160 Chapter 159: Little Bird
The maester's diary was discovered in a hidden safe concealed beneath a stone slab in his bedroom.
It was very well-hidden, and more importantly, nobody would normally enter the maester's room.
The maester claimed to have poisonous substances in his room and warned all the servants to stay away, saying that he could clean up by himself.
As a result, no servant would ever enter the maester's room.
It was only after Viserys received an anonymous letter that he decided to secretly search the maester's room.
The soldiers then found a movable stone slab under the maester's bed, and upon removing it, discovered a safe.
This diary was hidden in that safe, along with a transparent substance, suspected to be the poison "Tears of Lys."
Perhaps Gillyan Lannister intended to use this expensive poison to kill Viserys or his dragons.
However, Gillyan might not have found the right opportunity, and poisoning Viserys wouldn't be that easy.
Ever since Viserys was targeted by assassins sent by the Iron Throne, the security around him had been greatly increased. The "maester" couldn't easily access Viserys' kitchen, and poisoning a dragon would be no easier.
But now that the "maester" was dead, and his diary didn't mention what he intended to do with the "Tears of Lys."
No one could know what was going through his mind at the time.
The anonymous letter Viserys received not only revealed that "Maester Gunthor" was actually Gillyan Lannister, the third brother of Tywin Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock.
It also provided crucial evidence that confirmed this, proving that "Maester Gunthor" was indeed Gillyan Lannister.
Although the Citadel had indeed sent a Maester Gunthor, the real maester had already been ambushed and killed by the Lannister family on his way to Dragonstone.
However, the Lannisters had kept this matter very secret, and few people knew about it.
The author of the anonymous letter, or perhaps the mastermind behind the "little bird," was one of the few who knew about this.
He voluntarily leaked this information to Viserys.
"Varys."
When Viserys first saw the content of the letter, his first thought was that the boy was the "little bird."
The mastermind behind the letter was the "Spider," the current Master of Whisperers in the Iron Throne, Varys.
He knew that Varys might have a subtle connection with the Targaryens.
When Viserys and his mother, Rhaella Targaryen, fled to Dragonstone, King's Landing had already been taken by the usurpers, and the nobles and officials had been purged and replaced. Only a few people had gained Robert's trust.
This included Grand Maester Pycelle, the current Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Barristan "the Bold" Selmy, and the Master of Whisperers, Varys, known as the "Spider."
However, when Queen Rhaella was hiding in Dragonstone after the fall of King's Landing, she still received firsthand information from the capital, which meant that the Targaryens still had insiders in King's Landing.
Viserys suspected at that time that the person might be Varys.
After all, he later betrayed the Iron Throne and joined the Targaryen camp, claiming to do so for the sake of the country and his future king - Aegon VI.
But...
Viserys didn't trust Varys, knowing that he couldn't take everything the man said at face value.
Including his background, coming from Lys, once a slave who was later sold to a theater troupe as an apprentice, and eventually having his manhood cut off and so on...
Even the things he did were elusive and hard to predict, let alone the words he spoke; no one could truly discern his real position.
He was like Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish, everything he did was only for himself.
Including the seemingly loyal future king, who might be his own nephew, Aegon Targaryen VI.
Therefore, Viserys never actively tried to make contact with Varys after arriving on the continent of Essos.
His spies planted in King's Landing were independent, merely collecting common intelligence and public opinion, without attempting to infiltrate the Red Keep, for fear of arousing the suspicion of the spymaster Varys.
However, now.
Viserys had never actively contacted Varys, but Varys had suddenly taken the initiative to contact him.
Although he thought his letter was seamless, revealing nothing of his own identity.
He wanted to continue hiding beneath the surface, silently stirring up the waters.
But he never realized that his understanding of Viserys was far less clear than Viserys' knowledge of him.
Viserys knew that this letter was undoubtedly connected to the eunuch.
That's why he quickly asked the guards to continue searching for the child who had just escaped after reading the letter, preferably capturing him alive and uprooting Varys' spy network in Andalos. However, no news has come back yet.
The servants who were bought by 'Maester Gunther' were still crying and begging for mercy, which annoyed Viserys a bit. He then looked up at the guard beside him.
"Your Majesty?"
The guard exchanged glances with Viserys and understood.
Viserys waved his hand, and the pleading servants were dragged away.
Moments later.
A few screams came from outside the door, the cries stopped abruptly, and a faint smell of blood filled the air.
Viserys sniffed slightly, feeling no discomfort.
He didn't know when, but he had gradually become accustomed to this smell.
"This Gellian Lannister..."
Viserys closed the diary and fiddled with it in his hands.
Varys' letter detailed that Gellian's academic performance in the Citadel was not very good, and he had a lively and active personality.
However, Gellian later managed to master extensive knowledge of celestial observation and medicine during his adventures on Dragonstone and Andalos, which was no less than that of a returned Maester.
Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.
No one knew where his frequent correspondence with the Citadel went or who wrote the replies.
That's why he had not exposed himself all these years.
