-Chapter 203-

-Chapter 203-

-POV Mellario Martell-

"My dear," said Doran as he joined me at the table, accompanied by Quentyn and Areo Hotah, my former protector.

"Doran," I said to my husband, whom I had left years ago, before turning to my son, now a man.

"How are you, my dear?" I said, caressing his cheek.

"Very well, and you, Mother?" he replied, settling into the seat to my right.

"Perfectly, I couldn’t have slept more comfortably," I said, trying to suppress the smile that threatened to bloom on my face as I watched Arianne arrive, arm in arm with the Emperor, all smiles.

I avoided the Emperor’s annoyed gaze by pretending to grab a bunch of grapes and asked Arianne, "You’re glowing, my daughter."

I could feel the piercing stares from Doran and Quentyn, but I paid them no mind, knowing exactly what I was doing. Arianne had been very clear about the mindset of this young Emperor.

‘Authoritarian, decisive, measured, but ruthless,’ I thought.

"Thank you, Mother," Arianne replied lightly, careful not to express too much joy aloud, as Prince Viserys arrived at the same time and didn’t seem pleased with what he was seeing.

No one said anything after that, and we broke our fast in near silence, save for the occasional glance exchanged between us.

Although Arianne had joined the Emperor in his chambers, it wasn’t hard to understand that nothing had happened between them.

‘Let’s break the ice between these two,’ I thought as I noticed the Emperor searching for the apricot jam.

"Arianne, pass the apricot jam to your husband," I said while cutting into the ham on my plate.

Everyone froze, and they all looked at me as if I had lost my mind, especially Doran, who looked on the verge of fainting.

‘The poor thing, he’s gotten used to my absence, but don’t worry, I’m back to set this family on the right path.’

"Arianne, didn’t you hear me?" I asked, pretending to scold my eldest daughter, who, like the others, was staring at me in disbelief.

"Though I love him with all my heart, I still don’t understand what you see in him," I said, feigning complaint, before widening my eyes in mock surprise and asking, "That’s a great question, by the way. What made you marry my scatterbrained daughter?"

---

-POV MC-

Upon hearing the question from Arianne’s mother, whom I was meeting for the first time, I immediately understood that she was trying to reconcile us by any means, but…

‘My decision is final,’ I thought, although in front of my former mother-in-law, I still had difficulty finding the right words for such a delicate topic.

"It was mostly an alliance of convenience," I said, searching Arianne’s face for confirmation, which she gave with a nod.

‘Even though I’m just telling the truth, she’s hurt,’ I noticed, seeing the fake smile she was forcing.

That was the problem.

When you spend so much time with someone, you start to easily notice everything that’s wrong with them.

"I understand. That’s how it all started with Doran and me as well, an alliance of convenience. I was part of the noble House Rallia from the Free City of Norvos," she said.

"A powerful house," I replied, having a vague idea of the considerable power that family wielded in Norvos.

"Very powerful, and it helped Dorne increase its merchant revenues and fleet," she added, before saying, "A house that could even resolve your little issues with Braavos."

"True, but who says we want to resolve it? We could simply raze that city in fire and blood tomorrow if we felt like it. It’s never wise to provoke the dragon," said Viserys, clearly threatening the Duchess of House Martell.

I furrowed my brow but said nothing, wanting to see how she would handle this.

"Hence the reason for your hasty return from the Summer Isles," she said, pretending to understand something important.

"I’ve learned from my husband that you’ve ordered all noble houses of the Empire to send a portion of their troops to the Wall and gather all the ships to form an imperial fleet to defend Westeros’ shores from Essosi invaders," she said after a few seconds.

I nodded, not too concerned by what she said, as it was no secret that I would have to fight all of Essos’ cities at once, and I had to admit I wasn’t too confident about it. I feared the losses on our side would be too hard to bear.

---

"Coming back to my House, according to my nephew, who leads it, the Priests are divided because few visions have come to them, but the interests of the city clearly align with Braavos."

"Even if it means siding with Lorath? I’ve heard of the bad blood between those two cities."

"If Your Majesty is willing to make them an offer, I’m sure that…"

"My uncle isn’t wrong in saying that I don’t need help from a Free City. The goal of this war is not just to win, but to crush all the forces that will rally to Braavos and Volantis," I said, cutting short the conversation.

"Very well," Mellario said, a bit surprised by my refusal, though she didn’t seem frustrated.

‘At least, if she was, she hid it well,’ I thought.

Having finished my meal, I glanced at Viserys, who, like me, was eager to leave our hosts.

I constantly felt oppressed by a stupid sense of guilt whenever I saw Arianne, clearly depressed.

‘I condemned her to be alone for the rest of her life. I took her children away from her,’ I kept telling myself as I looked at her.

"We still have a long way to go, Duke Doran, so I won’t stay any longer," I said as I got up, motioning for Viserys to follow.

He didn’t hesitate and rose quickly, ready to leave at any moment without even saying goodbye to our hosts.

‘Even if he isn’t obligated to, a bit of politeness toward our hosts wouldn’t hurt. There’s no need to be unpleasant and impolite, especially during wartime,’ I thought, slightly irritated by his behavior.

"I wish you a safe journey. I can’t speak for the other houses of Dorne, like the Yronwood, but House Martell and its… friends," he said, searching for a word other than vassals, "will answer Your Majesty’s call to arms."

I nodded and said, "Thank you, and I haven’t forgotten the promise I made to you."

Understanding what I meant, his eyes lit up slightly, and then I made my way out.

---

-POV Mellario Martell-

Seeing the Emperor leave, I gave Arianne a furious look, pressuring her with my eyes to follow her husband.

Under the weight of my gaze, she stood up and ran after the Emperor. Knowing full well that Doran wouldn’t agree, I preempted his reaction by saying, "Divorce doesn’t exist in Westeros. You taught me that, didn’t you, my dear husband?"

The words he was about to utter got stuck in his throat, and I continued, "He’s a Targaryen. He can have as many wives as he wants, but Arianne must become the mother of his children again and be reintegrated into the court."

"And how do you plan to achieve that?" Doran asked as he served me a cup of tea.

"According to some of my friends at court, Empress Daenerys Targaryen is not pleased with the prominence of the Duchess Regent of Casterly Rock, Cersei Lannister," I said, signaling to him to stop pouring, as I didn’t want too much.

"You’re scheming with Ellaria?" Doran asked sharply, though not raising his voice.

"I’m not scheming; she’s trying to redeem herself with our house," I replied, stirring my tea to dissolve the sugar I had just added.

"Leaving aside the fact that you’re aligning yourself with the cause of all this, I want to know how you intend to convince the Emperor to bring Arianne back to court. They’re no longer… together," Doran said, avoiding the term "married."

"To do that, we must first remind this young man that this whole divorce business is an illusion. Marriage is for life, as you yourself said. Every couple has rough patches, but they must learn to forgive," I said seriously, convinced this plan could work.

"Forgive?" Quentyn said, almost mockingly, before adding, "I can assure you that forgiveness is not something our Emperor practices often."

"But he does practice it. He’s done it many times. The fact that many who deserve death are still alive today proves it," I retorted.

"Most of those people owe their lives to the reigning Empress," Doran added, his eyes fixed on a distant point.

‘A sign that his mind was racing, devising some plan or solution,’ I thought, disliking this, for it was how he had decided to take my two children away from me, one after the other.

"Arianne has lost her title as Empress, Doran. That’s over. I’m not fighting for that. I’m fighting so that my daughter doesn’t suffer the same torment as I did," I said, refocusing Doran, as I could sense he was straying from the path I wanted to follow.

Doran nodded slightly, but I could see he hadn’t abandoned the idea slowly germinating in his mind.

‘Whatever he does, it doesn’t matter much anymore,’ I thought, deciding to focus solely on the well-being of my daughter and my grandchildren.

---

-POV MC-

"You didn’t need to be so tactless; we were their guests," I said, reprimanding Viserys for his behavior.

He shrugged and replied in an aggressive tone, "We are no one’s guests on our own land. We own the entire continent."

"I am the owner of this continent, and if I showed courtesy to our hosts, you should have done the same," I said, grabbing his arm and glaring at him, my annoyance gradually turning into anger.

Viserys stared at me for a few seconds before pulling away and saying, "I didn’t mean to offend you, but that… woman irritated me. She was clearly insinuating—no, she didn’t even insinuate it, she outright said it. She said you were her daughter’s husband, which denies your marriage to Daenerys."

"That’s irrelevant. We’re Targaryens. I can marry whoever I want and as many women as I want," I replied, understanding the logic behind Mellario Martell’s words.

"You agree with her?" Viserys asked, surprised.

I sighed and said, "I don’t agree with her, but…"

"But?" Viserys asked.

"But divorce isn’t recognized in Westeros. Maybe in other places, but not under the Faith of the Seven. And it’s within that faith that we were united," I explained.

"You could force the High Septon to annul the marriage," he suggested.

"I could…" I said, not finishing my sentence.

"But?" he asked again.

"But I can’t do that to her. She’s at her breaking point, I can feel it. I’ve already taken her title and her children from her. Doing this would be the final blow," I said, irritated because I didn’t want her to fall into madness, depression, or even take her own life over this.

"So what?" he asked, clearly indifferent to the consequences.

"I can’t do that," I stated firmly.

"Can’t, or don’t want to separate from her for good?" Viserys asked, narrowing his eyes as if trying to read my thoughts.

I furrowed my brow, and just then, Arianne appeared behind us and called out to me.

"Go ahead, I’ll catch up," I told Viserys, not giving him time to reply.

He let out a loud sigh before leaving, but not without glaring at Arianne.

I waited until he had walked a few steps away before finally saying, "Seems like he doesn’t like me as much as he used to."

"You used to be an empress," I said, and it was only after seeing Arianne’s hurt expression that I realized my joke was in poor taste.

"I’m sorry. I tried to joke, but it was insensitive of me to joke about that," I admitted.

"No, it’s nothing. I understand. You have every right to be angry; I would be too, if I were in your shoes," she said in a hollow voice, holding back the torrent of tears that threatened to spill at any moment.

‘She’s lost all her fire, her boldness, her joy,’ I thought, watching Arianne now dressed in dark robes, with a white veil covering her hair.

I wanted to tell her I was sorry for casting her aside, but the truth was, I wasn’t. She wasn’t meant to be Empress.

It was sad to admit, but at this moment, all I felt was pity for her.

Away from the court’s endless plots and intrigues, I had gotten to know her, and I had come to appreciate the lively person who had shared my daily life.

"I was angry, but soon my fury turned toward those truly responsible for the attack that had hit us. I was so enraged that I burned an entire city without caring about how many lives would be lost due to that fire consuming me from the inside out," I said, placing a hand under her chin to lift it.

"I forgave you a long time ago. You may not be Empress anymore, but your mother is right about one thing: you’re still the mother of Aemon and Visenya, and in the eyes of the Faith, you’re still my wife," I said, trying to lift her spirits.

"And in your eyes?" she asked, her gaze full of hope.

‘A hope I didn’t want to crush.’

"That’s a very good question, and honestly, I don’t have an answer right now," I admitted, because even though I no longer saw her as my partner, we shared an unbreakable bond through our children.

‘A bond that makes me worry about her mental health,’ I thought, noticing how much weight she had lost.

"But I promise I’ll think about it and give you an answer when this war is over."

"You promise?" she asked, her eyes filled with hope.

"I swear. But in the meantime, I want you to stop acting like you’re a widow. Regain your strength, your color. Eat well and wait for my answer," I said gently.

Arianne nodded, and I kissed her forehead before walking away, not looking back, unsure if I would have the courage to return and give her a negative answer if that was my final decision.