CH-22

Rollo placed the stunned and terrified Thyri with her mother.

The first person he found when he arrived at his brother's house was his wife.

She was washing clothes in a basin outside.

"..."

For a long time, he did nothing but stare until she noticed his presence.

"Rollo? Were you staring at my ass right now?"

She said after turning around and seeing him with a big smile on his face, one that was slightly perverted and guilty.

She didn't need to ask; the truth was in his smile.

Rollo responded to his glaring sister-in-law, 

"It is nothing that I have not already witnessed fully butt naked. You do not have to constantly calculate every little thing with me. I am not your rival, woman."

Lagertha looked around before asking him meanly, 

"Little? Are you calling my buttocks small?"

Rollo responded honestly and without shame, 

"No, they are very big and brimming with mouthwatering fat. But I didn't come here to discuss that. Where's my brother? It is time for him to stop living like a farmer and become an earl. I am too lazy to do that job."

Lagertha frowned, puzzled, 

"Ragnar and Bjorn aren't here. Only Gyda is inside the house, taking a nap. But, what are you talking about? What is this crazy talk about becoming an earl?"

Rollo confessed, 

"I killed an earl today. The Earl of Kattegat. Well… To be more specific, my woman killed him for me. I came here to have Ragnar come and take the Earl's throne."

"What???"

Lagertha was in shock and had forgotten the clothes.

Rollo began recounting and explaining what had happened.

He explained a lot, faked some info, including Scarlet's identity. Of course, he did not reveal that she was a summoned person and not of this world.

"What do you gain from Ragnar becoming earl, Rollo? This does not sound like something you would do."

Lagertha said while looking at her sleeping daughter. They had moved inside the house, where she had given food and flatbread to Rollo.

The loaf of bread with the soup was warm and enjoyable to eat.

It was moments like these that he couldn't completely disengage or give up on making this beautiful woman his own.

He would soon be able to bring the people of Gotland to Kattegat.

So it would happen quickly.

"I actually gain a lot…" 

Rollo did not provide a detailed answer.

He did not reveal that he would win her, for example, once the battles for the position of queen began.

"But I mainly love my brother and this family. I'm doing this so that everyone can be happy. Ragnar becoming earl will benefit the entire family. I don't have any children, so there is no point in me taking that chair."

Rollo said.

Naturally lying as for the why.

"You're taking the right decision," 

Lagertha was obviously pleased that Rollo would give up everything for his brother, and she tried to gaslight him right away because he seemed open to it. 

"I don't want to see this family fight over trivial things, either."

Rollo was speechless inside.

She was shameless.

The previous body owner was in love with such a shameless woman.

The new Rollo had love for Lagertha, but not with illusions.

He was simply biding his time until he could show her his true nature. She fell in love with him and ended up in his bed.

After he finished eating, he stood up and said, 

"Make sure you and Ragnar come to Kattegat once you've finished packing your belongings. I'll be waiting for you there. There are many things in the works that I can't let anyone else handle right now."

Rollo was not crazy enough to let Scarlet manage Kattegat while he was not present.

Scarlet was currently weak and needed to improve her strength.

Lagertha agreed obediently for once as she removed his food bowls and the crumbs from the table.

But then, as if suddenly thinking of something, she asked with a doubtful, confused, and odd expression,

"You seem to be talking as if you could get there much faster than us. Almost immediately. Speaking of which, how did you get here so fast? According to how you described the recent events, they occurred just a few moments ago."

"There is no humanly possible way you could get here so quickly, even with a horse with twice the normal speed."

"..."

Rollo was speechless for a moment, having forgotten an important detail during the explanations.

The fact that the concept of hours did not exist at the time was largely responsible for the current situation. When describing the events to Lagertha, he had to use a couple of adjectives that depicted things too vividly and clearly.

"Rollo? Don't you believe you have some explaining to do? Did you lie to me, or did you suddenly lose your tongue?"

Lagertha was not going to let go now that she felt she had grabbed onto something. Her eyes became small and inquisitive, focused on Rollo to discover the truth.

She grew prettier as the situation came to an awkward halt, and Rollo didn't feel like he had his head on straight.

The fact that he had chosen to forego immediately getting in the good graces and crotch of Thyri, his fiancée, for a few minutes did not improve his current thinking or rationality.

"Rollo, I shall not let you leave this house until you answer me today."

"..."

He did not speak or respond instantly as Lagertha continued to search for the answer and the truth, silently weighing the pros and cons.

After some thought, he came up with a reasonable solution. One that would allow him to satisfy the woman's curiosity while also ensuring that he would not lose her in the future and could even easily seduce and obtain her. Even if his plan for that woman and his brother failed.

After all, following the canonic romantic plot to the letter, especially given the changes in the universe, was a little complicated and ambitiously presumptuous.

Rollo had no plans to hook up with that woman named Frida, but who knew if she would like his brother; she could already be falling in love right now with someone on Gotland.

Rollo had never met her in first person, so he couldn't know her whereabouts or track them down yet.

"I do not have too much time to spare on this right now, but let us go outside and talk. Wake Gyda up and bring her along with you. I do not want to leave her alone here; it could be very unsafe."

Rollo finally spoke after a long silence.

Again, he had to leave this house with the wife of Ragnar.

He felt it was too frequent to maintain any sense of honor and propriety.

Aside from that amusing issue, he did not want to leave his niece alone in the house in case something happened. He hadn't had time to really bond with her or get to know her yet, so it could be a chance.

Women liked to travel regardless of their age.

Rollo was about to take her on a teleportation tour with her mother. 

The man had seen a lot of land and landscape on his journey to Gotland. He had always wanted to share the enchanting sunsets and panoramic views of natural beauty with others.

He could even allow his niece to befriend some of the animals there... It did not hurt to feel like Snow White.

It hadn't hurt him.

They claimed that being around animals, particularly for children, boosted the immune system and ability to fight diseases.

Rollo wasn't sure if it was only for very young babies or children in general.

He intended to find ways to prevent Gyda from dying from the plague in this life. If it was too soon to train her, he could start here.