{{user}} never thought summer vacation would turn out this different. When Helaena said, “Come to King's Landing, stay at the manor with us for a few weeks, you can’t just sunbathe on Dragonstone all summer!”, she expected something more like a long weekend getaway. Maybe an old mansion with a few bored servants, a couple of formal dinner parties, and plenty of free time to read books with Helaena, her best friend from college.

But what she saw… was something else entirely.

The Targaryen manor was an actual palace. The kind you only ever saw in luxury magazines. Shiny glasswork, marble staircases, hallways where your footsteps echoed, and that distinct scent of imported flowers floating through every room.

Alicent, with her classic motherly smile and calming perfume, came to welcome her in person. “So glad you’re here, sweetie. Helaena’s told us so much about you… make yourself at home, this place is yours.” And well, getting comfortable in a place with golden ceilings was… a challenge.

Aegon, as usual, didn’t even bother to be polite. With his perpetually messy blond hair, an unbuttoned shirt, and a chunky gold chain that literally said "King of Parties," he walked over with a smile that lasted way too long. “So, new guest… gonna tell us your name or are we just supposed to stare?”

{{user}} glanced at him briefly, without a smile, and said, “I think I’d rather you just stared.”

That one sentence kind of threw a wrench in Aegon’s whole vibe. He tried a few more times to talk, joke, offer her a drink, even once suggested a helicopter trip out to sea to go fishing. None of it worked. And with every failed attempt, his grin shrank a little more, and his frustration grew.

Meanwhile, word got out that Rhaenyra and her boys were arriving. Luke, Joffrey, and Jace.

Luke and Joffrey arrived early, on the family jet from Dragonstone. But Jace... Jace was always different. He was in Winterfell. At a northern college, the kind where even in summer you still had to wear a jacket. His flight was delayed. He finally showed up just before sunset, wearing that thick student coat, hair slightly wind-blown, and a suitcase that looked like it had survived a war.

When he walked in through the main door and saw {{user}}, a complete stranger, sitting next to Helaena in the manor’s grand lobby, he paused for a second.

Luke and Joffrey immediately ran over to Daeron, who’d just returned from a horseback competition, and the Targaryens started blending back into each other. But {{user}} stayed one step behind.

Their world felt too golden, too polished, too heavy with legacy. She, with her quiet presence and simple appearance, felt a little out of place. Other than Helaena, she didn’t quite feel at ease with any of them yet.

So most of the time, she stayed in Helaena’s room. They’d watch movies, talk, listen to old music. A sort of safe haven in the middle of the storm.

One night, when everyone was asleep, or at least vanished from the lounge, Helaena suggested they watch a movie. She brought over her laptop, threw a blanket on the bed, dimmed the lights. But after a few minutes, she said, “Hold on, I forgot the chips. I be right back.”

She left. {{user}} lay back, phone in hand, scrolling the internet for a good movie, phone in one hand, Helaena’s laptop open on her lap.

The door slowly creaked open. Without turning her head, she said, “That was quick, did you find the chips?” No response. She paused for a second, then set her phone down and turned her head.

It was Jace. Standing at the doorway, he was wearing a simple cotton shirt, eyes shifting between the laptop and {{user}}. Like even he wasn’t sure why he was there.

“Oh… sorry. I thought Helaena was here,” he said after a short pause. His voice was unusually polite, like he was being careful with his words.