Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

I didn't know how to politely reject an older widow, but the old fox actually went straight to the point of asking for a dowry on behalf of Baron Sengard.

"The Baron's situation has not been good in recent years. Since you are marrying him, you must make sure your father-in-law has a decent life. I have discussed with Lords Tagel and Horik and decided to give him your Bloody Throne Fortress, which can be considered a decent betrothal gift. As for the dowry, I will promote you to baron and change the Sunny Garden Fortress that originally belonged to him into your fiefdom. That place will be taken back sooner or later. You have a good relationship with the Rich people, so it will be convenient for the handover."

This is not a marriage proposal at all, it is clearly a punishment, and a punishment for multiple crimes!

Danger specifically mentioned my relationship with the Rich people. They must have known that what I did was to rescue Helgi. Aren't you a traitor who helped the Snake Cliff Ridge tribe rescue people? Then I will take away your fiefdom and let you live in the tribe. Aren't you bold enough to cheat on the lord? Then I will force you to get a second-hand wife, and maybe even a few burdens, so that you can become a father.

"Uh... Sir, I don't want to get married yet..."

The old fox waved his front paws, looking displeased.

"Nonsense! Don't you know the benefits of marriage? Besides, the marriage of men and women and the birth of children is in accordance with the revelation of the Holy Spirit and is a sacred obligation! You can't decide whether to do it or not. You are not an elf, a dark wizard, or a eunuch, so why don't you get married? You are a noble now and can no longer handle things with the habits of a farmer. You are in your twenties and should have gotten married long ago!"

I know that Danger will definitely not accept the concept of love freedom and marriage autonomy in his previous life. After all, the so-called culture, traditions, and customs are ultimately determined by material conditions. For example, the marriage concepts of various ethnic groups in Skyrim show interesting diversity.

All elves are very long-lived, and the vows of living together until old age and staying together forever in human marriages are really meaningless to them. They don't mind developing love with humans, but they basically don't abide by human moral codes, and are very keen to actively find the next one after the death of their human partner. I think this behavior is a bit like raising a kitten for comfort after the old cat you raised dies.

Orcs and Reachmen have no concept of marriage, and the tribe leader owns the entire tribe's opposite sex. This tradition actually stems from their harsh living environment. When a tribe must work together to obtain sufficient living materials, the interests and needs of individuals will naturally be suppressed and ignored.

In comparison, the Nords are in a much better situation, but they still face extremely harsh natural conditions, so they attach great importance to the reproduction of the group. In the religious narrative system, it becomes what Danger said, "following the revelation of the Holy Spirit" and "a sacred obligation." However, this "revelation" does not seem to be stable, so the old fox said that the nobles and farmers have different views on marriage.

For nobles who do not work, the earlier they get married, the better. Nord nobles generally believe that both men and women are considered adults when they are sixteen years old and can get married. However, many families will betroth their children when they are underage for the purpose of political alliance. Marriage is just the beginning, and the alliance will only be stable after the couple has children, so most noble women become mothers at an early age.

In the era of backward medicine, premature childbirth caused many women to die in childbirth, and also created a group of old widowers. Those who could remarry were naturally either rich or noble. They would not choose people of the same age, but favored young women, so the age gap between many noble couples in Skyrim was quite large. For example, Lord Balgruuf was an example. After his ex-wife died, he married a second wife who was more than 20 years younger than him.

The prevalence of old men marrying young women has led to many young widows among the Skyrim nobility. These ladies are not necessarily as unfortunate as Danica. Marrying a wealthy widow is the first step for many small people to become rich. Even if the woman has little money, the marriage can be regarded as a ceremony for both parties to establish a dependent relationship. The Imperials and Bretons play even more lavishly, and it is not uncommon for them to even give their mistresses to their subordinates as wives.

There are reasons for the older nobles who remain unmarried. For example, Ulfric wasted his youth by studying under Greybeard in the peak of Hrothgar. Another example is Lydia, who has to support the family business and is unlikely to marry before her brother reaches adulthood. Or little Igrod in Morthal City, who is very likely to take over the position of lord in the future, so she must make decisions very carefully to avoid being involved in unnecessary disputes due to her husband's identity.

In short, aristocratic marriages are based on family background and position, and are part of political activities. Family wealth is a secondary consideration, while the character, ability and feelings of the parties involved are completely meaningless. It is rare for a lucky person like Adrian to be able to choose her own husband, mainly due to her father's political attitude of being loyal to the lord.

The common people’s view on marriage was very different from that of the nobles. For farmers, there was actually no concept of adulthood. Children helped adults in the fields from the time they were old enough to understand. They first picked up wheat ears and watered and weeded the crops. When they could distinguish good crops from bad ones, they took on the task of weeding. Boys from ordinary families were considered half laborers at the age of eleven or twelve, while girls had to wait a few years.

Ordinary girls rarely get married in their teens. After all, most families are not well-off and no one wants to support an extra person. Of course, ordinary families are more concerned about whether the bride can give birth and whether the families of both parties are too poor. Marriage also has little to do with love.

In theory, whether noble or common, marriage should be decided by parents. But a young talent like Eric has the opportunity to pursue his sweetheart, and he doesn't care about Angie's miserable situation. As for Lund, he is about the same age as Eric, but no one cares about him because of his poor family.

So, Danger said that I should have gotten married a long time ago, and as an elder, he directly decided on the choice of the bride.

"My Lord just said that the Bloody Throne Fortress will be used as a betrothal gift, but we need to build roads and cities there, and the quarry also needs to be managed..."

"Of course, these will be handed over to your father-in-law. You can't live in Sunshine Garden Fortress and run south from time to time, right? Don't worry, I will give you 10% of the shares in the quarry, so that you two can have some income. I will give some of the rest to Baron Sengard."

This old fox just said a few words and took away all the belongings I had worked so hard to save for more than a year! This is intolerable!

"Sir, I have never met this Baroness before. Is it inappropriate to arrange a marriage like this? Besides, I don't know..."

"Don't you know if this girl is worth such a high price?"

Danger's face darkened.

"My child, you should know what you have done. Can't you give each other some dignity? Let me be frank. You must agree to this marriage. There is no room for negotiation on the betrothal gift!"

This is a naked threat! I lowered my head and remained silent for a long time.

"Don't always think that you are at a disadvantage. Only by marrying a baron's daughter can you be recognized and accepted by other nobles and be treated as one of their own. I am old and I don't know how many more years I can live. But you are still young. If you want to achieve something in Falkreath, you need the support of other nobles. You have to take a long-term view. The benefits you can get in the future will be far greater than the current income brought by that small castle."

After the old fox gave a warning, he casually drew a big pie.

If I refused sternly, it would mean that I was unwilling to be "honorable". Maybe there were assassins lying in ambush outside the house, waiting for the order to help me be "honorable".

I was wondering if what he said had another meaning. That is, as long as I was willing to get married, it would mean that I had given up my thoughts on Rigel, and he would be willing to "honestly" let bygones be bygones.

As for our child, since Danger named him after my uncle, it seemed to be a warning to me that he already knew the truth. Maybe in the future, when Sidger has his own offspring, I will have a chance to recognize him? Or maybe by then, the old fox will get rid of him like Liu Bei did to Liu Feng?

I dare not ask, because to put it bluntly would be "disgraceful". These nobles like to keep it a secret so as to leave room for themselves to maneuver.

No matter what, I have to survive to have a chance to know what will happen in the future.

"In this case, I am willing to follow your instructions."

"That's best. Go back and wait for news."

Danger served tea to the guests.

I spent four days doing nothing. As Hayou and others returned to the team, Lai Mei asked for leave to investigate Satia's whereabouts. I stayed at home every day. Apart from practicing martial arts with others, I only chatted with the workers who came to deliver bricks. It seemed that Nanya's chief steward had taken over all my industries. The various plans that Lund and I had spent so much effort on were just for others' benefit.

Eric's prediction came true, but there was no news of him and Lund. I don't know if he got enough food, or if he is still angry with me. The last news about Lund was that he took Ariana to contact the orcs. Now that the war has ended, I think he should have returned to the Sun Garden Fortress.

Tagel led his men into Mount Jerol again to try to find the dragon's trace, and Danger did not come to see me again. If Aunt Annis had not rushed in, I would have suspected that I had been forgotten by everyone.

"Locke, quick! Use divination! See if Helgi is in danger!"

No, do you really believe that I was telling fortunes?

"Did Chief Moira contact for a prisoner exchange?"

"Why haven't you contacted her? She wrote three letters, but she didn't get any response from him."

According to Annis, the Snake Cliff Ridge tribe received more than 40 prisoners after the war, including a centurion. Moira immediately sent a letter to the Imperial Legion stationed in Loristed Town, requesting an exchange of prisoners. Five days later, the matriarch, who had not received any reply, had to write two letters with roughly the same content under the urging of her old aunt, and sent them to Loristed Town and Solitude respectively.

The result was still a failure.

Moira kept hitting a wall and said she would not take the initiative to negotiate with the Imperial Army. Annis remembered that I had predicted that Helgi was in danger and that I had said I could rescue him, so he hurried to ask for help.

"But my method is to repel the enemy first, and then use the prisoners to exchange for Helgi!"

I pulled my hair, at a loss. If my father guessed correctly, Tullius might not care much about the situation here, so Solitude would not reply. And why is there no news from the legion in Loristede? The people we captured must be theirs.

Wait! Given the current situation of Skyrim, it is only natural that whoever owns the prisoners should redeem them. If the Legion refuses to respond, does it mean that these prisoners are lords of the Empire? Such a large-scale army is likely to be put together by the three territories. The general pretending to be Tullius is just a title, so he cannot decide whether to exchange prisoners.

After sending Annis back to interrogate the captives' hometown, I slumped in my chair. The result was almost predictable. Morthal City's population was declining, so it might not be able to send many people. Solitude ignored Moira's proposal, so these people were most likely from the Reach. If this was true, it would be troublesome. Lord Igmund of Markarth had a blood feud with the Forsworn, so I'm afraid he wouldn't let anyone go easily.

Things have been going wrong lately, so I was too lazy to take care of my appearance, so that when Danger summoned me again, I could only go there with an untidy face.

There were three people in the room. In addition to the old fox drinking tea, the Baron and his wife sat side by side at the main seat. The Baron changed his cold attitude and took my hand to greet me. But his wife was full of arrogance and didn't even want to say hello. Usually, I would ignore such people, but Danger signaled with his eyes, so I had to step forward and salute. The fat old lady snorted in response.

The old fox put on a falsely kind smile, patted the chair beside him, and saved me from embarrassment.

"If you want to drink water, pour it yourself."

He pointed to the teapot and lowered his voice again.

"They are both amateurs. I didn't waste the good pine needles. You can drink it with what you have."

After saying that, he squinted his eyes and seemed to be in a good mood.

There was a knock on the door. After Tecora entered the room, she gently moved sideways to let the person behind her in. Then she stepped outside and closed the door with her backhand.

The woman was much younger than I thought, about 25 years old. She was wearing a light brown woolen dress with a somewhat old leather vest on the outside. She had taken off her gray leather gloves and was holding them in her left hand. She was about 1.65 meters tall, and even though she was wrapped tightly in winter clothes, her well-proportioned figure could still be seen.

The woman stood by the door, raised her head slightly, and looked around at everyone in the room, still maintaining a humble attitude. However, with just this quick glance, the brilliance overflowing from her bright eyes illuminated my eyes, and I couldn't help but take a closer look.

The satin-like black hair was tied into a ponytail, and it drooped obediently behind its owner's head. Her face was round and without any angles. Her skin color was not the pale white color common among Nords, but a little light brown that was unique to the south. It seemed that she had Cyrodiil blood. Her face was lightly made up, and her eyebrows seemed to be frowned. When she met my gaze, her curled eyelashes trembled slightly, and then she nodded in greeting imperceptibly.

The woman quietly stepped forward, lifted the hem of her skirt with both hands, and knelt to salute. Her manners must have been trained for a long time, and she was calm, dignified and graceful.

"I am your illegitimate daughter Irina, meeting the Lord, my father, and my mistress..."

She raised her eyelids again and looked at me, her beautiful eyes full of helplessness and humiliation.

"...and Lord Locke."