No one knows why, or how? This sounds like a question that requires someone skilled at getting information without anyone knowing that's what they're doing. He doesn't have the spies in place who could bring him information of that sort, but he built the network once, he can do it again. If some are 'hosts' and some are 'guests,' perhaps that information can be useful as well.
"It often happens that those who inhabit a place are unaware of precisely how that place works." Robert might have been the king, but it was the Small Council that actually did more of the day-to-day running of the kingdom. He suspects that most of the inhabitants of King's Landing wouldn't have even heard of the Small Council, much less been able to name any of its members.
The introduction piques his interest. This is not a House or an Empire he's heard of. He knows that the world consists of more than the seven kingdoms of Westeros, the Iron Islands, the Free Cities, and whatever's north of the Wall, but no one ever talks of those places. This man must be from one of them.
"Lord Petyr Baelish, from the seven kingdoms of Westeros."
no subject
"It often happens that those who inhabit a place are unaware of precisely how that place works." Robert might have been the king, but it was the Small Council that actually did more of the day-to-day running of the kingdom. He suspects that most of the inhabitants of King's Landing wouldn't have even heard of the Small Council, much less been able to name any of its members.
The introduction piques his interest. This is not a House or an Empire he's heard of. He knows that the world consists of more than the seven kingdoms of Westeros, the Iron Islands, the Free Cities, and whatever's north of the Wall, but no one ever talks of those places. This man must be from one of them.
"Lord Petyr Baelish, from the seven kingdoms of Westeros."