Neia enjoyed the winter.

There was something relaxing about getting up while it was still dark, and spending much of her time next to a warm fireplace.

She also loved wrapping herself in a blanket to keep the cold away, all while drinking something nice and warm.

"Your Holiness?"

Her thoughts about the cosiness of winter were interrupted by Bertrand.

She looked around the meeting room, and saw that everyone seemed to be present now.

She then turned her head to her left, where Shizu was sitting. The sight of her friend eased her worries.

Breathing in, she looked back to the people gathered at the table, and spoke in a determined voice.

"So, how's everything going? Let's start with the situation on the front lines."

A middle-aged man stood up, and spoke only after she nodded to him.

"Your Holiness! Other than some minor skirmishes resulting in very few casualties, everything is mostly calm! The fighting hasn't yet properly started!"

It seemed both sides were either gathering their strength, justifying the war to their people, or otherwise preparing. That was only to be expected. It was still only a few days since the war started. Things would properly escalate in about two more weeks, or at least that's what her advisors agreed on.

"Thank you. You may sit. Next, what about the recruiting?"

Another man stood up, and she bid him to speak.

"Your Holiness, everything is going well on that front. In many places, there are actually far more volunteers than we expected. Many of them are veterans from the war with Jaldabaoth, and do not need further training. Those who have no combat experience are also very determined, and so everything is going well with them. They will be ready very soon."

She nodded with satisfaction.

"That's good... yes, thank you. Next, what about the general response from the public?"

This was quite a broad topic, and so several people stood up.

She looked to a young woman.

"Your Holiness! The initial reports from the villages are very promising! The speakers have been doing great, it seems!"

"Thank you. If that's all, you may sit down."

Next, she looked to an older man.

"The capital is doing great, Your Holiness. The people's approval seems unanimous, and their passion is great."

...

Overall, Neia thought that the meeting went very well.

Things seemed to be moving along smoothly, and public support was very high.

There was nothing more she could do at this very moment. And so, it was time for her to just relax again.

Currently, she was eating a rather large pile of hamburgers along with Shizu, and both of them were washing the food down with some melon juice.

Though she was just a bit concerned that she could be gaining weight due to the increased portion sizes…

Wait, what size of woman did her darling prefer? She'd heard from Shizu that one of the Supreme Beings was known to enjoy larger women, which made Neia realise she never actually asked what His Majesty liked.

Finishing a cheeseburger, Neia leaned back. She was going to be full soon.

As she was relaxing and watching Shizu sip on her juice, there was a knock heard on the door, forcing Neia out of her good mood.

"Your Holiness!"

It was one of the maids. Neia only responded after she sat up into a more dignified position.

"Come in!"

The maid did so, immediately bowing.

"The Sorcerer Kingdom made a statement about the war! They will support us!"

"W-what? What changed? What was the statement, exactly?"

"His Majesty declared that he could not tolerate one of his allied countries undergoing an attempted coup, and so they will do their best to restore order!"

Neia instantly felt both great relief, and great surprise.

Her darling had not mentioned anything to her over the letters they've been sharing, and neither did Shizu. Was this a new decision?

Their government was likely just able to confirm the details of the assassination for the first time, then.

She got up. This meant she had work to do, and another speech to prepare.

... ... ...

Ainz was sitting in his office, reading documents he understood.

It seems things were progressing well, and the final stages of the operation would soon begin.

Their next step was to brand all the undesirables as being involved in what they declared to be nothing more than an attempted coup, and then purge them. It was mostly going to be the southern church and nobility, though there were some others.

After the executions, they would absorb the country into the Sorcerer Kingdom. At that point, it would just be a long process of properly integrating the new territory. At first, they wouldn't really do much, showing the sceptics that being part of his Kingdom was nothing bad. After that, undead would be used for labour on a large scale. The final step was going to be fully introducing Death Knights as guards, non-humans as citizens, Liches as statesmen...

He then thought about the fact that Neia was not aware of any of this.

He should probably explain to her what will happen in the near future. The sooner she knows the basic plan, the better she can adjust the situation on her end to make everything go smoother.

... ... ...

As suddenly as the Holy King was assassinated, the war seemed to be over.

Her darling's undead were now stationed on the front lines alongside their soldiers, and the opposing side did not dare attack.

If the Sorcerer Kingdom was involved with an army of its own, it truly was as good as over. Neia had actually just found out that the enemy's side was quite split in opinion. There were those who wanted to fight for their independence, but there were many who were scared, and only willing to have their own country if it did not involve attacking the allies of the Sorcerer Kingdom, let alone fighting it directly.

This weakness would have ensured their victory even if her darling did not intervene at all.

Still, he did, completely preventing the death count from reaching anything higher than the rather small number it currently was.

Neia was now being led to the main meeting room in the Holy King's palace.

When she arrived at the familiar door, she breathed in deeply.

The doors opened, revealing that her darling was now sitting where the Holy King normally would. A seat of some honour very close to his own was once again reserved for her.

The room looked full. Was she the last to arrive?

She bowed.

"Your Majesty!"

"Welcome, Miss Baraja. Please sit down."

"Yes!"

They haven't actually met in a public setting in quite some time, and so she did her best to make sure her tone wasn't full of affection, like it normally was.

After she seated herself, he continued looking at her for a moment before turning to the rest.

"Greetings. I believe this room is now full of the most significant nobles who are known for their loyalty to the Holy King, correct? Are you all loyal to your country?"

The men nodded.

Neia did not. She hesitated.

Her true loyalty lay with her darling. And so, she decided to not move at all.

Some of the nobles seem to have noticed, though His Majesty himself did not.

"In that case, thank you all for coming. In this difficult time, it is most important that I help an allied country. I know you would have all done the same."

A few men looked a bit uneasy at that last comment.

"But let us get to what must be done now."

Instead of being pleasant and welcoming like just before, his tone slowly turned into a serious one.

"The terrible crime of murdering the Holy King cannot go unpunished. Even if order were to be restored, those who've conspired to commit the crime will likely try something similar again. And so, everyone involved must be dealt with."

There was then a slight pause.

"Does nobody want to protest? In that case, I also want to do the same for everyone else involved in orchestrating the country's collapse. The power-hungry with influence are a great danger. Remember what happened to Re-Estize? That country's nobility was going to be its downfall even if I did not have it destroyed. Either way, the Holy Kingdom's old church has been attempting to spark something like this for a long time now. They, too, cannot remain free if the country is to ever know peace."

The next pause was quite a bit longer.

"So? Any objections?"

Still, there was nothing.

"In that case, I suppose you approve, Miss Baraja?"

"Huh?! Uhm... Your Majesty, why am I specifically being asked for my opinion?"

"With Caspond Bassarez dead, and no other heir immediately being put on the throne, doesn't that make you the person with the most power in the country?"

"I- I suppose?… In that case, I fully support Your Majesty's suggestion!"

"I see. Thank you, Nei... uhm, Miss Baraja."

He slowly turned to face the rest of the room again.

"Shall we also discuss what will come after order is restored? Will there be any trouble selecting the next monarch?"

Neia got a bit uneasy. Would she play a large role in that decision due to her importance?

"I see you are all silent. May I suggest something? Perhaps it would help to establish some temporary joint leadership, with me and my subordinates smoothing things over alongside the king's people and Miss Baraja. I've heard that the lack of a Holy King is causing some minor chaos, so perhaps it would be a good way to ensure things go smoothly while a new ruler is being selected. It would require Miss Baraja's consent, of course, and I wouldn't do anything she disagrees with."

Everyone then looked at her.

She was a bit worried about the prospect of being asked to lead more, but she was sure it would be fine, since it would be alongside her darling, and only temporary.

And so, she spoke in a confident tone.

"I support this suggestion."

"Thank you, Miss Baraja. Does anyone else object?"

They both looked around the room, and found that it was silent once again.

"In that case, I will be glad to help."

...

The meeting was coming to an end. It was quite long, but she did not mind at all, since she got to sit close to His Majesty.

"Does anyone have any other concerns?"

Nothing. Almost all possible subjects were already addressed in varying levels of detail.

"In that case, let's end it here for today. For now, I would like to discuss things even more with just Miss Baraja."

The men bowed, and were slowly starting to leave.

Finally she would be alone with him again...

She found herself getting rather impatient as the men slowly left. She was glaring at them due to their lack of haste, though they could not see because of her visor.

When they were gone, she took it off and turned to the man she loved.

"Your Majesty..."

"I hope everything has been going well for you these past few days, Neia."

He placed his hand on the table, extending it towards her. She took it with a noise of happiness.

"Yes, everything's been fine! I am glad to spend time with Shizu, even if the circumstances could be… different. But now that you are here, everything will surely go perfectly!"

She truly believed that.

"Is that so? Well, I hope we can work together to ensure things go smoothly while the others look for a suitable candidate... or... Neia, perhaps you would like to leave it all to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I do not want to trouble you too much, as I know you are already very busy, and really need to rest. If I handle everything in regards to this temporary arrangement, it should do wonders for you, no?"

"Please do not worry about that! I would be glad to help!"

"There really is no need. My subordinates will handle most of the details anyway."

"Is… is that so..."

"Huh? Are you disappointed?"

"Uhm... well, I would just appreciate it if we could work together, side by side. Spending all day together again, like we did when I was your squire… there was something special about that…"

"You think? Well, why don't we just have a day-long date at some point instead? I wouldn't be able to give you my full attention if we're working, after all."

She smiled, cheerfully putting her free hand to her chest.

"That would be great!"

... ... ...

Neia was sitting in her bedroom, reading a report regarding public reception of her newest speech.

The result made her mind race a bit.

One of the things she announced was His Majesty's willingness to temporarily help out with administration.

It seems that the people had a rather extreme reaction.

She thought they would be grateful and all that, which was also true of course.

But they were so happy with the idea of him leading them that they wanted this to be a permanent arrangement.

They wanted to become part of the Sorcerer Kingdom.

She of course knew that a great deal of people wanted to be led by him. She was one of them.

Was this their chance?

She pulled out a quill, and the good paper.

The other nobles were currently in the process looking for the best successor to the throne.

She would urge them to name the Sorcerer King.

Actually, they were probably already discussing that. They surely saw the public's outcry, right?

... ... ...

Neia was sitting in the backstage, reviewing the script.

She was uneasy about writing something so unlike her normal work.

Something so vindictive.

But it turned out rather well, since it was rather short.

In just a few moments, most of the traitors would be publicly executed. Their capture was near instant.

This particular speech was going to be the lead up to their killing.

Just then, her darling appeared.

"Your Majesty!"

Neia, Shizu, and the maid in the room all bowed.

"Raise your heads. Is everything going well?"

"Yes, I believe I'm ready..."

"Are you sure? You sound a bit uneasy."

"It's fine… I've just never made a speech like this..."

He stepped close to her.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll do great. I know you will."

He got close and put his arm on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Your Majesty…"

...

Neia stepped out onto the podium, accompanied by Shizu.

The crowd went from booing those on the gallows to celebrating them both.

She made sure to hurry to her spot, and then spoke in a practised tone she worked on specifically for this. It was forceful and angry, but not in a way which would intimidate the audience.

"Greetings, everyone!"

The cheers were rather unusual today. They could be described the same way her own tone could. Forceful and angry.

"As you can see, to my left are the gallows, filled with the worst of traitors! But what are their crimes? What are they guilty of to deserve their fate?"

She looked at the traitors properly for the first time, and saw that parts of their bodies were horribly mutilated.

"These are the men and women responsible for the Holy King's death! The men and women responsible for our great country's split! They stuck to the worthless 'Gods' who did nothing to help us, while going against our true saviour!"

The crowd got even more furious.

"These vile traitors, these power-hungry pigs, these filthy heretics blind to our saviour's glory... what do they deserve?"

"Death! Death! Death! Death! Death!"

She could not help but smile hearing the crowd chant.

She was happy with this result.

"Death! A painful death! And when their petty lives are over, they will join the ranks of His Majesty's undead!"

As she said this, her darling appeared above the podium.

The new wave of cheers was overwhelming.