Vikings: Nordic women

Chapter 47 Do you want to scare me?
"Whose daughter is this?" asked a Lady of Jarre.

"I haven't seen her. She looks really lovely, but she looks a little familiar, as if I have seen her somewhere!" replied another Madame Jarre.

Hearing the discussions, Margaret looked up at them curiously.

She found that many of them were officers from Juscarz. She thought to herself, these people are really corrupt, this is obviously not monogamy!

However, she soon thought that they deserved it. They almost paid the price of their lives to protect the territory, and they should be rewarded accordingly.

Although their behavior is somewhat corrupt, it does not affect their contributions and achievements.

They should all be nobles awarded by Harold for military merit, Margaret thought. She remembered that there were only four of them before, but now it seems that there are many more.

"What happened?" She muttered to herself, confused by the huge changes at her doorstep. She had only been away for half a day, so how could everything be so different?

"Miss Confused, don't you know what happened?" Several Miss Duti who were taller than her seemed to have heard her mumbling. They covered their mouths and chuckled, with a hint of mockery in their tone.

Miss Confused? Margaret looked at them suspiciously, with question marks written all over her face.

How infuriating!
A Miss Duti asked curiously, "Which family's Duti are you from? Your hair is so beautiful! Can I touch it?"

Hearing this question, Margaret immediately rejected it in her heart. She was a mysophobe and didn't want strangers to touch her hair. Moreover, this was a bit of an insubordination, even though the other party might just be out of curiosity and praise.

"Have you inherited the title of Lord?" Another Miss Duti pointed at the pledge ring on Margaret's neck and asked curiously, "I didn't expect that besides Lord Polly, there is another female Lord? How old are you?"

Faced with this series of questions, Margaret blinked, somewhat unsure which one to answer first.

She, who had been silent all this time, frowned slightly, feeling that the number of questions seemed to have exceeded her expectations.

Moreover, the number of nobles here seemed to be a little too large, so many that she felt a little noisy.

She still prefers a quiet environment and being alone to think about problems.

She doesn't need any friends, the only ones who can be her "friends" are her subordinates!

There were about twenty of these Miss Duti, ranging in age from five or six to teenagers. Add to that the more numerous noble children not far away, who formed cliques and acted arrogantly, and the scene seemed a bit chaotic.

In a different environment, they might even fight again.

Margaret was full of doubts. She was originally worried that after the territory expanded, there would be no one to garrison for her, but now it seemed that this was not a problem.

However, the presence of so many Duti still confused her.

Even if a newly promoted nobleman married three or four wives eight years ago, he couldn't have given birth to so many Duti, right? She thought to herself.

Could it be that among the war orphans there is a heroic father? The kind who gave birth to nine cubs in one litter?

Besides, it was so lively here, could it be that Harold had issued a call for war? But why did he bring his women? Was it a gathering of lords?
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became, and the more headache she had. There was absolutely no logic or evidence to this.

She realized that she might need to go in and talk to someone to find out what was going on. She was a little uneasy that she had no idea something so serious was going on.

Among the groups of noble children not far away, two groups seemed to be arguing. They seemed to have noticed Margaret's side, and they all looked over under the elbows of their friends, pointing in Margaret's direction, and it was unknown what they were saying.

After a while, two well-dressed noblemen came over.

Margaret, who seemed quiet but actually had a rich inner drama, realized that she might be blocking the road, so she raised her foot but then pulled it back without any intention of giving way.

She was conflicted. On the one hand, politeness told her not to block the road; on the other hand, the tyranny in her mind told her that it was always others who gave way to her.

Hello, young lady, I was fascinated by your beauty at first sight. May I know your name?" One of the nobles asked.

Amid the envious and jealous gazes of a group of Miss Duti, Margaret looked around and pointed at herself uncertainly.

"Is there anyone here more beautiful than you? Please allow me to offer you my passionate love!" Another nobleman glared at his companion with disdain, with a confident smile on his lips.

"Hey, what do you mean by saying this? Do you think we are ugly?" Miss Duti questioned the other party dissatisfiedly, and at the same time, there was a hint of... dissatisfaction in her eyes when she looked at Margaret?
"Please forgive my frankness. Although flowers need green leaves to set them off, green leaves themselves also have their own unique beauty." As soon as these words were spoken, the girls' faces looked much better.

Stop, please stop talking. If you continue, I will be torn apart by this group of older sisters and younger sisters who seem to be harmonious but are actually competing with each other secretly!
Margaret quickly took the initiative to avoid it, secretly complaining in her heart. She didn't want to become the focus of everyone's jealousy, especially facing this group of seemingly unfriendly Miss Duti.

At this time, several maids came out of the Lord's Hall. They raised their heads proudly and announced: "The ceremony is ready to begin. Lord Polly invites everyone to come in and prepare to swear allegiance to the new queen!"

"New Queen?" Margaret was even more confused.

Could it be that someone has usurped the throne? But she quickly rejected this idea.

This does not look like a coup gesture, and a coup is almost impossible under the separation of powers.

Could it be... She had some vague guesses in her mind, thinking that this might be related to her. It should be a routine swearing of allegiance ceremony.

After all, she is eight years old.

In civilian homes, children also swore allegiance to Jarl at this age and received armbands symbolizing their Viking status.

At this time, the maid noticed Margaret surrounded by a group of Miss Duti.

She came forward, bowed, and said, "So you are here? Lady Polly is waiting anxiously, and she wants you to come over immediately!"

Margaret nodded to show that she understood, and she left amid the doubtful gazes of the group of Duti.

She was looking forward to how these people would react when they found out her identity. She wondered whether she should scare them.

These Miss Duti were all guessing Margaret's identity and they were chattering about it.

"Is it Lord Polly's daughter? Or Lord Harold's?" They guessed, and at the same time, at the invitation of the adults, followed their father and mother into the lord's hall.

Margaret was taken to the bedroom by her maid, where there were many dresses she had never seen before.

(End of this chapter)