Ned walked to the King's right side, pulled out a chair, and slowly sat down.
His gaze once again swept across everyone present, but just as Robert was about to begin speaking, Ned suddenly realized one person was still absent.
"Your Grace, Stannis has not arrived yet."
He could not help but speak up.
Varys, seated nearby, wore his usual smiling expression.
"Oh, not long after His Grace departed for the North, Lord Stannis returned to Dragonstone and has yet to co back to King's Landing."
Robert frowned imdiately when he heard Stannis Baratheon's na ntioned.
He replied indifferently,
"Since he's not in King's Landing, then forget about him."
"Let's discuss the real business."
The others imdiately straightened themselves, listening attentively to the King's important matters.
"When I was at Winterfell, Benjen Stark of the Night's Watch ca overnight to deliver urgent news."
"Beyond the Wall, a large number of wildlings are gathering and preparing to attack Castle Black."
"And the rangers sent to investigate also discovered many giants."
The mont Robert finished speaking, the council chamber instantly fell silent.
Aside from Ned, every person present showed disbelief upon hearing the news.
Grand Maester Pycelle inhaled sharply and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Giants?"
The smile on Renly Baratheon's face disappeared completely, replaced by serious astonishnt.
"Are there truly giants?"
Petyr Baelish's eyes shifted slightly as he stared toward Ned.
"Could the Night's Watch rangers have made a mistake?"
"If I rember correctly, giants disappeared hundreds of years ago. How could they possibly still exist?"
Ned glanced coldly toward Littlefinger.
"The information regarding the giants was personally discovered by Ser Jaremy Rykker."
"I believe Grand Maester Pycelle should know him well."
"Grand Maester, tell Petyr whether Ser Jaremy would lie."
Pycelle's mind imdiately recalled the image of Ser Jaremy Rykker.
After a brief silence, he slowly shook his head.
"Although Ser Jaremy once served the Mad King, his character is trustworthy."
"If the intelligence truly ca from him, then it should be credible."
Petyr's expression shifted slightly before he chuckled softly.
"In that case, I have no further questions."
He then looked toward Robert.
"What does Your Grace intend for us to do?"
At that mont, everyone's attention turned toward the King.
Robert leaned lazily against his chair but casually pointed toward Ned.
"Lord Ned is now Hand of the King. Let him decide such small matters."
"And to celebrate the appointnt of the new Hand, I intend to hold a grand tourney."
"As for the victor..."
Before Robert could finish speaking, Ned interrupted him directly.
"Your Grace, I do not believe there is any need to hold a tourney rely because I have beco Hand."
"Even if the treasury still possesses sufficient gold, we should first consider supporting the Night's Watch."
To Ned's surprise, Petyr suddenly chuckled.
Ned imdiately turned toward him, suppressing his anger.
"Petyr, are my words amusing to you?"
Littlefinger imdiately displayed a perfectly apologetic expression and waved his hands.
"Lord Hand, you misunderstand ."
"I rely found it amusing because the royal treasury is now so poor that even the rats are fleeing."
"There is no 'sufficient gold' as you imagined."
Ned's expression imdiately changed.
He instantly recalled Robert's words back in Winterfell regarding the imnse debt owed to House Lannister.
"Your Grace, didn't you say you borrowed so gold dragons from the Lannisters?"
"Has all the money already been spent?"
The mont the topic turned toward money, Robert's face imdiately filled with impatience.
"Littlefinger, you are the Master of Coin."
"You explain it to the Hand."
Petyr sighed bitterly before slowly speaking.
"Lord Ned, to be precise, Lord Tywin has lent the Iron Throne three separate loans."
"Each loan amounted to one million two hundred thousand gold dragons."
"But that gold has long since been spent on maintaining the realm and preserving the glory of the Crown."
"Even before Lord Arryn passed away, he had already begun preparing to borrow again from the Lannisters."
"After all, the debts owed to the Iron Bank of Braavos were also approaching repaynt."
Ned's face beca utterly stunned.
He stared at Robert in disbelief.
"Three million six hundred thousand gold dragons... all spent?"
Petyr's eyes flickered strangely as he calmly nodded.
"Yes, Lord Hand."
At that mont, Ned finally understood the aning behind Robert's earlier complaints in the great hall at Winterfell.
"Owing the Lannisters a mountain of debt..."
"If the North and the Westerlands ever go to war, I wouldn't even know how to govern the realm..."
Ned shook his head forcefully, suppressing those thoughts before finally turning toward Robert.
"Your Grace... how exactly do you govern the realm?"
Robert's impatience grew even stronger.
"Governing the realm is your responsibility now."
"I've already handed everything over to you anyway."
Ignoring Ned's speechless expression, Robert directly turned toward Littlefinger.
"You discuss the specifics with the Hand."
"And speed up preparations for the tourney."
"The champion's prize will temporarily be set at forty thousand gold dragons."
"Your Grace!"
Ned could no longer restrain himself.
He abruptly stood up and shouted angrily,
"The Wall is facing the threat of wildlings, and yet you still have the leisure to hold a grand tourney?"
"Not to ntion the treasury does not even have a single spare coin left!"
Robert also pushed back his chair and stood up.
"If there's no money, then go find so."
"Isn't that what the Hand is for?"
"Enough. It's settled."
"I still have other matters to attend to. You all continue discussing things yourselves."
The King, completely unwilling to waste ti arguing over money with Ned, directly turned and left the council chamber.
Ser Barristan Selmy, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, silently rose and followed behind him.
In an instant, only the Small Council mbers remained inside the chamber.
Ned frowned deeply.
He had never imagined Robert would beco this unreliable.
The King only cared about pleasure and entertainnt while completely neglecting governance.
After Robert departed, Petyr suddenly spoke aningfully.
"Lord Ned, do you think we should borrow once more from the Lannisters?"
"The Iron Throne already owes over three million gold dragons, and you still wish to borrow more?!"
Ned stared angrily at Petyr.
"How does the Crown ever intend to repay such debts?"
Petyr calmly corrected him.
"Lord Stark, forgive for correcting your misunderstanding."
"The Crown's debt is no longer rely three million."
"It has now exceeded six million gold dragons."
Looking at Ned's shocked expression, Littlefinger leisurely exposed the shaful financial reality hidden beneath the Iron Throne.
"The Lannisters remain the Crown's largest creditors."
"But we have also borrowed from House Tyrell, the Iron Bank of Braavos, and even several rchant guilds in Tyrosh."
"In order to maintain the realm's finances, I even had no choice but to seek assistance from the Faith."
"I must admit, His High Holiness the High Septon bargains more fiercely than fishmongers in Dorne."
Ned was now too stunned to even speak.
At this point, no matter how many more creditors Petyr nad, he likely would not have been surprised anymore.
Only after a very long silence did Ned finally inhale deeply and ask,
"The Mad King left behind enormous amounts of gold, silver, and jewels."
"How did the realm decline into such a state?"
Littlefinger rely shrugged.
"The Master of Coin only finds money."
"The King and the Hand are responsible for spending it."
Ned instantly beca speechless once again.
He knew Jon Arryn would never willingly have allowed the realm's finances to deteriorate this badly.
This mountain of debt had clearly been caused by Robert's reckless extravagance.
Pycelle also sighed heavily while the chains around his neck softly clinked together.
"Lord Arryn was indeed ticulous and prudent."
"Alas... His Grace does not always heed wise counsel."
"Lord Stark, regarding the wildlings beyond the Wall, I believe we should proceed cautiously and plan for the long term."
Renly likewise nodded in agreent.
"Yes. The Night's Watch is composed mostly of rapists, thieves, and criminals."
"It is impossible to gather large numbers of such n in a short period of ti."
Even Varys nodded as though the matter were truly difficult.
Seeing everyone react this way, Ned could only let out a helpless sigh.
No matter how much he thought about it, he could not figure out how to resolve the Crown's debt of over six million gold dragons.
At that mont, Petyr once again proposed borrowing from the Lannisters.
But Ned directly shook his head and rejected the suggestion.
It was not because he did not wish to borrow.
Rather, he understood clearly that with the current strained relationship between himself and House Lannister, Tywin Lannister would never willingly lend him even a single gold dragon.
Faced with the kingdom's crushing financial crisis, Ned found himself completely unable to advance support for the Wall.
In the end, the Small Council eting concluded without reaching any resolution.
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