Neia arrived at the door of His Majesty's room. Her heart was pounding so hard and fast it felt like it was going to jump out of her chest.
Today was the day of their date.
When she thought of it like that, Neia felt that warm feeling again.
"But I ought to not think of it like that. After all, the ruler of a country would not go on a 'date', right?"
If there was such a thing among royalty, it probably had a fancy name, and was overall quite different.
Thinking she stood around long enough, she knocked.
"Your Majesty, this is your Squire, Neia Baraja!"
"Come in."
She entered the room and knelt.
"Good morning, Miss Baraja. Please rise. It is time for you to take your bath, correct? Unless you wish to cancel today's plans."
"Not at all, Your Majesty! I am ready!"
"I see... then let's go. Please stand close to me."
She did so, and in a blink, she was somewhere completely unfamiliar.
It was a medium-sized room with a full bathtub in the middle, and on its side was a towel holder. Next to it was a small table, on which there was a small wooden box and a bowl of water. There were some decorations in the room, and the windows were behind closed curtains. The walls and floor itself were made of carved wood, but not as fancy as something like the inside of His Majesty's carriage.
"Like was said before, you will have an hour to yourself here. If you finish earlier than that, we can skip straight to the main part. You can give your clothes to the maid waiting outside the door, and they will be cleaned while you bathe. If that's all, I will return in an hour."
"Y-yes!"
"Enjoy yourself, Miss Baraja."
With those words, the Sorcerer King turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. She was alone now.
If it was as His Majesty had said, then the faster she can bathe, the more time they'll spend together later, right? Or will it be an hour no matter how long she takes? She should have asked about that.
Either way, before she could strip naked in an unknown environment, she wanted to look around first. Her eyes were drawn to the curtains.
She approached one of them and pushed it aside, looking through a very clean window. The scenery was immediately familiar.
"This is His Majesty's palace in E-Rantel?!"
Indeed, this was the palace of His Majesty in the heart of the Sorcerous Kingdom, where she and the paladins asked for Momon's assistance. It made her head spin.
"Why was I taken to a place like this? Was there nothing better?!" By better, she meant worse. After all, another country's citizen being taken to a royal palace so they could take a bath there seemed most outrageous.
She calmed down a bit, knowing that His Majesty just seems to have a different approach to things.
Next, she looked at that small wooden box on the table next to the bathtub. It was simple, but the wood looked very nice and polished. As she opened it, she saw a razor. It was glowing faintly, so perhaps it had some sort of enchantment? She did not know what that enchantment could be, however.
After some more looking around, she stripped down and wrapped the towel around herself. Then, she headed for the door to give her clothes to the maid.
Opening it, she saw who she was looking for, but was still a bit stunned. The maid was extremely beautiful, not quite as much as prime minister Albedo, but she was still far better-looking than Neia.
"Hello, Miss Baraja. I'm Fith. Shall I go wash that for you?"
"Y-yes, please..."
As the maid happily took her somewhat dirty clothes and left, Neia was once again left a bit shaken with despair. If His Majesty could surround himself with such beautiful women, how could she ever stand a chance?
If so, why hasn't she been rejected yet? It all made her feel very weary, but she had to focus now. There was no going back. Today was the day. She took off the towel and put it back before lowering herself into the bath.
It was pure bliss. The hot water made her feel incredible, and she could instantly feel herself get cleaner. As she also lowered herself fully into the water to soak her head, her hair also immediately felt nice and clean.
"What is in this bath water? Or is it enchanted somehow? This is incredible..."
As she thought about how great the water made her feel, she considered spending her full allowed hour right here.
After a few minutes, she inevitably started thinking about how the rest of this was going to go. She had to stop herself from calling it a date in her mind, and went through all sorts of possibilities.
What were they going to say to each other?
Will his attitude be different towards her?
The atmosphere in the room, is it going to be... romantic?
Neia's heart was beating hard and fast as she thought of this, and her cheeks turned red again. She had noticed that this, too, was becoming a daily occurrence.
It seemed that every single day, something made her blush with love. It is because all those days are spent with His Majesty.
Going through all the possible options regarding what was going to be happening an hour from now, she could no longer ignore a central question.
"We aren't going to do THAT, right? There's no way..."
Although it's what she would want, she had to temper her expectations. His Majesty was undead. He probably doesn't feel like that towards anyone.
But does this mean the beautiful women around him are just a show of power, like the statues in front of the city gates? She could not find an answer, but as she was thinking about His Majesty in that way, one of her hands unconsciously drifted between her legs. She stopped herself when it reached its destination.
"No, I really shouldn't. Not here."
She did not have the privacy and time to satisfy herself in that way for a very long time now, which was especially painful now that she spent every day with the man she loved.
But right now hardly seemed appropriate.
"Doing something like this in His Majesty's palace... I shouldn't be here at all!"
She then prepared to shave.
...
It didn't seem like she'd missed a spot. Her whole body was nice and smooth now. After wiping the razor and putting it back in its place, she relaxed in the bath again.
It still felt great. Not as good as when she first entered, but the hot water was exactly what she needed after spending so much time in the chilly winds of winter.
With all her thinking and enjoying the water, the time she spent here was likely well over half an hour, but still a decent chunk away from the full hour she had.
Knowing this, she rested in the bath for a few more minutes longer before getting up and reaching for the towel again.
Having dried herself for a bit, she wrapped herself in the towel as she went for the door.
Opening it, she was once again met with that beautiful maid.
"Hello, Miss Baraja. Is it not a little early to fetch your clothes? You still have 16 minutes and 51 seconds."
She was a bit taken aback by her comment about knowing the time down to the second, but responded quickly.
"Uhm, if it's possible, I would like to contact His Majesty right now. Since I am already done with my bath, I hoped it would be possible to add the leftover time to the hour we were supposed to spend together."
It made sense to her, since the Liberation Army would not expect either of them until then. She had a feeling that His Majesty would simply allow this extra time to be added onto
that hour, instead of doing something strange like insisting that their time together is exactly an hour even if both of them are ready earlier.
However, this could only happen if His Majesty was in fact ready soon. If he had already filled his schedule for this hour, it couldn't be helped, and she'd just have to return to bathing.
"Of course. I will contact Lord Ainz immediately, Miss Baraja."
Lord Ainz? Though she found that manner of addressing His Majesty very odd, she was also a bit happy.
It seemed her little idea might work after all. If His Majesty's schedule was full, it was likely one of his maids would have known, and would not go on to contact His Majesty like this.
"Thank you, Miss Fith." She hesitated in remembering the maid's name as she thanked her.
She probably had problems committing it to memory due to how the maid's beauty had shocked her earlier.
She closed the door again and looked to her clothes, which now seemed flawlessly clean and smelled beautifully.
"Miss Baraja?" It was the maid again. Why was she knocking so suddenly?
"Lord Ainz agreed. He is waiting outside."
She could not believe her ears.
"W-what? Uhm, I'm getting dressed, please wait!"
"Understood!"
She panicked, and started dressing as fast as she possibly could. She did not expect that His Majesty had not been busy, and could be contacted so soon. "It's like he was just waiting
around the corner the whole time!"
As she thought about it a little more, she realized that the maid probably teleported to his side, and they then teleported back together, which is why he could be contacted immediately and got here immediately as well.
Finding that answer satisfying, she realized how little she was wearing, and that just a few seconds ago she wasn't wearing anything at all. An idle thought made her stop for just a second. When the knock on her door could be heard, and when she found out that His Majesty was waiting right outside, what if she had said something like "come in" instead? She wouldn't actually dare, but these ridiculous fantasies were commonplace for her now.
With a very obvious blush, she finished getting dressed and opened the door, before falling to one knee upon seeing His Majesty.
"I'm sorry for calling for you before being ready myself!"
If she knew that his arrival would be near instant, she would have been prepared beforehand.
"Please rise, Miss Baraja. There is nothing to apologize for. I did not mind the wait."
"You are too kind, Your Majesty!" as Neia rose with those words, she saw that His Majesty was not doing or saying anything, just looking at her.
Did she mess up getting dressed?
Did her hair look strange?
She thought that she looked alright in the mirror.
\\\
Ainz realized his mistake. He acted before thinking because he was bored. When he was informed that Neia was ready, he immediately came here because he had nothing else to do at the moment. He did not have the foresight to really plan anything important for the entire hour, and now he was here early.
Instead of realizing that he could at least do nothing, now he had to deal with a painful situation, while also prolonging it.
He thought that "No, I actually remembered I had to do something, so go back to bathing." Would be a terrible excuse, and so there seemed to be no way out of this situation. For over an hour, he will have to convincingly feign some hint of a romantic interest in the girl in front of him. He had to make sure not to show too much or too little interest, as he wanted to prolong her usefulness for as long as possible.
If he showed no interest, he might break her heart and turn all that love into hatred. If he showed too much, she would quickly become very annoying, expecting more and more.
Well, it was time to start.
\\\
Just as Neia was starting to panic internally, confused as to why His Majesty was just looking at her, he finally acted. He turned halfway around to face another maid which she could not see before, standing behind him. She was just as beautiful as the first, which made Neia uneasy again. "How many beautiful women does His Majesty have working for him?!"
The maid was holding a platter of food, most of which was familiar. It even seemed like the things she said were her favourite had returned, and the things she liked less were mostly absent.
Did he remember her preferences?
\\\
The platter of food he was holding seemed like a genius plan to waste a bit of time. If Neia was busy eating, she could not speak. He put a lot of effort into preparing this particular platter. It seemed like a good idea to perhaps make it seem like he remembered her preferences would make her think that he cared. However, he realized how much that could backfire if he managed to fill it with things she actually told him she preferred less, so he still made it mostly random in the end, and threw in some new things for good measure.
He took the platter with one hand and spoke.
"Miss Baraja, please stand close. We are leaving."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Ainz had teleported them to his room in the Holy Kingdom. When thinking about the location, it seemed better to make sure there was the smallest possible chance of this information somehow getting to Albedo or Shalltear. It seemed like this place would be good for that purpose, but he wasn't entirely confident it was the best choice, either.
He looked to Neia, who seemed amazed at being teleported before meeting his gaze. Her visor was on, and so he was fine looking at her like this.
\\\
He raised his hand and furniture appeared out of thin air.
"Ah!"
She felt like she embarrassed herself as she made a little noise of amazement.
There was a large, onyx black table and two sofas on opposite sides of it, made of what seemed like nearly pitch-black wood, with the seating parts being a deep purple.
As she thought about how comfortable they looked, His Majesty slowly moved toward them, and set down the platter on one side of the table, and sat down on the sofa on the opposite side.
"Have a seat, Miss Baraja."
She rushed to his side as she always did without thinking, sitting down next to him.
As she thought about it more, she realized she made a mistake just now.
After all, the food was opposite of where she and His Majesty were sitting. Surely she was meant to sit on the other sofa. That's why it was there...
She could not read His Majesty's expression, but he seemed to be looking at her in silence. What an embarrassing start to their first date.
Walking over to her side, she knelt down on one knee and was about to apologize for her mistake.
\\\
The girl sitting down next to him was looking at him before starting to get up. It was only now that he realized his mistake. "Oh no! Of course two people courting each other wouldn't sit down on opposing sides of a large table, right?"
He felt lucky he did not see her glare, as her visor covered her eyes. She was surely furious.
What was he supposed to do now? Suzuki Satoru had basically no experience with relationships, so such mistakes could be expected. However, that was not an excuse. "Ah! I really should have asked someone about this..."
As he was thinking about how to salvage the situation, the girl in front of him stood up without another word.
It was clear he'd upset her deeply. "Damn it! I already screwed up! This whole plan is going up in ashes!"
Finally, the girl moved to... kneel?
"I am sorry, Your Majesty! I sat down without thinking!"
Huh?
Once again, the girl had said something that stunned him completely.
He was trying to think of a way to get her to explain to him why exactly she was apologizing again, but that probably wouldn't work here. What did she mean when she said that? It was her fault for sitting down next to him? In that case...
"Hm. Are you apologizing for sitting down next to me, then?" The girl looked up at him with a strange expression. It seemed like confusion mixed with something else, but the visor made it hard to tell.
"Y-yes, Your Majesty! I sat down next to you without thinking, when you had obviously wanted me to sit across from you!"
Was that really it? Wasn't the mistake his? As he thought about it, perhaps it was true that even in situations regarding romance, the one with higher status might control the situation.
"No, it was my fault."
The girl made another new expression he hadn't quite seen before.
"I picked the place to sit for you. I should have asked for your preference. I am sorry."
He bowed his head.
"N-no! Your Majesty! Please don't ever bow your head to someone like me! Y-you weren't even in the wrong!"
Her tone was frantic and desperate.
After a moment, he raised his head.
"I admit I was in the wrong. There is nothing else to be said. Now I ask you, where do you wish to sit? ...No, there's no need to answer. If sitting next to me was what you did without thinking as you said, then that's where you want to sit, no?"
"T-there's no need, Your Majesty! I would be happy to sit wherever you want me to!"
He sighed internally. "Haahh... you're being difficult again..."
"It's what you did before thinking, so it was clearly your preference. If your heart yearns for it, it can't be helped."
He got up and moved the platter to where she sat before.
"Come now, Miss Baraja."
She was still kneeling there, stunned. Seeing this, he spoke again.
"Miss Baraja? We don't have much time, after all." He did not actually want them to use all that time properly like he implied just now, but it was probably better to help calm her down. This is also another fake hint he actually cares about her, so it should be fine.
After a delay, she seemed to be suddenly taken back to reality as she hurried to sit down as instructed. Now, how was he going to waste time?
"I'm sorry once again about just now, how about you eat a bite to help you relax?"
"If- if that's okay?"
"Of course. I wouldn't be making an offer if I did not intend to go through with whatever it is I'm offering. Please, do relax and eat as much as you want."
As she shakily leaned forward so that her head would be above the platter as she ate, Ainz reached into his inventory.
\\\
Wasn't it a bit strange to eat like this during a date? If her partner couldn't, then why should she? "No, His Majesty probably brought this food to calm me down. He knew I'd be tense on our first date... All right, all right. It's just like His Majesty said. I need to relax." this time they're spending together, which she thought was at least supposed to be a little romantic, had already crumbled due to her mistakes. "At least His Majesty was thoughtful enough to bring this... what an incredibly kind and thoughtful person he is..." she thought as she bit into a delicious piece of cake.
While she was busy trying to relax herself, she could suddenly hear the sound of water being poured. She turned to see that His Majesty was pouring water into a glass from a simple-looking pitcher. Were either of those always there? Afterward, the hand which held the pitcher seemed to disappear into nothingness, only to appear again without the pitcher.
Neia realized her mouth was open due to her amazement, and she immediately closed it and finished swallowing what remained of the cake.
"Please, do drink up if you feel thirsty as well, Miss Baraja."
And now he was pouring a drink for her? This was something servants should be doing... if her mouth wasn't full of food earlier, she would have tried to protest.
She then realized the visor was still on her face. During that whole exchange, she was too tense to realize. She was completely used to wearing it, so she forgot. She removed it before speaking, and she wanted to ask a more serious question.
"So, Your Majesty... if it's okay, can I ask what to expect from this?"
"From this?"
"Well, uhm, our relationship, I mean!" She felt her cheeks go red as she referred to whatever was between them as a relationship.
"Ah, well... it is hard to say, Miss Baraja. You see, this is a somewhat difficult position... Let's see, you said you wished to become my wife one day?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Hm. Of course. Then, what exactly do you imagine being my wife to be? I suppose I'm turning the question back on you, then. My apologies, but I feel that it is necessary now. After all, if I know what you seek, I can answer if that is attainable."
"There's no need to apologize, Your Majesty! I will gladly answer!" She had to steel herself now, and so she breathed in deeply.
"What I want from being yours is, well..."
She knew that among the nobility and royalty, marriages served as a political tool. For example, if His Majesty married the princess of another country, their countries' ties would deepen. If he married a nation's queen, he would become its king.
And so, there was no reason for him to marry a commoner like her. In fact, there was probably no reason for someone like him to marry anyone in this world at all. That's how powerful he was.
Instead, she wanted to be treated more like a commoner's wife. They would love each other and possibly take care of their children if they had them...
When she finally spoke, it was with a blush.
"I have come to understand that marriage becomes more and more of a political tool as one moves up in status. Therefore, I am fine with not actually being proclaimed your wife! Instead, I wish for a more commoner-style arrangement. I wish to live with Your Majesty and I wish for us to become close and I wish to... uhm..."
Although she thought she prepared herself well enough, it seemed like she needed to push herself one last time.
"Well, I wanted to know if Your Majesty ever takes lovers, since Your Majesty is undead!"
Several moments of silence followed. Neia was terrified of what kind of answer she was going to receive. Was that question rude?
Finally, His Majesty had spoken.
"Neia Baraja. I cannot promise you much, but I will give you a chance."
Those words were like sweet honey.
His Majesty spoke once more after the brief pause, and she was eager to hear every word.
"By chance, I mean I will do my best to see if we can court each other. Well, it seems I will have no need to make myself appealing to you. Rather, you will do your best to court me, and I will be open to the possibility of developing these feelings towards you. Is that alright?"
She kind of had the impression that this was already what was happening, but now it was a spoken promise.
"However, we are now in a difficult position. None of this can really happen any time soon."
She felt that this would have to be a long and difficult task for her either way, so those words did not frighten her. Still, she did not know what His Majesty meant exactly.
"You are the representative of a foreign country, and my squire. While I will allow times like this for you to try to court me, we cannot truly get started until after this is over. You have your duties to your country, and that applies to me, too. Even if... we fall desperately in love, for example, we would not be able to help it until after everything is sorted."
She was amazed. Of course His Majesty put his people and his duties to them above all else! Like he said, he wouldn't even put someone he was in love with above his job as a ruler. What an incredible, selfless leader!
...
After what she guessed was about half an hour, the conversation with His Majesty seemed very familiar and nostalgic.
It was just like when they spoke in the carriage when first getting to know each other.
This could be interpreted in two ways.
The first was that His Majesty has always had some level of interest in Neia. But the more likely explanation seemed to be that in all the time she's been at his side, his view of her has not really changed.
This made Neia nervous again. If this is just like when they were talking in the carriage, does this also mean her best chance at courting him was back then? She did not know when they would next speak like this. If they were going to take an hour like this every few days, that would still be bad compared to back then, when they spent all day from dawn to dusk together.
She cursed herself for not realizing her feelings earlier, causing her to miss her chance, and wondered if they would ever travel like that again.
Being in the mood of thinking about her long-term courting strategy, she derailed their conversation a bit and asked her question.
"Your Majesty, may I ask a strange question?"
"Oh? Of course, Miss Baraja, go ahead."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I apologize, but I'm a little unsure as to how to get closer to you. Many of the ways I would court a human seem to be impossible due to your undead nature..."
It was indeed a bold question, but they were closer now than ever before, so it was probably all right. Next she thought whether or not she was going to be even bolder and give examples. She already started, so hopefully it will be fine.
"... for example, I am unsure if I can try to appeal to Your Majesty using things like beauty. Your Majesty is undead, after all, and I'm not sure you have any desire to... make love... So please, would you permit me to ask some questions like that? Questions about Your Majesty's desires in a partner, and other more personal questions?"
\\\
Why does she always say the worst possible thing?
Suzuki Satoru knew answering questions like that would be extremely troublesome, since even before obtaining this undead body, he had no real experience with love and relationships.
And when it came to right now, frankly speaking, he was not interested, and there was probably nothing that could make him interested.
But being truthful was never the goal, so all he had to do was create a web of lies. He would have to be careful about each lie he gave so they would not contradict each other or cause other issues.
For example, he could lie that he found her speeches flattering, but they were already effective, and so saying something like that could make her change them to make them even more flattering. But if she reached a breaking point where she seemed too fanatical and delusional about him, it could damage people's perception of her, and the speeches wouldn't be as effective.
He would likely have to think about this a lot to avoid mistakes like that, and so for now he would do his best to dismiss her request.
He looked into Neia's eyes. Once again finding them a bit frightening, he closed his own before speaking.
\\\
"Hm. I must say, perhaps such things are not entirely appropriate, no?"
Her heart sank.
"After all, if I simply tell you how I wish for you to act, you will obviously act that way, no? And then, if the news spreads, everyone who wishes to court me will all act identically to one another in an effort to appeal to me. I have no desire to create a circus everywhere I walk, where everyone puts on a mask to try to please me in a self-serving attempt to get closer to me."
His Majesty's words were as wise as always.
It seemed so obvious looking back now that she was ashamed of asking.
If it became common knowledge that His Majesty liked women who wore red, suddenly women all over the world, and especially the women around him, would start wearing red. There would of course be many benefits to being liked, let alone loved by someone as powerful as His Majesty. Whoever managed to steal his heart would truly be able to do anything they wished.
And so, it made perfect sense that the key to His Majesty's heart should be a closely guarded secret.
A terrible thought crossed her mind.
Knowing this, did this make her seem like she's just after His Majesty's power?
She had previously heard of all sorts of women who would try to seduce nobles in an attempt to marry them and thus gain wealth and status for themselves.
Did His Majesty think of her like that now?
The idea that she completely destroyed her chances forever with such a small mistake made her feel downright sick.
She had to make an apology and clarify her thoughts, and she had to do it right now.
Only, His Majesty began speaking again.
"Of course, I am not discounting the possibility entirely. But for now, I actually want to find out more about you, Miss Baraja. If you don't know what it is I seek in a partner, you cannot put on an act. And so, I will see the real you. This is ideal for me. Oh, and it seems there is another thing to address. Oh, and since things are now like this, would you prefer me to address you by your first name in private?"
She was once again stunned.
A common occurrence when dealing with someone as amazing as His Majesty.
It seems that instead of her chances being obliterated entirely, His Majesty was kind enough to interpret her inquiry in the most charitable way possible.
Or maybe that's just what he tells her. Yes, while this shows that he does seem to trust her to some extent, he also surely must have made a mental note of this.
He will now scrutinize any signs of her not truly being in love with him, and just trying to earn his favour for selfish reasons. She had to be careful not to appear as if that was her goal.
But something else that was also important happened just now.
His Majesty had asked if he should call her by her first name.
The thought made her blush. As she was about to enthusiastically accept, she also thought about the distant possibility of addressing His Majesty by his name in the distant future.
"Yes, Your Majesty! I would love it if you called me that!"
"Mm. Then it's decided, Neia."
She had to resist making a noise of happiness as she heard this.
It felt like progress was being made.
Though progress would not always be something as tangible, being addressed like this would serve as a constant reminder that there might be hope for her.
Maybe.
She decided to be a bit more straightforward with her feelings.
"It feels good to be called that by you, Your Majesty!"
"Ah. Uhm, yes. Good. I'm glad it makes you happy."
She couldn't help but smile at those words. She felt that her throat was probably a bit dry, and so she reached for that glass of water which His Majesty puzzlingly poured for her.
To her surprise, the water had surpassed her expectations. It could be said that even though it was water, it was delicious.
The water was so clean and pure that she almost couldn't stop herself from gulping it all down immediately.
Looking at the almost-empty glass to admire the water, the familiar pitcher reached from behind her, held up by His Majesty's skeletal hand.
"Here. Let me refill that for you."
"Ah! Your Majesty?!"
It seemed unthinkable that He would do something like refilling her glass of water. If anything, she should be acting as the servant and refill his glass instead.
Not that he had one.
"Oh, don't concern yourself with that."
"B-but, Your Majesty!"
"Enough, I said. By the way, perhaps you should eat a bit more? I understand if you're full, but if you aren't, it would be better if you were well-fed, no? You are my squire, after all."
That statement felt a little bit like a lame joke. She was more than just his squire now...
"Hm, yes. I want to see you happily well-fed and full of energy."
Her eyes widened a bit. "So His Majesty meant it like that!" There was a big difference between wanting to see someone enjoy better meals to perform their duties, and wanting to see them like that because you care about them. His Majesty implied it was the former at first, but relented and admitted how it really was.
Neia was very, very happy at that moment.
But she also found it a little cute. "Ah, is His Majesty... shy?"
The idea that someone like him could be shy when it comes to relationships was indeed incredibly cute to her.
It was also yet another blatant show of his personhood. As she was thinking about just how human His Majesty was, she remembered an earlier self from what felt like very long ago now. At first, hearing of a country ruled by a powerful undead made her think the people would have to be suffering. That its king must have been evil and cruel in how he treated his people. She cursed herself for being so close-minded back then.
But there were still people like the old her, who still regard the undead as evil creatures who hate all life. Rather, it should be said that most humans in this world think that way. And so she cursed those people's ignorance, and swore again that she'd do her best to convince everyone just how kind His Majesty was.
She seemed successful at doing that already, but she saw now that she couldn't stop until everyone saw His Majesty's kindness.
"Hm? Is something the matter?"
"Ah, it's nothing. That was just very nice of you to say, Your Majesty!"
"Of course. Are you not hungry, then? I did bring some things I believe you haven't had the first time."
"Yes, thank you for that!" Did she thank him before or did she forget? She couldn't actually remember due to the mistake she made with seating herself.
"Then like I said, I would be pleased if I could provide you with a good meal. Do feel free to eat. We still have plenty of time."
She also wanted to refuse so she could spend as much time talking to His Majesty as possible, but like he said, making sure she's well-fed will please him.
And so, she leaned so that her head was above the platter again to avoid making a mess, thinking about what she was going to eat next.
\\\
As Neia was eating next to him, he was observing closely. He later planned to ask her about her favourites again, except this time he had a plan which allowed him to act as if he remembered her preferences. He couldn't simply write it down in front of her, since he wanted to make it seem like he really cared enough to remember on his own, and so he had a scheme ready.
He had the maid prepare two identical platters. After their time together ends, he will briefly teleport back to the palace in E-Rantel. Having the platter in front of him, he will point to whatever Neia's preferences are, and have the maids cook that food again next time. "Hahah." He chuckled silently in a somewhat awkward manner. He was proud of himself for coming up with a functioning plan for once, even if it was astoundingly simple.
This did however remind him of all the recent changes he carelessly made to Demiurge's plans in the Holy Kingdom, which made him feel guilty at the same time. This was the reason he couldn't really laugh without a tinge of something else just now.
\\\
Every single thing she bit into was delicious. Some things she preferred a bit over the others, but everything on the platter seemed like it was fit for a king. The quality of the food made her wonder about its origin. If there were ingredients and cooks to prepare something like this within the Sorcerer Kingdom, who were the people eating it?
Important guests from foreign countries, most likely. Perhaps people like Prime Minister Albedo, as well? Neia didn't know what species the Prime Minister was, but it seemed she had a fully functioning human-like body, and so this food was probably for people like her.
But instead, she was the one eating it. This made her feel valued and appreciated by His Majesty, which in turn made her blush and smile to herself.
After she finished chewing on a piece of dried fruit covered in caramel, she faced His Majesty again. She thought taking too much time to eat in silence was bad, so she was going to take a few bites and then talk for a minute or two before returning for a few more bites.
"Your Majesty, I was thinking. Perhaps I should be asking this later, but when will we meet like this again?"
"Hmm. Like I said, this is a hard time for your country, and due to our professional relationship, we ought to keep this a secret for now. I also do not want to take time away from your other duties as you help your countrymen. So, what do you suggest?"
Neia was surprised that he would ask for her opinion.
"I'm not sure, Your Majesty. My heart wishes I could spend time with you like this every single day, but it is as you say. Perhaps once a week would be good?"
She thought that was likely a good suggestion. An hour every week isn't that big of a loss, especially since she's not particularly important. But how will His Majesty feel about this? His time is far more important than hers, so he will likely not be available that often.
"Hm. I see. Are you sure you won't be missed during all that time?"
"No, Your Majesty, your time is far more important than mine."
He seemed to perk up a bit for some reason. But it was brief, so she probably only imagined it.
"Uhm, yes! You see, there is much to do. Mhm. So, how about once every two weeks?"
Neia was disappointed, but she had no right to complain about anything in regards to this whole situation. She was still just grateful to have the opportunity.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
She tried to not let her disappointment slip into her words, but just a hint of it seemed to do so. Another thought came to her mind. After this war was over, would their little dates be more or less common? The reason they could become more rare is that it seems His Majesty took the time to be with her today out of what he already had reserved for dealing with the Holy Kingdom. When the war ends, the time he'd otherwise spend here will become full of dealing with his own kingdom, which will naturally be more important to him.
But they could also become more common. It's possible the time His Majesty spends here is actually time during which he wasn't that needed in his kingdom anyway. This would mean that he was going to be far less busy when this all ends, and he could have more time for Neia.
Either way, unless she returns to the Sorcerer Kingdom, she will also lose the ability to be at his side every day. In order to do that, she would have to become his personal maid or something like that.
In that case, she should practice housekeeping in her spare time.
\\\
Is that too far apart? He could sense the disappointment in Neia's words, and so he reconsidered.
As he was thinking, he realized there was another dimension to this problem. Until now, he only thought to space their interactions of this kind perfectly far apart enough to allow him to space out the escalating signs of affection he planned on.
But it seemed to be more complex than that.
If he had Neia wait a whole month, for example, she would surely be affection-starved, and would demand more attention than a Neia who he gave attention to just a week before. This meant that if these kinds of events were too infrequent, he would be forced to escalate every single time they met, which would be counter-productive in the long term.
A Neia with which he meets every week wouldn't be as desperate for attention, and so she might not notice if their relationship is not progressing as much.
At least that's what he thought.
Perhaps it worked the opposite way.
He sighed internally and tried to make up for his potential mistake by speaking again.
"Actually, perhaps it might not always be that way."
Neia seemed to be pulled out of her own thoughts as she heard him speak.
"There are all sorts of things happening within my kingdom. My schedule has been a little unpredictable some days, so there might be some times when I am able to see you earlier than in two weeks, or maybe later than that."
"I see..."
He thought about returning some life to the room, as the conversation right now was not very romantic at all.
Asking about the food now was probably a good idea. It will be better to receive some of her opinions now and the rest later, as it will probably be easier to memorize if he doesn't have to do it all at once.
He thought about how he wouldn't need to memorize anything if he just made some sort of summon do that for him.
He probably didn't think of that because he didn't consider it an issue. After all, he'd only have to remember for a few minutes, before the maids would write it down.
"So, Neia. What about the food? I'm determined to properly commit your favourites to memory this time."
Actually, perhaps he shouldn't make this a promise. He could vaguely imagine a situation where something like this would be brought up during one of their dates, only for him to not have an answer because he relied on others for that. But it was too late now.
"Hm? Commit them to memory? Will I ever be fed such food again?"
"Yes. More occasions which call for it might come up all the time. In which case, I want to know what you like, Neia."
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Neia was happy and flattered not only because she was addressed by her name again, but also because His Majesty was willing to remember such a trivial thing, just because it was her.
And so, she smiled as she spoke.
... ... ...
It was the night after their date. She sat in a dark corner of a tent, holding the bread and cheese which was supposed to serve as her dinner.
She bit off a mouthful of both, only for unpleasantness to fill her body.
"... Disgusting..."
That was the only word on her mind.
She immediately pulled out her waterskin, taking a sip and forcing herself to swallow.
Something like this had happened before, but she simply thought she had no appetite back then, due to all the stress. Yes, sometimes, she would simply be too stressed out to have an appetite..
Except the last time she felt like this, it was when she was first offered that first platter of food by His Majesty.
And now it was happening again, after she was served another platter.
She was realizing what was going on.
The food from the Sorcerer Kingdom simply tasted so good that everything else was like dirt in comparison.
Just like last time, it would probably take days to adjust to normal food again.
"Whatever... It's fine if I don't eat as much for a bit. That stuff was probably the kind of food that makes you fat, anyway..."