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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Inga was beautiful.
How beautiful? She was just beautiful.
What kind of modifier could I attach to that? It would only be a classless embellishment that would lower Inga’s beauty by a level.
That woman is too good for me.
I had thought I would live my whole life without ever saying such self-deprecating words, but despite living a second life and even receiving a mental strength buff, her breathtaking beauty for a moment almost made my legs give out.
[Clap, clap, clap, clap-!]
“
!
!
@!*&”
“!$!)^!&^*-!!”
I could tell that along with the sound of applause, the officiant, Hrolf, was saying something, and the surrounding guests were all laughing and shouting, but the content wasn’t registering in my head.
I just stared blankly at her face and laughed with her, laughed again seeing her face and ears turn red, and laughed even harder seeing her give me an unreadable signal with her eyes.
And in the midst of that, I suddenly felt Halfdan and Sigurd’s hands poking my side, and at the same time, I heard Hrolf’s voice.
“Konungr Helgi, Konungr…! Do you pledge?”
“…I pledge. I will love and cherish this person before my eyes for my entire life.”
“Then take down the rings from the sword’s tip and place them on each other’s hands. That will be the proof of your pledge.”
Is this the difference between one who enjoys the event and one who has prepared and managed it?
Seeing the fatigue more apparent than joy and happiness on Hrolf’s face, my senses slowly returned.
I took the ring from the tip of the short sword, which I didn’t even know when it had been placed in my hand, and carefully slipped it onto her pale hand.
The ruby ring I had used for my proposal before.
Next, Inga, her face flushed bright red, also took the ring with an equally impressive red jewel from the sword held in her hand and placed it on my finger.
Her hands were trembling so much, perhaps from being so nervous. I gently took them and lowered them.
The sight of her, with a bright red face, lifting her brown eyes that seemed to shine under her dark eyebrows to look at my face, seemed to awaken some unknown impulse deep inside me.
As I was smiling back at her bright smile, Sigurd and Aethelred, and Halfdan and Bóthilda, who had performed the same ritual on either side of me, were also facing each other and smiling.
Mother Asta, Bjorn, Ivarr, and Ubba approached us.
Mother Asta quietly recited a dialect that only the priests could understand, praying for the blessing of the goddess Hel and the other gods, and the other brothers took the prepared cloth and began to tie the hands of the bride and groom, which were wearing the rings, together as one.
On Bjorn and Ivarr’s faces, there was a mix of amusement and mischief, and a certain incomprehensible feeling of pity, but no one could open their mouths.
In this moment of sacred oath, the only one who could speak was the High Priestess, Asta.
While the goddess’s sacred blessing descended upon us three couples through my mother’s mouth, my brothers slowly wrapped the cloth around our hands nine times and pressed it firmly, then returned to their places. Finally, my mother’s blessing also came to an end.
“You will always remember this cloth that has bound your two hands. It has been tied in the name of the goddess Hel and the gods, and all those present here will be its witnesses. If there is anyone who opposes the pledge of these people, made here in this place with the blessing of the gods, speak up.”
[Thump-]
How such a voice could come from that slender body. My mother’s voice, which felt different from that of an ordinary person, resounded with gravity, and as she struck the ground with the wooden staff in her hand, a solemn silence fell upon the hall.
No, rather than solemn, they were expressions as if preparing for a great explosion that was about to happen.
“…With this, under the gaze of gods and men, I declare that these three men and women have become husband and wife. May Hel watch over you.”
“May she watch over them…!”
“O Hel.”
Among the people who had all bowed their heads, the three couples were still beaming.
My mother, looking at us, gently chided.
“What are you all doing? Hurry up and kiss.”
The first to move at those words was Bóthilda.
The sight of Bóthilda snatching Halfdan like a lightning bolt was like that of an eagle, and surprisingly, unlike Halfdan who had closed his eyes and was lost in the situation, her two eyes were wide open, like a bird of prey preparing its meal.
Next was Inga, and then Aethelred.
‘Gasp-‘
I didn’t know where a person who had been trembling with a completely red face had found such courage, but Inga pulled my neck down hard, her lips and something beyond them touched mine, and soon I too closed my eyes.
“Yehey-! Hehey-! Yahaa-!”
“O Freyja! O Hel! Do not let them sleep tonight!”
“Uahaha! Hail the Konungr! Hail Aros! Hail the sons of Ragnar!”
“What are the bards doing!? Hurry up and sing! Sing the song of the hero who had a hundred children!”
“There’s no such hero!”
“Uha-hahaha!”
Soon, thunderous cheers and shouts filled the wide expanse of Aros.
After that, we threw off all the complicated things, and a time of laughter and enjoyment followed.
For the Northmen, whose usual pastimes were farming, sailing, fishing, drinking and fighting, watching swimming races, and cockfights, someone’s wedding was in itself a chance to let loose and have fun.
This was the same for those of high station. The handsome grooms and brides went around offering thanks and sharing drinks, the bards sang ceaselessly, showing off their voices.
And in the midst of all the laughter, the clinking of glasses, and the fragrant smell of meat, the feast that had started in the late afternoon finally passed sunset, and the time came for the brides and grooms to depart.
While mischievous people sang in unison songs like “Beware the bear- maiden! Beware the bear- traveler!” and threw teasing jokes disguised as blessings from here and there, the new brides and grooms, who had already lost all their attention to each other, followed the guidance of the master of this grand event, Hrolf, and hurried to the buildings assigned to them.
Inga and I, our Konungr couple, also headed not to the existing longhouse or the new house on the eastern hill, but to a small and cozy house specially built in preparation for this wedding.
Inga’s handmaidens, little girls, followed us on the path, and next to me, Refil, Hrolf, Storolf, and Eric also followed.
As we walked along the path, where the surrounding trees and roadsides were decorated with beautiful cloths and flowers, a very pretty wooden house came into view, situated in a place with a clear view of the sea in front of Aros.
Though my body doesn’t get drunk no matter how much I drink, for some reason, looking at the dreamlike atmosphere of the sea and the house, and the sight of the people surrounding it and cheering, my body felt languid.
To be honest, the biggest reason was the presence of Inga, who had been stuck to my side all day.
I soon chased away the people and vassals who had followed me all the way to the front of my house and were going on about that ‘beware the bear’ nonsense, sent back even the giggling girls who couldn’t have known what they were talking about, and then, taking Inga’s hand, sat down with her on a long bench that the sensible Leon had prepared, and we watched the sea turning a dark purple together.
Perhaps because she was very weary, Inga’s face, as she leaned her head on my shoulder and gently closed her eyes, looked incredibly peaceful and happy.
‘Can I maintain this peace for her?’
Looking down at her face and feeling the sea breeze, I thought of my father, and I thought of my status as Konungr.
The numerous problems I had forgotten during the joyful day slowly crawled out and knocked on my cerebrum and hippocampus.
Problems named reality, showing their obsession, as if asking, ‘You haven’t forgotten us, have you?’
“Hmm-”
Letting out a small breath through my nose, I buried my head in the crown of Inga’s, and she, who had been leaning against me, lifted her head and looked at me.
And the moment our eyes met, as if by a lie, the numerous worries swirling in my head all disappeared.
“…Shall we go in?”
“…Shall we?”
And so, our clumsy but did-everything-anyway couple held each other’s hands and entered the house, which was heavily decorated with nameless flowers.
From the size of the door to the furniture, everything in the house had been made one size larger in consideration of our bodies.
It was a part that showed the consideration of the house’s designer, Leon, but.
The moment we crossed the threshold and entered the dim room, such things were no longer a concern for the two of us.
We were fiercely drawn to each other, and soon we became one and moved.
In the distance, the sounds of the still laughing and enjoying festival could be faintly heard, and the night continued to deepen.
On a pure white canvas, we left traces of each other. Countless times.
As if this moment would never end, continuously.
Bright red handprints were left, and where fingers and nails had grazed, long lines remained.
A time when we explored every nook and cranny of our bodies, to the point where I wondered, ‘Did I have such a sensitive part on my body?’
Because I was with Inga, my mind went beyond the realm of thought and instinct and reached the realm of something beyond that.
Hair like platinum and brown eyes full of desire.
From the red lips that constantly craved, a scent like honey emanated, and the ceaselessly moving body heat, using each other’s bodies as conductors, went back and forth, growing hotter.
Sometimes like a flame, passionately, sometimes endlessly slow.
In the room where there was only one tiny light, a hot breeze blew all night, and the two of us, who had moved as if for an eternity, soon fell asleep together without even knowing when we had lost consciousness.
And so, the next day.
I, who had never let my mind go like this even once since waking up in this body, had to smile at the unfamiliar sensation of ‘having slept well.’
‘Inga, you are a dangerous person.’
Next to this woman, I am no different from being naked.
With such sentiments, I looked into the woolen fabric that covered the two of us, who had returned to our primal state, and the face of the woman with her pure white, platinum blonde hair let loose was resting on my chest, breathing softly.
‘Did I really get married?’
The memories of the magical night were vivid, yet to think that this was the first thought that came to mind.
But I couldn’t believe it. If this was reality, it was too fantastical.
Thanks to my innate physical strength, I had no particular fatigue or muscle aches, but my brain, which could be called the software, seemed to have already gone haywire.
After staring at Inga’s face for a long time, I raised my hand to tidy her hair, and as if she had been waiting, Inga’s eyes flashed open!
“Were you surprised?”
In her brown eyes, half mischief, half shyness.
We already knew everything (?) about each other, so what was there to be shy about.
Of course, my heart, which was thinking such things, was also beating a little fast.
It seemed she had intended to surprise me, but who was I?
The warrior of warriors who charged into the enemy’s ranks, that was me, Helgi Ragnarsson.
Of course, I wasn’t surprised at all, but I pretended to be surprised belatedly, and Inga giggled and burrowed into my arms.
“What was that…”
“No, I was really surprised.”
“Mhmm- I like it. I really like it.”
What does she like?
Thanks to this creature, who was pressing her face close and repeating her inhales and exhales, my hormones were in a violent uproar from early in the morning.
[Surrender control of the body! You wicked reason!]
My body responded greatly to the rebellion of the hormones.
“…Again?”
This time, half surprise, half shyness.
I thought the sight of Inga, her face ripe red again, looking up at me, was just like a cat.
‘Come to think of it, she liked animals. Should I get some friends for the reindeer?’
By age, 19 years. For the first time in my 20-year Northman life, I decided to get a pet, and I gently turned her body and held her.
The guests could probably wait.
After all, Aros was overflowing with liquor, food, and space.
Right now, I needed a little more time.
‘I’ve waited long enough. The time has finally come, so the waiting is over…!’
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At the same time, in the northern marshlands of East Anglia.
Edmund, who had received the reply sent by Burgred, the Cyning of Mercia, clenched the letter tightly in his hand.
It may be expensive paper, but was that important right now?
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