But there was something present in all parts of her mansion. Symbols of His Majesty. His crest, paintings of his royal visage, banners of the Sorcerer Kingdom... places like her bedroom all had at least one painting of the Sorcerer King. They could not possibly do justice to the real thing, but they were enough for her to admire as she and her servants went about their day.
It was in these chambers that their dates were now being held.
"Your Majesty, is this really okay?"
The Sorcerer King, sitting right to her, sighed for dramatic effect. She knew it was all a performance, because the undead did of course not need to breathe.
The reason for her unease was that His Majesty had just said that every single date, there would be another platter of food.
There were several reasons Neia felt like this.
First, she honestly felt that such food was wasted on her. It was of such high quality that surely each bite must have cost a fortune.
Second, it felt strange to eat while His Majesty just sat there, watching. This happened during their first date, but it seemed to just be a way to break the ice back then. After all, it was their first date. It didn't seem that strange to bring some food to calm her down back then.
There was also that other concern, but she would rather not think about it. She hoped that it was just her being paranoid, and so she brushed it aside.
"Yes, it really is fine, Neia. Feel free to eat as much as you want."
"Well, it's not just about it being fine. Even if you say that it is, it still goes against common politeness, so that isn't really satisfying as an answer, Your Majesty..."
"I've said it, and you ought to respect my words, no? I said it's fine for you to eat during our... well, when we're together. And so, it is fine."
"... Well, maybe it'd feel less strange if you explained to me why it was okay?"
He looked at her for a moment before sighing again.
"This? Think of it as a gift. That is to say, those who are romantically involved give each other gifts, no? I also see that you enjoyed the food last time, and that it made you happy. It makes me happy to see you happy, Neia."
He felt like he handled that question quite well, especially with that sign of affection there at the end. "Surely she has to accept that if I've said it's a sign of affection, right?"
He could already see that she was blushing and smiling, which meant his little speech worked.
Her voice quivered with what seemed like excitement as she spoke.
"Ahh, is that how it is, Your Majesty?"
"Of course, Neia. Watching you eat happily makes me happy as well. Though I can't partake in such activities myself... Uhm, well... I can, but it wouldn't do much, and I would make a mess as the food fell through my body."
He scrambled to make that joke at the end because he realized "I like watching you eat" just made him sound like a creepy old man again. With some strange tastes, no less.
Strangely enough, she laughed at his lame joke.
He felt that it wasn't good at all, but her laughing despite that showed her affection clearly.
Suddenly, she seemed a bit gloomy.
"Uhm, Your Majesty? I'm sorry if this is a sore topic for you... do you ever regret that there's certain pleasures you can't experience?"
Her question was surprisingly quite hard-hitting. He truly had to stop for a moment. In truth, he was indeed quite envious. He wanted to try much of Nazarick's food, and he wanted to sleep to properly rest, as well.
"I do have some regrets about that, yes."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, Your Majesty..."
"It's fine." He said, as he thought about a way to change the topic.
"But let's not dwell on that. Neia, how has your workload been?"
He could not really think of anything better, so his mind went to ask her about work. Perhaps a more boring topic would distract them both.
"Well, there's been a lot of paperwork and organizing I've had to start doing... though I don't really feel like I'm doing a very good job at either... and many people seem to hold very high opinions of me, but I don't feel special at all!"
She just said something which he could very much understand...
After Neia finished telling him about the difficulties of her increased workload and that it wasn't a problem since she'll just work hard, she also remembered what she wanted to talk about.
Currently, she was still wearing the Grand King's armour, but she didn't need to anymore. She now had the time and privacy to always switch to something else. And so, she wanted to know his preference.
"Ah, right! There was another thing! Your Majesty, uhm... what kinds of clothes do you want me to wear?"
Huh? Where did that come from?
What did she mean by this, exactly?
"Uhm, I mean... perhaps you would want me to wear dresses, or a certain colour, or perhaps you want me to wear something more... revealing?"
Damn it! It's too early for that!
Her tone just now was eager and her eyes looked at him with a certain expectation, which made him uncomfortable, and so he turned away.
"Well, let's see... no, there is no need for that. It's like the..."
He tried to come up with an analogy to best explain that he did not care about her clothes. What about an orange peel? She probably didn't know what an orange was. What about a candy wrapper? He'd seen sweets being sold and then wrapped in cloth to be transported, both in the Empire and Re-Estize Kingdom. It seemed widespread, so she'd hopefully understand something like that.
"... like the wrapping of candy. Yes, like that. There is no need to worry about the wrapping. Only the candy underneath."
He felt like that should've been enough to express his thoughts, until he turned his eyes towards the girl, whose cheeks were absolutely scarlet and her eyes were stretched wide.
He then realized his mistake. Candy wrapping had to be peeled away to enjoy what was underneath, after all.
In this case, the wrapping would be her clothes, and she would be the candy.
Emotional suppression had kicked in.
She was honestly as surprised as she was happy.
Earlier they talked about His Majesty's regret about not having certain desires, but then he said something like that? It was by far the most suggestive thing she'd ever heard him say.
Though the messaging of saying such things back to back made her confused.
She felt that her unwrapping might still be quite far away, but perhaps it was indeed possible.
She also wondered what he would even want with her body if he didn't have those sorts of desires. Perhaps he would do lewd things to her not because it satisfied a primal need, but just because he could? Just to show that he had that kind of charm and power? Just to dominate her in that way because he could?
A situation like that honestly sounded quite exciting.
Was this unsalvageable? What would he say next? Something like "not that I want the candy" would only make it worse. He'd already, albeit accidentally, shown a level of interest, and he had to commit to it now. Or maybe he could say "no, sorry, that analogy was not what I was intending"? Even after being suppressed, the panic inside him made his mind race.
Still, he had to speak now. He could tell from the silence and the way the girl was looking at him that she needed to be calmed down right now. She was probably already thinking those kinds of thoughts.
"Ah, that is to say, you should simply wear something comfortable. I do not care that much, I only care for the person you are. The wrap could be said to not only be your clothes, but your body as well. Even if you were utterly hideous, I would only care about the Neia that was to be found underneath it all."
He realized that last part sounded a bit strange.
"Not that you are utterly hideous, that was just an example..."
He felt like he was making it worse for himself. This whole time, he didn't dare look at her face.
What could he say to take that weird comment back?
"Uhm, yes. You are quite a beautiful young woman. Certainly one of a kind. I've never seen... eyes... like yours."
Neia wanted to cry tears of happiness.
He just called her beautiful.
He even complimented her eyes.
The eyes she inherited from her father.
The eyes which always made everyone keep their distance.
"T-thank you, Your Majesty..."
Several tears did end up finding their way down her cheek in the end.
"M-may I hug you?"
He seemed a bit surprised at this.
"E-erhm... yes. That should be fine."
She then embraced him with all her might, and he also held her close.
Her mind was consumed with that word. "Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful! He thinks I'm beautiful!"
She thought that no words have ever made her happier before.
Ainz wasn't that unhappy with just hugging her like this. Any moment he didn't speak was a moment during which he couldn't embarrass himself.
Eventually, she was the one to pull away.
"Sorry, Your Majesty. It was rude of me to make a request like that. No, could it be said that I was making advances?"
She honestly was quite ashamed. She shouldn't have let her emotions control her like that. This might've also damaged her future chances.
"Ah, I don't mind at all, Neia. Clearly you needed it, hm?"
"Thank you for accepting my apology, then."
She lowered her head.
"You don't need to do that. Like I said, it's all fine. Also, weren't we discussing something before just now?"
"Ah, right! The issue of my clothes."
"Yes. I had already told you that clothes don't matter, but then we got wrapped up in this whole thing. Is that a satisfactory answer?"
"I can see from the uneasy expression on your face that it isn't. What is the problem with just wearing whatever you find comfortable?"
"... Well, there's a few issues. Probably the most important is that my comfort simply seems secondary to your preference. Also, surely there is a limit to your willingness to let me wear whatever is comfortable, right? What if I were to find simple rags ideal? Or what if I were to wear nothing at all? Surely such a thing would be insulting, as it could be considered advances on my part, and I ought to not make any. And if I were to try to wear something comfortable but appropriate, like a dress fit for a queen, perhaps it might also not be to your liking in some way."
The Sorcerer King put his hand to his chin as if he were in thought, but it felt like he wasn't, for some reason.
"It seems quite simple then, no? I should select your attire for you."
"Yes! That is what I would hope for!"
"In that case, I will bring some dresses for you to try next time."
"W-wait? You would bring me something? For what purpose? Shouldn't I borrow some, and you could tell me which outfits you liked?"
"No, that seems too bothersome. I will bring some of my own. They will be enchanted, and so they will fit you perfectly. You will also not have to worry about satisfying my preference, since you would have that guarantee."
"B-but, I can't keep such things! I already have these magic items borrowed! And then there's the food you bring! Isn't that too much?!"
She felt like she was a gold digger, even though she wasn't the one who ever suggested any of these things.
"Don't be ridiculous, Neia. If I ever need them, I will ask you to return them. They would just be sitting in storage somewhere otherwise."
"B-but! But-"
He raised a hand to stop her.
"That's enough. I understand your concerns. But you're probably feeling a bit tired from your weeping earlier, no? Why don't you eat a bit? We can talk afterwards if you still have concerns then."
Finding that idea hard to protest, she looked at the platter.
Neia bit into what she was just told was called a cheeseburger. Two buns of very soft bread containing a symphony of ingredients. The high-quality meat, the tasty red sauce, the thin slices of pickles, and of course, the orange-ish yellow cheese which seemed to melt easily.
Besides the cheeseburger, there were many other types of burger. Ones with a lot of meat, ones with vegetables, ones with chicken, ones with eggs, ones with more foreign sauces... Almost all of them had "burger" at the end, with something else coming before that, which indicated what kind of burger it was. The cheeseburger, then, was all about cheese. There were also other types, like the double cheeseburger, which contained twice the cheese and meat.
As she was going to grab another burger, she thought if this was really okay. That problem of hers...
In the worst case scenario, she just wouldn't eat for a few days again.