HMJ - Chapter 47 (Patreon)

Robin’s and Baby 5’s eyes widened at the sight that revealed itself to them.

“That’s really big.” Robin exclaimed, an excited glimmer revealing itself in her eyes.

When Harry met her for the first time, he felt that her eyes looked dead. In the last few weeks, this made a complete U-turn, and her whole being filled itself with life.

He even saw a real, genuine smile while she was teaching Childern on Skagos in her free time.

Harry made a point of it to show them as much of the different worlds as was possible. He had invited each of the people that have joined his organization to different worlds in order to give them a broader view of the universe.

"I have never seen one so big!” Baby 5 exclaimed happily.

He still had to call her Baby 5 because she is keeping her real name a secret for some reason. But she also changed for the better, at least as much as was possible in a few weeks.

It was a major concern for him to make it clear to her that she had to value herself more.

As often as possible, he tried to instill self-worth in her so she wouldn’t try to kill herself in the future because a foe told her he wanted to marry her, like it happened in the original One Piece timeline.

Well, he also made sure that she wouldn’t betray him and run into such a situation by telling her often that he needed her and didn’t want her to leave him. Was it Scummy? Probably, but it’s better than her killing herself because of an immoral foe abusing her weakness.

And it felt good to have someone who adores you.

But Harry would never admit it. He would never admit that the original memories were affecting him more than he had imagined and that he wanted to be loved.

Even with the suppressing effect of the gamer’s mind, which had a habit of not working if it was particularly entertaining for someone watching his life...

“Yes, Winterfell is an impressive sight. It’s supposed to be one of the biggest castles in Westeros. Although Harrenhal is definitely bigger, even if it is in ruins, And Oldtown, by all records, has, with the Hightower the highest building in all of the Seven Kingdoms, even taller than the Wall. And you saw how big the 700-foot-tall wall is.” Harry explained.

They were closing in on their goal.

Once again, he had to travel with the regular method in Westeros, but this time their journey was even slower.

Essentially, they were invited to Rob Stark's 13th birthday. Together with every other major house in the North.

Obviously, they couldn’t just travel in an efficient way; this wasn’t war but an official gathering between the northern nobility.

Accompanying them were the 20 men Escort that had him escorted last time to Winterfell, but this time instead of the best of the Loot of the Inferi he killed and what he had plundered on Skagos, they were equipped with freshly forged high-quality armor and weapons directly from Lisbeth.

Robin, Baby 5, and Harry were also traveling in a wheelhouse.

Nothing luxurious, but good enough to not look poor. It was imperative to leave a good impression on the other Northern Lords, since this meeting was a chance for Harry’s Territory.

Obviously, Tiamat had remained on Skagos. He didn’t want to reveal her existence yet, and she was too big to be safely concealed from innocent bystanders, unlike on Skagos, where nobody would share information without his permission.

The last thing he needed were rumors about a dragon in the north. From what he heard, the current King, Robert Baratheon, hates them with a passion.

Both Robin and Baby 5 are here as part of his household. Robin is officially acting as his steward, though her true purpose is to learn more about the noble houses and customs of the Seven Kingdoms.

As leader of their intelligence department, a deeper understanding of the customs and functionality of Westeros was a must. And she was also very interested in their history.

Normally, it was Lust who was more fitting to the role of a steward, based on her duties, which included managing the inner affairs of Skagos. But she isn’t really fit for interacting with regular humans.

While she had high respect for anyone in their organization, she retained the disdain for normal humans she had gained in her old world.

That’s the reason why she prefers not to interact with other nobles and readily hands over that task to Robin.

Meanwhile, Baby 5 chose to accompany him as his head maid. A role she had declared herself.

The moment she realized that Harry was technically a feudal lord and that he had no official maids, she took that for herself before he could assign her anything else.

Having maids and servants wasn’t uncommon in Westeros, so he accepted.

Who was he to complain that she decided to take on his duty to organize his things, clean his rooms, and take care of his food? While he already had servants on Skagos that assisted him with these things, he had to delegate everything himself in the end.

Baby 5 effectively decided to take that over and become the leader of the servants that were responsible for keeping his castle, aka carved-out cave system, in the tallest mountain of Skagos, clean.

Besides leading them, she officially took over the role as his personal maid. Which was nice, though he gained the suspicion that she had secretly a maid fetish.

Not that he would abuse his role. He totally could. She was a few years younger than him.

And right now, he wasn’t even legally an adult in his old world. While Westeros had different laws and views, he preferred his own moral compass.

If she was still interested in a few years, he wouldn’t say no. He is a healthy male, after all.

———

Eddard Stark POV

Lord Eddard was deed in tought as a knock on his door interrupted them, “Come in.” He said it quietly.

“The banners of Lord Potter have been spotted in the distance, my Lord.” Alyn told him as he entered his solar.

The Lord of Winterfell rose from his spot behind his desk and said, “Thank you, Alyn; go and get Lady Stark and the Children. Also notify the Lord that you have already arrived. I believe they are eager to get a first look at the newest Northern House themselves. Tell them to meet me in the courtyard.”

He easily walked across the castle towards the courtyard.

Arriving there, he routinely arranged the present household before Cat arrived dutifully, followed by their eldest daughter, Sansa.

A small smile grazed his lips as he saw his beautiful daughter already resembling his wife so much.

Right behind Sansa were lively little Arya, who resembles his sister Lyanna so much, accompanied by his second son Bran. They were laughing and running together as they arrived in the yard.

The two ran right to him, and he caught them both in his arms. He outright started laughing as the two of them began to talk about all the different lords and their guards they had seen and about a spar between Robb and the daughter of Maege Mormont, Dacey.

She left quite an impression on Arya, and Eddard had to seriously fear for the peace in his bedroom because it seemed more and more unlikely that he could let Arya be educated as a proper lady like Cat wanted.

His wife had already a scowl on her face just from hearing her gush about the Spar. Dacey didn’t leave a very positive impression on his lady wife: “Arya and Brandon Stark, behave yourself like the little lady and Lord you are, before you shame your father in front of his Bannermen.”

“There is really no need to, Lady Stark!” a voice that let out a booming laugh belonging to Wyman Manderly, the Lord of White Harbor, who had arrived in the Yard, said.

The man in his sixties sporting a massive belly had arrived in the yard, followed by the other Northern Lords that had already arrived, like the Mormonts, Flints, Ryswells, and many more.

Only the most distant houses were still missing, but they should arrive any day now, just like House Potter from Skagos, who had the greatest journey.

Still chuckling, Lord Manderly said, “It’s quite a refreshing sight to see House Stark bustling so full of life." He added before turning towards Eddard, "Now, Lord Stark, I am quite eager to meet this new Northern House.” He said he addressed Eddard properly in public.

In private, they were on a first-name basis, since House Manderly was a close and loyal Bannerman of House Stark. They had to keep up after all appearances in public gatherings.

“They will be here any moment.” Eddard nodded as he saw his eldest son Robb, Jon, and Theon arrive in the courtyard too, accompanied by Dacey Mormont, the granddaughters of Lord Manderly, Wylla and Wynafryd, and other sons and daughters of the Northern Houses.

They had brought their children close to his own age, for an obvious reason. Eddard wasn’t blind.

And they were right—it was something he had to consider.

He got ripped out of his trousers by the sounds of horses passing through the Gates of Winterfell.