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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Halfdan and his fiancée, Bóthilda, arrived first.
“Halfdan!”
“Haha! Brother! You’re looking well! This is the woman who will be my wife, Bóthilda!”
“It is an honor to meet you, Konungr Helgi Ragnarsson.”
Bóthilda.
The word ‘bót’ was an ancient word that few among the Northmen would know. This word, with a slightly long ‘o’ sound, meant ‘son.’
A name that well reflected the wish of Bagsecg, the Konungr of the Jutes, who, unlike my father, did not have children easily.
However, Bagsecg, who did not reveal his own disappointment to his child, was said to have instead treated Halfdan as if he were his own son.
Did infertility exist in this era too?
The brightly smiling, typical northern beauty had brown hair, and blue eyes that matched Halfdan’s green ones.
It was my first time meeting Bóthilda, and this textbook northern noblewoman seemed surprised, first by my height, and then by Inga’s height next to me.
This was the first expression most people had when they saw tall people like us.
“I am pleased to meet you, Bóthilda. This is the woman who will be my wife, Inga.”
“Jarl Halfdan, Bóthilda.”
At my words, Inga, blushing slightly and bowing her head, was, I’m sorry to say, so beautiful that she even erased the image of the Bóthilda I had just seen from my mind.
But as the host, I couldn’t just leave my guests standing outside forever. Soon coming to my senses, I guided my brother and his wife-to-be and walked toward the longhouse.
It was located not far from the wharf, and since we had put great effort into digging drainage channels and paving the roads within the city, Bóthilda seemed a bit surprised by the incredibly clean path.
The funny thing was that next to her, Halfdan, who was setting foot in Aros for the first time in a while, was also amazed by the road, which was covered in a lot of stones and gravel.
“Laying the stones like this does make it look different, doesn’t it? My feet feel much more comfortable.”
“We dug up the ground, then placed stones with one side smoothed down on top, and filled the gaps with gravel. This piece of work took quite a lot of effort, more than it looks.”
“Really? I thought you just hammered in a few stones?”
Halfdan and Bóthilda’s expressions simultaneously changed from ‘Should I make one for our house too?’ to ‘Turns out it’s just a bothersome task.’
This couple, older than Inga and me, soon made playful faces at each other.
And in that moment, I had the thought that perhaps their marriage was not just a simple political arrangement.
‘They’re being all lovey-dovey over here, too. Then I can’t hold back either.’
[Sli-de]
On my right were Halfdan and Bóthilda, and on my left was Inga.
I slyly moved my left arm and linked it with Inga’s, and Inga, wrapping her arm around mine, looked extremely happy.
We had been lacking this kind of intimate time, what with the festival preparations and now suddenly having to prepare for a wedding.
But perhaps because we were too close to hide such a subtle movement, it was caught by Halfdan’s radar, who had an unnecessarily sharp sense of things.
Naturally, true to being one of our brothers, where no one except Ubba was not a rascal, Halfdan immediately threw a mischievous joke.
“Be careful, brother. You’re not supposed to have physical relations before marriage. Right? Hilda?”
“Halfdan…”
Halfdan, who waggled his eyebrows up and down roguishly and smiled at Hilda, and Bóthilda, who smiled as if she couldn’t help but be charmed by his comical appearance.
Thanks to the two of them giggling, the blush on Inga’s face deepened, and she hugged my left arm even tighter, making my heart very content.
“Yes, we do have to be careful. Though Sigurd’s thoughts seemed to have been a little different.”
“Ah- Sigurd. The bravest brother among us…!”
Halfdan, who was still giggling, took my words. This energetic brother soon seemed to grow dizzy at the thought of the completely unpredictable Sigurd, and he shook his head slightly.
“Among the brothers, I’ve spent the most time with that one, but I still can’t figure out what’s in his head. He said he would never get married in his life, and now suddenly, he’s gotten her pregnant? Hel, my goodness. Thanks to him, I get to marry Hilda a little sooner, which is nice, but ah- I’m worried about him.”
Just moments ago he was teasing me, but now, perhaps seeing how good Inga and I looked, Halfdan, who had linked his right arm with Hilda’s, shook his head with an overly dramatic acting tone as if he were deeply heartbroken, and to play along, I threw him a question.
“Why? Because of Mother?”
“That’s right! Because of Mother. I sometimes think my mother can breathe fire from her chest. You grew up under the wise and benevolent High Priestess, Mother Asta, so you wouldn’t know, but on the days my mother gets truly angry, Father would immediately start packing his bags. It’s true, I’m not just saying it to be funny.”
“Pfft, stop it, Halfdan. Where is the man who speaks so ill of his mother in front of his wife-to-be?”
Bóthilda and Inga, thinking it was a joke, laughed under their breath, and Halfdan, who had trained himself for many years under the dragon’s breath, and I, who roughly knew the truth, had slightly awkward expressions, but we soon couldn’t help but smile brightly.
Because as we laughed and chatted while walking, we had arrived at the entrance of the longhouse where our two mothers were waiting.
“Halfdan, Bóthilda. My goodness…! Hilda, you’ve become even more beautiful…!”
“Drottning Aslaug, Bóthilda greets you. Drottning Asta, have you been well.”
“Bóthilda, welcome. The goddess smiles upon your visit.”
“Thank you, Asta.”
The dragon (Aslaug), who had not yet gotten her desired prey, hid her ominous intentions and greeted us with a bright smile.
Aslaug had sensed something was off from Halfdan’s sheepish smile, but thankfully, my stepmother said nothing and gently embraced her son and prospective daughter-in-law.
Of course, within her, she was surely harboring a flame that could devour a man whole.
After such light greetings, it was a family time that we had for the first time in a while amidst our hectically busy days.
As we laughed and shared all sorts of old stories in a warm atmosphere, while I was secretly holding hands with Inga under the table.
Refil, who had been tracking the movements of the various Konungrs and Jarls, slipped in and informed us that Bjorn, who was in Uppsala, was departing, and that Sigurd and Ubba would also be coming with our eldest brother.
In that moment, my and Halfdan’s eyes met, and we simultaneously looked at Mother Aslaug. And we could see the image of our mother, who, like an Asura with a face split not side-to-side but top-to-bottom, had a bright smile on her lips, but a vein popping on her forehead and eyes that had transformed to resemble those of a tiger.
As if he foresaw the fate of his back being burned by his mother’s hand, Sigurd seemed to be moving slowly.
In reality, he was probably more concerned about the pregnant Aethelthryth.
Anyway, just in case we might provoke the mood of Mother Aslaug, who was freely displaying a sinister aura with a clearly smiling face, my brother and I moved from the old town to the new town area.
Though the only house in this area was my own, which was still under construction, that was the plan for now.
My own mother, Asta, had led Inga and Bóthilda away, saying they would have some women-only time.
What was there for two men left behind to do? Feeling uncomfortable facing Hrolfr, whose eyes had become particularly gaunt due to the increased workload, I quickly led Halfdan to my new house.
His byname was Hvitserk. As you can tell from ‘White-Shirt,’ Halfdan, a man who was out of step with his time and was incredibly fussy about cleanliness even among the clean Northmen, was naturally very impressed upon seeing my new house.
A large house that had now gone beyond the foundation and was slowly having high-quality wood stacked up.
Following Leon’s basic design and my requests, the main pillars were built with sturdy stone, creating a mansion with space up to the third floor without any load-bearing burden.
Besides the house, the space that took up about a third of the large hill was also planned to have a garden, a tall tower, and a space for cute reindeer to run around.
It had become a kind of palace with a strong Roman flavor, quite different from the traditional longhouses.
Of course, the part that impressed Halfdan was none other than the existence of the sewage system and the toilet placed outside the house.
“So I’d like to make a toilet out of porcelain if I could, but I still don’t know how to make it. I know I have to fire clay, but.”
The toilet was the biggest problem. To think that the pure white toilet I had used so casually without a second thought in the 21st century was a product of such high technology.
Halfdan didn’t seem to understand a single word I was saying, but he kept nodding his head and looking around my half-completed mansion.
“Helgi, my beloved brother…! How much silver is needed to build a house like this?”
Oh-. He didn’t even glance at the road, but his eyes are definitely on the house.
“It’s a matter of technology more than money. People are a problem too. No one has ever done this before. I wouldn’t have even tried if it weren’t for Leon.”
“Leon? You mean the Roman you brought from Miklagard?”
“That’s the Leon. First, when this building is complete, I’ll invite you. With Hilda. You can see it again then and decide whether to build the same house in Roskilde.”
“Helgi, my most admired brother in this world…! If Hilda says she likes it too, how much would the price be…?”
From my point of view, Hilda’s opinion was already secondary; Halfdan, who seemed to like it very much himself, would surely want a house like this.
This is what civilization is. If you don’t know, you don’t know, but once you do, you can’t escape it.
“The price…? Rather than that, let’s make it a gift. As a sign of my goodwill as a Konungr to a Jarl, and to the Konungr of the Jutes and his daughter.”
It would boost Halfdan’s prestige, gain the goodwill of the Jutes, and give the craftsmen some experience.
It was a result of my own calculations, but Halfdan’s eyes were filled with emotion.
“Konungr Helgi…! I will offer my unchanging loyalty for a thousand years…!”
“Why are you being so gross?”
I subdued Halfdan, who was clinging to me with a moved face, with one hand. And as I was admiring the sight of my new and beautiful house a bit more, I saw Storolf running from afar.
If Refil was busy with administrative and office work with his own brother Eric, then Storolf was in charge of the overall security for the royal family, including me.
Seeing the new talent handling the work that Hrolfr had originally been in charge of all by himself, I could feel the passage of time.
For some reason, it felt like Storolf always came running whenever there was an urgent matter, which was primarily because Storolf, as the head of the guards, filtered the reports from messengers and dispatches.
He would remember the trivial stuff and tell me later, and report the important things right away.
Just like now.
“Konungr Helgi! Jarl Bjorn, Sigurd, and Ubba are said to have passed through the east gate!”
Constantinople had numerous gates, but our Aros had only three for now. East, west, and north. The south was directly on the coast, so no gate was needed.
“Ah-. The storm-bringer has finally arrived. Shall we go see that handsome face of his?”
Halfdan, already grinning from ear to ear at the thought of teasing Sigurd, hurried his steps, and I, equally excited, followed behind him.
A troublemaker is always a nuisance, but there is also no one as funny to watch from the side.
I was also curious to see how Sigurd, who had brought about the unprecedented event of a ‘simultaneous wedding of three brothers,’ would calm down our stepmother Aslaug, and to be honest, I also wanted to see the breath of an enraged female dragon.
[Thump-thump-thump-thump!]
“Hey- let’s go together, Helgi!”
Had there ever been a time I was this happy to see Sigurd?
I ran, cutting through the wind, to meet my brother who was walking into his scheduled death.
Lightly overtaking the frail bridegroom, Halfdan, I ran down the gentle slope, and it didn’t take long to reach the massive palisade wall.
My new house was to be on a hill close to the east gate in the first place, and I was also fast.
Had I run about halfway?
In the distance, a cluster of warriors was turning their heads this way and that, dazedly observing Aros, the central city of the Northman society that was undergoing a great change.
“Sigurd! Bjorn! Ubba!”
As I ran, I called out my brothers’ names, full of gladness, and soon the warriors, a mix of Angles and Northmen, bowed their heads to me and opened a path.
“Konungr Helgi…!”
“Konungr Helgi Ragnarsson!”
In the gap between the warriors who had cleared my path in advance, I finally saw the beaming faces of my brothers, and especially, the figure of a small woman next to Sigurd caught my eye.
She had impressive red hair, but the features of her face somehow resembled Aella of Northumbria a little.
The moment I saw her, the images of my father and Aella flashed through my mind like lightning.
It was Aethelthryth, the woman carrying Sigurd’s child.
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