig out his tongue mischievously as he nimbly jumped to the ground.

  "Promise me you won’t climb the wall again!" Catelyn stepped forward, still visibly worried. She only rexed when she saw Bran safely on the ground. Kneeling in front of him, she held his shoulders and warned him seriously.

  "I promise!" Bran said, kig the ground distractedly aantly, but nodding in agreement.

  "You know that, don’t you?" Catelyn asked, looking at Bran with an exhausted but affeate smile.

  "Know what?" Bran asked, looking at his mother with a fused expression.

  "You always look at your feet when you lie!" Catelyn immediately noticed Bran’s relud attempt at lying. However, she couldn’t really be angry with him. After all, Bran always knew how to use his innoce to his advahere wasn’t much she could do, and Bran couldn’t help but smile upon hearing his mother’s indulgent tone.

  "Run and tell your father the king will be here soon. Then go help your sister, elia! She told me personally that to keep a secret that must not be revealed, you o stay with her and be her support. It’s important, you know that, don’t you?"

  Catelyn finally decided to let Bran go, but she shifted the versation to elia’s matters. The king’s arrival was immi, and there were still many important tasks to be addressed. However, what worried Catelyn most was ensuring elia met the royal family without promising the secret surrounding her.

  Of course, elia had her own reasons for asking Bran to stay with her during the king’s visit to Winterfell.

  Bran agreed with his mother and ran home as if he were esg. First, he went to tell his father about the king’s approach, and then he went to elia’s room, the most secret spa the Stark family for the past six years. Only those closest to them khe importance of that room and its meaning.

  Catelyn had asked elia to wear a long dress and a cloak early in the m. After getting ready, elia sat by the window, deep in thought, waiting for the royal party’s arrival. She knew what the king’s i.

  The wheels of fate had begun to turn, and elia uood they could not be stopped by anything or anyone. She knew her only choice was to face whatever would e, no matter what happened.

  When elia was led by Bran to the city gate, everyone was already gathered except for Arya. Bran took her to Sansa, but elia still held tightly to her younger brother's hand. For the past two days, she couldn’t stop w about him, insisting that Bran apany her wherever she went.

  "Where’s Arya? elia, Sansa, where’s your sister?" Catelyn asked, looking around. Fortunately, Arya appeared shortly after, running aloh a helmet on her head. Ned quickly removed it and walked up to elia, visibly frustrated. Arya stood between elia and Sansa as they all waited eagerly for the king’s arrival.

  elia couldn’t see, but she could clearly hear the sound of horses and people passing through the city gate. It seemed like a sizable crowd. After a while, the sound of carriages and horse hooves diminished, eventually fading pletely. Bran watched the people enter, and it was he who announced when the king finally arrived.

  To be ho, elia was momentarily stunned. In the world she came from, in her past life, there was no of kneeling before anyone. Even though she had been living in this world for thirteen years, raised in Winterfell as Lord Eddard Stark’s eldest daughter, she had never been in a situation that required such a gesture. This left her somewhat fused.

  However, elia quickly regained her posure. She lowered her head and, like everyone else, ko greet the king. To be more exact, she k on one knee. Her long skirt, which had already gotten dirty walking from her room to the city gate, was now even more soiled. Even without looking, elia khe fabric dragging on the ground had collected even more dirt.

  The disfort with the clothes made her wish she could go home immediately and ge them.

  Fortunately, Bran soon pulled her by the hand, signaling that she could rise. She did so along with the others, and as she stood, she heard the king joke with her father, saying he had gained weight. elia couldn’t help but smile discreetly upon hearing the ent.

  She still had memories of her past life and remembered that her father, Eddard Stark, had been a handsome man with an imposing posture and impeccable physical form. However, as she now saw, it was on for people to develop a tendency to gai over time.

  elia khat King Robert Baratheon and her father shared a deep bond, as if they were brothers. She watched as they exged smiles and embraced warmly. Then, the king turo greet Catelyn Stark, elia’s mother, before starting to look at the couple’s children.

  "You... must be elia?" the king said, direg his gaze at her.

  Robert sloroached, studying the girl in front of him with a certain mencholy. elia’s beauty was evident, capable of drawing attention even in a crowd. However, her dull eyes, devoid of sparkle, veyed a sadhat was hard to ignore.

  "Yes, Your Majesty!" elia replied, bowing her head and perf a fwless curtsy, adhering to all the etiquette of a dy. There was no room for mistakes in her movements.

  "She’s a good girl!" Robert decred, her posture and notig how simir it was to Catelyn’s. He nodded in approval before turning to the others.

  However, elia, who remaitentive, heard her parents greeting the queen. Immediately, she ched her fists.

  She loo see the queen and her son. Although her memories of what happened in King’s Landing were hazy, elia knew enough to remember that it was Queen Cersei Lannister and Joffrey Baratheon who were responsible for her father’s execution.

  "Take me to your crypt. I want to pay my respects!" The king’s voice brought elia back to reality. She kly what he meant. She thought about the old stories she had heard more than ten years ago and uood that the king wao visit the crypt where Lyanna Stark was buried.

  Although Robert Baratheon was a fool in many ways, his love for Lyanna was genuine. Perhaps he had never realized that he was actually in love with an idealization he could never fet.

  Thinking about it, elia felt a pang of passion for Queen Cersei. It was mentable to be in a marriage where the husband worshipped the ghost of another woman. However, her sympathy quickly dissipated as she remembered Cersei Lannister’s cruelty, which was no less brutal than her father Tywin’s.

  While the king roag ark, the queen seemed visibly upset and tried to stop Robert. But he pletely ignored her, callio follow him and walking away without even responding to his wife’s words.

  "Where is the imp?"

  After Ned and the king withdrew, Arya looked around, curious, but saw no sign of Tyrion Lanhe legendary "imp" of House Lannister. Impatient, she asked Sansa and elia.

  elia simply sighed, helpless. This was the third time Arya had asked about Tyrion. Her curiosity was uandable, after all, stories about the "imp" were spread all over. However, elia khe truth: despite all the legends, Tyrion was just an ordinary man who faced the difficulties of living with dwarfism in a world that despised him for his dition.

  Soon, everyone began to disperse. The queen and her retinue had traveled from King’s Landing to Winterfell, and the fatigue from the long journey required them to rest before attending the wele feast that would be held at su.

  Later, at dusk, elia donned a and luxurious outfit. Catelyn personally helped dress both her and Sansa, adjusting every detail. Despite this, elia found the whole ritual unnecessary, but she knew Catelyn did it out of precaution. It was their first formal meeting with the king and queen, and everyone had heard that Cersei pced great importan aristocratic etiquette. There was no room for failure.

  As she waited, elia couldn’t help but worry about Bran. However, she had asked Robb to look after him, so she felt a bit relieved. She khat Bran would soon e to apao the feast, as he always did.

  elia’s thoughts were interrupted by Sansa’s voice.

  “Do you think Prince Joffrey will like me? What if he doesn’t think I’m beautiful?”

  elia turo face her younger sister, notig the ay in her words. The king and Ned had just returned from the crypt with the hat Robert po marry his heir, Prince Joffrey, to one of Eddard Stark’s daughters.

  elia realized that the choice would fall on Sansa. Arya was only 11, and the queen would never allow a blind girl like elia to be sidered as a didate to bee the queen of Westeros.

  articurly intrigued elia was the fact that Sansa seemed to have fallen in love with Prince Joffrey at first sight, simply because she had met him at the city gate.

  "Thehe most foolish prin the world!" Catelyn was helping Sansa b her hair when she heard her daughter’s statement. For a moment, she froze, holding the b in the air. She clearly didn’t want any of her daughters to marry into the royal family, but of course, she believed her daughters were the best.

  "He’s so handsome! When will we get married? Or do we have to wait a little?" Sansa asked excitedly. Perhaps it was because of the su, but at that moment, elia’s normally dull eyes seemed tain some crity. She observed the joy and shyness on her sister’s face perfectly.

  "Stop talking like that! Your father hasn’t agreed yet!" Catelyn rolled her eyes and, without hiding her irritation, scolded Sansa for dreaming so high, even though this was pletely outside her elegant manners.

  elia just watched the se, trying to hold back a ugh. However, seeing her mother’s awkward and siitude, she couldn’t help but burst out ughing. After all, it was rare to see Catelyn lose her posure like that.

  “What reason would he have to disagree?” Sansa insisted, crossing her arms. “With this, he would bee someone greater than anyone, an imposing figure!”

  “He would also have to leave his hometown, leave me... and leave you too!” Catelyn respohe sadness evident ione. Agreeing to this e meant Ned would be forced to travel to King’s Landing and take the position of Hand of the King. Catelyn had anticipated this possibility and khat the ces of Ned agreeing were high. Not because of ambition for power, but because of his loyalty to his childhood friend, Robert Baratheon.

  She knew her husband deeply and couldn’t imagine any reason for him to refuse the king’s request.

  “You also left your hometown and came here, didn’t you?” Sansa retorted without hesitation. “And one day I’ll bee a queen! Please, let my father agree! Please! He is my dream in this life!”

  elia, who had been listening silently until then, finally decided to intervene. “Wait, Sansa. What exactly do you like about Joffrey?” Her voice carried a mixture of disbelief and irritation. “You’ve seen him ond already want to marry him? Did he ent you, or what?”

  “Why wouldn’t I like him? He’s so handsome!” Sansa replied, with a stubborn expression.

  “Handsome? Sansa, beauty fades over time!” elia retorted. “Look at our father, for example. He was incredibly handsome when he was young. Of course, I’m not saying he’s not handsome now. It’s just a different, more mature, and stable kind of beauty. What I mean is...” elia paused, trying tanize her thoughts.

  The truth was that she had no idea what Joffrey was really like. She hadn’t seen him up close yet, and holy, something in her instincts told her he wasn’t as impressive as Sansa believed.

  elia had always been obsessed with beauty. Despite having fotten many things over time, she could still remember how Robb, Jon, and the others looked as they grew up. However, she had no memory of this Joffrey character.

  Was she remembering things wrong? Hearing Sansa speak with suthusiasm, elia decided she o observe him more closely that night. After all, what could make Joffrey so charming that it had Sansa obsessed with him?

  “But do you really think he’s handsome? What do you think of Robb? Of Jon? And what about Bran?” elia asked, uo hide her doubts about Sansa’s aesthetic standards. After all, even Bran, who was only ten years old, already showed signs of being a handsome young man iure.

  “Robb and Jon are my brothers! And Bran is also my brother, besides... he’s only ten years old!” Sansa replied, frowning. To her, it didn’t matter how handsome they were, Robb, Jon, and Bran would always be her brothers, nothing more.

  “Of course I know that! But...” elia began to reply, trying tanize her thoughts. She khey were brothers, but what she really meant to say was different. Sansa had grown up surrounded by handsome men all her life. How was it possible that she had fallen for someone she had just met?

  Before elia could finish her sentence, Sansa interrupted her, her eyes shining with excitement. “Didn’t you see how he looked at me today? His eyes were so kind and chivalrous, you know? It was like he only had eyes for me!”

  Sansa seemed to lose herself in the memory of the moment when Joffrey, mounted on his horse, had looked at her directly. Just thinking about it made her excited.

  elia was left speechless. She felt a lump ihroat, and for a moment, her thoughts seemed to freeze. Slowly, she turo look at Catelyn, who seemed equally helpless. All the words elia wao say were stu her mouth.

  Joffrey... kind?

  Where had Sansa seen kindness in him?

  elia didn’t know how many things she had fotteime, but there was one memory that remained clear: the cruelty of Joffrey Baratheon. However, looking at Sansa’s shy and hopeful eyes, she realized she didn’t know where to begin. Even though she had tless reasons to criticize him, they all seemed ie in that moment.

  She wondered: was it because she khe future events that she hated Joffrey so much? And if she didn’t know anything, would she have ended up liking him too?

  It was a question without an answer, and it made her even more uneasy.

  elia felt that if she tiue with Sansa, she would be led doath with urn. For the first time, she clearly realized that love could truly blind people.

  And so, she made a silent promise to herself: she would never be like that iure.

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