Chapter 562

After confirming that the man on the bed wouldn’t wake anytime soon, Daenerys decisively left with her Unsullied guard, returning to her quarters to handle more urgent matters.

This delay in Aegor's “recovery” was entirely deliberate. If he neither participated in nor directed the investigation, whatever the outcome, the damage to his image in the queen's eyes would be significantly minimized. By staying uninvolved, he could shield himself from unnecessary scrutiny and suspicion. Without him as a suspect, the remaining options were enemies Daenerys would have to face eventually, making the choices simpler for her.

A falsehood can never truly pass for the truth. Framing someone is, at its core, a fabricated act—flaws and inconsistencies inevitably surface. No matter how meticulously the false evidence is constructed, it cannot rewrite reality. Besides, this scheme had been hastily put together with minimal preparation. How could it be perfect?

Qyburn had provided Aegor, who was deep in thought and running in mental circles, with a new perspective: the world is full of those who cannot proclaim their innocence—not just the dead, but another kind entirely.

This explanation might seem cold and calculating, but for a practical strategy rather than a scientific rule, it was pointless to debate its “rightness.” It was enough to acknowledge that this counterintuitive phenomenon frequently appeared in human interactions and to learn how to exploit it effectively.

...

Aegor mulled over the idea for a long time, his frown deepening with each thought.

The key was ensuring that whoever was framed couldn’t clear their name.

...

Requesting the queen to shed her own blood to save him was a calculated use of the Benjamin Franklin effect: people instinctively feel closer to those they’ve helped. But even a performance needed to be convincing, and selecting the right “framed target” was no trivial matter for Aegor. After briefly considering some impulsive revenge choices, he rejected the idea. He couldn’t afford to act like a child, exacting petty vengeance on anyone who annoyed him. Not yet. Until victory was within reach, personal vendettas had to be set aside.

When viewed through the lens of cold pragmatism, the truth was clear: openly breaking with the Boltons, for instance, would mean immediately losing two thousand spearmen and shield-bearers. Worse, it would require destroying this elite force to eliminate the threat they posed, turning allies into enemies and undermining his own cause. Such recklessness could not be justified simply for the sake of satisfaction.

Eliminating one troublesome faction and pinning the blame on another seemed clever—until something went wrong. A minor oversight could allow a surviving “culprit” to unravel the entire plan, undoing everything he’d worked so hard to achieve.

So, who would be the best choice?

The human instinct to avoid losses leads to a paradox: people tend to favor those they’ve helped in the past, fearing that abandoning them would render their prior efforts wasted. Aegor was keenly aware of this phenomenon. The Franklin effect had been weaponized when Daenerys spilled her blood for him—an investment that bound her closer to him. Subtly, it planted the idea in her mind that he would be grateful and loyal to her. Such unconscious beliefs were far more powerful than any verbal promises or shows of fealty. In the long run, it would make “feigning loyalty” far easier for Aegor.

As Tolstoy once described it: “We do not love people because they have been good to us, but because we have been good to them.” Stripped down to its essence, people love not others themselves, but the investments—time, effort, and emotion—they’ve poured into them. Those investments, like chips on a gambling table, are too painful to abandon.

With that in mind, Aegor realized another key opportunity. By feigning unconsciousness for a few more days, he could evoke the “loss and recovery” effect. When Daenerys finally witnessed him awaken, she would feel an amplified sense of relief and joy. Any previous frustrations would pale in comparison to the thrill of his return, strengthening their bond without any additional effort.

Lying motionless in bed, Aegor let out a long sigh of relief. Pretending to be unconscious was harder than it seemed. If Daenerys had chosen to stay by his side, the act would have been unbearable. Thankfully, she’d left, allowing everything to proceed as planned. Not only would he remain “unconscious” tonight, but he intended to stay that way for the next two or three days. Beyond enhancing the realism of the poisoning, this delay served to manipulate Daenerys’s emotions, smoothing the path for his role as her key advisor in uniting the Seven Kingdoms.

...

In this particular situation, Daenerys’s bloodletting had already sparked her investment in Aegor. Now, even as she left the room, a fleeting desire to stay and witness him awaken tugged at her. She imagined sitting at his bedside, her presence the first thing he saw when his eyes opened—a moment sure to move him deeply. Yet, reason won out. She couldn’t afford to lower herself to that of a doting mother or devoted wife. Her station as queen demanded otherwise, for spending too much time at Aegor’s side would diminish her authority and invite unwanted speculation about her attachment to him.

...

Ultimately, Aegor’s framing scheme had another purpose: ensuring the investigation led nowhere conclusive. Why leave the blame on one specific faction and risk backlash when he could turn it into an unsolvable mystery? While wrongful accusations could be overturned with enough evidence, a cold case—one mired in missing evidence and lost witnesses—was nearly impossible to reopen. By leveraging this, Aegor could deflect suspicion while still tightening his grip on the queen’s trust.

To Daenerys, however, the matter wasn’t so simple. She wasn’t looking for a scapegoat—she wanted the truth. This forced Aegor to tread carefully, ensuring every step of his plan avoided exposure. Yet, no matter how thoroughly he analyzed and strategized, he found himself unable to eliminate all potential risks.

The suspects were numerous: Northern lords, Stannis Baratheon, the young Aegon supported by the Golden Company, and the coalition of slave cities across the Narrow Sea. Aegor even considered adding Roose Bolton to the mix—a calculated inclusion, given Roose’s cunning nature and his recent hostile moves against the Gifted. If anyone deserved to be framed, it was him. But even that option carried risks.

At the heart of it all, Aegor wasn’t interested in clearing his name or identifying the real poisoner. The entire investigation was theater, a performance designed to give Daenerys a target for her frustration while subtly steering her toward his ultimate goals. By the time the dust settled, she would be emotionally dependent on him, her most trusted ally in an increasingly unstable world.