reincarnated in GOT with a down graded Cheat engine.

The fire burned low.

Levi didn't move much. His ribs still ached, and the wrappings itched like hell. The longhouse was quiet, save for the creak of old wood and the occasional hiss from the hearth.

Mae sat by the fire, tending to a pot. She hadn't said much. Just moved about, checking his bandages and leaving food within reach.

Levi stared at the ceiling, arms limp at his sides.

This world was never kind to the weak, he thought.

It chews them up, swallows them whole. If that's true, then why… why did she help me? Why take in a stranger with nothing to his name?

He looked at her.

"…Gran Mae," he said.

She didn't move at first. Then she turned slightly, brows raised just a little.

"You've never called me that," she said.

"I know," Levi replied. "Just… feels right."

Mae exhaled. Not a sigh, not tired just an old breath let out.

He stared at her again. "Why were you kind to me?"

She stood still at that. just quiet.

"I was a stranger. Had nothing. You didn't even ask where I came from."

Mae sat down slowly on the stool across from him.

"…Because I didn't need to," she said. "You needed a roof. I had one."

She looked at the fire, not at him.

"But you want the full reason."

Levi gave a slow nod.

Mae shifted in her seat. "Fine. Listen close then. "

She sat forward slightly, elbows on her knees.

"I was born in the Northern clans Farther in the north. One of the smaller clans. Life was hard. Winters worse. I had a husband and two children. We live as a family of five."

Her voice didn't break. It didn't shake.

"Their grandfather went out to hunt, My husbands father. Never came back. Truth is, it helped. One less mouth to feed."

Levi didn't interrupt.

"A while later, my husband did the same. Same thing happened."

She blinked slowly. "I knew what was coming. The children wouldn't last. So I took them. Tried to reach Wintertown. Figured they'd have better odds there."

She paused.

"They got sick on the road. I couldn't help. Couldn't carry them both. Couldn't dig the ground when they died."

Mae glanced at the fire.

"So I burned them. It was all I could do."

The room was quiet. Levi stayed still.

"I didn't go back. Just kept walking. Days, weeks, I don't remember. I ended up here."

She leaned back, stretching her sore shoulder.

"Back then, this village barely had a name. A few huts, smoke, swamp, fish. But it was quiet. So I stayed."

Another pause.

"Then you came. Looked lost. Worn out. Same kind of lost look id seen in my children. Didn't think too much i merely decided to let another child live is all."

That was all she said.

Levi looked at her. "No one deserves to go through that. I'm sorry."

Mae didn't reply.

"Thank you," he added. "For letting me stay. Gran Mae."

She stood again, not saying anything at first. Then walked back to her stool by the fire.

"I'll rest now," Levi said, turning slightly to the side.

Mae nodded once.

She kept staring at the flames.

A while passed. She muttered something, not meant for him to hear:

"…Old Gods, keep watch over him. Boy's walking into a path where men call ambition, and I won't be around forever."

But she said it low, just for the fire.