Hello.
I hope you've been enjoying this little project so far.
With the previous chapter, I've reached the end of what currently exists of Overlord.
I had originally planned to wait for a new volume so I could properly continue basing this story off the canon.
But that was probably a weird decision, since it would guarantee that this fic would not receive an update for at least a year or two.
And it just feels wrong to make you guys wait, seeing that the response has been positive. I see it as my responsibility to deliver the best story I can as fast as possible.
And so, I've decided to branch off and make my own assumptions about what will likely happen in the future volumes.
I will mostly handle these events through a time skip and some implied consequences.
I don't really trust myself to make something nearly as interesting as the actual author, so I won't try, and just focus on the few main characters I'm already working with.
Not doing anything too concrete will also allow me to smoothly rewrite this fic in the future to add everything that will come up in the canon later.
Either way, for the next chapter or two, there might be some weirdness due to this.
I hope you enjoy them despite that.
- Lucy
Neia sighed, leaning back into the seat of her carriage, her body almost completely limp from exhaustion.
She had just finished giving another speech justifying the Sorcerer Kingdom's wars with both the Slane Theocracy and the Argland Council State, and that their aftermath was also fully justified, and not at all overly cruel like some have claimed.
But it had been a bit of a nightmare for her.
The old church has been using the wars as proof of her darling's "true intentions". That what happened to the Theocracy was evidence of his hatred for the living. That he secretly had the same intentions for every surrounding country, including the Holy Kingdom.
Those damn fools made her so angry...
She simply could not understand their ignorance.
He was their saviour. He's done so much for them. How could they not see?
She sighed again.
Despite the old church's ridiculous accusations growing more deranged by the day, her own followers were convinced that the wars were both justified.
That took some work, but it was nothing Neia couldn't handle.
But she still felt quite terrible lately.
She was completely fatigued.
The reason for this wasn't the amount of work she had, or the dwindling hope for peace in her country. Those did not help at all of course, but perhaps she could push through them if it wasn't for the almost complete lack of time spent with her darling.
All this has obviously left him very busy, and they'd barely seen each other at all since the war with the Theocracy started.
Thankfully, a date was coming up in just a few days.
Hopefully that would restore her vigour...
... ... ...
Ainz sighed, leaning back into the chair in his office on the 9th Floor, his body almost completely limp from exhaustion.
He had much to do now that everything regarding the twin wars was being properly wrapped up.
Albedo, Demiurge, Renner, and Pandora's Actor would pool their genius together to ensure everything would go as smoothly and quickly as possible, but that didn't spare him from having to do work as well.
He sighed again.
This endless work had left him feeling completely dead inside most days.
But there was something he looked forward to.
It was his upcoming date with Neia.
He knew that she was probably very unhappy with the lack of dates lately, so he was glad to finally give her a bit of his affection, as fake as it might be.
Because he wanted her to be happy.
She had to be happy and full of energy to give her speeches, or she wouldn't be useful as an asset to Nazarick.
Yes, that's why he cared about her happiness.
It was just about using her. Manipulating her so she could be useful.
Nothing more.
Right?
... ... ...
Neia looked herself over in the mirror one last time.
Everything had to be perfect.
It was their first date in so long...
She breathed in deeply, and hurried over to where he would teleport.
Only a few moments later, he finally did.
"Your Majesty!"
"Hello, Neia."
The sight of him and the sound of his voice made her extremely happy. Her fatigue seemed gone in an instant, and she now felt like she could dance with joy.
She stepped close.
"I am so happy to see you! I've missed you so much!"
"Is that so? Then I am glad to hear you are happy, Neia. Truly."
"May I get a hug?"
"Of course."
...
When they sat down to talk, they both had a mutual desire to not bring up their work.
They could complain about that to each other later.
For this specific date, they were both desperate to not think about it.
"... ah, my hair has grown again since we last met, hasn't it?"
"Yes, I see that it has. It is indeed quite long now."
"So what do you think? Do you prefer it like this, or should I cut it?"
He put his hand to his chin.
"Hmm. Honestly, it is beautiful at every length."
Something about her being described as beautiful made her smile and blush happily.
"I am so happy to hear that, you know?"
"It is only the truth."
She smiled even harder.
A pleasant silence followed.
They only sat there, looking into each other's eyes.
"Your Majesty... is it okay if we..."
She blushed again.
"... uhm… hold hands? I mean... surely that should be fine? If we are sitting close and talking anyway..."
"Hold hands? Hm. Very well."
\\\
He offered his hand to her, and she reached for it with a squeak of happiness.
He found the display a bit cute, if he was being honest.
And now that they were touching, he paid close attention.
There was a specific reason he could tolerate her hugs rather easily now, but didn't feel fine with touching Albedo or Shalltear.
It was because Neia touching him was always out of nothing but love, and if there was any lust in there, it was not enough for him to even notice.
He couldn't say the same for those two. Not at all.
Looking at Neia now, it seemed this was the case for their hand-holding as well. She was all smiles, and while she was blushing, she didn't seem to be thinking anything inappropriate.
And so, he was happy to hold hands with her.
"Ah, Your Majesty?"
"Yes, Neia?"
"Might I ask, how is it with Pandora's Actor? I assume he is very busy now, but when do you think I could meet him? I still really want to..."
"Ah… that..."
Oh no.
"Well, uhm... yes, he is rather busy. He is someone... uhm, important. Yes, he is handling many things right now. Let us not bother him. He gets very focused on his work. Yes."
"Ah, I see..."
He could sense the disappointment in her voice.
But he just couldn't let those two meet, right?
What would she think of him then...
He was just too embarrassing…
… … …
As Ainz returned to Nazarick from the very pleasant date, he found that the pile of documents on his desk had grown quite a bit larger.
He sighed, looking up at the ceiling.
Just before, he had told Neia that their next date could be in only a week, but perhaps he should send her another letter, asking if it could be even earlier than that.
He felt that he needed as many breaks as possible.
Deciding that he would certainly have to do that, he went to sit down.
Grabbing and inspecting the first thing he saw, it seemed to be something quite unlike the other documents.
It was a report from Demiurge, regarding the Holy Kingdom.
His exhaustion with having to do so much tedious work had actually disappeared just then.
If it was regarding the Holy Kingdom, he was honestly interested.
It probably involved Neia, after all. Or at least it almost certainly would in the future.
He read it carefully, and despite it being something Demiurge wrote, he understood it.
Demiurge believed the two wars had fueled hate against him within the Holy Kingdom's south, which will further accelerate the collapse of the country, and thus, their plans for it.
… … …
It had been a few days since their date, and Neia was even more busy than she was before.
The old church was growing more bold with their insanity.
They had already been framing the two wars as a sign of things to come for the Holy Kingdom, but now they further escalated that line of thought.
They had declared that since His Majesty truly was a horrible undead which hated life, they had to prepare for war.
For war with him.
What this meant for the country's future was obvious.
It was surely going to split.
And so, Neia hasn't been leaving her room very often.
She was now sitting on top of her bed, biting her nails with anxiety.
She remembered her darling's words clearly.
Despite her failure in that one city in the south, he had assured her that everything would be fine as long as she worked hard.
He had clearly overestimated her.
And so, her biggest failure yet was imminent.
She was scared.
… … …
Neia stood before the spot where His Majesty, the man she loved, always teleported into her room.
It's only been a few days since their last date, but her darling wanted another one very quickly.
She wouldn't refuse, of course, but what she would say to him today would not be pleasant.
She feared her country could collapse at any moment.
She tried to prevent such a thing, but she failed.
And so, she hoped her darling would accept her desperate apology.
Just as she was thinking that, he appeared.
"Hello, Neia."
"... Your Majesty..."
"Neia, is there something wrong?"
His tone was one of great concern, which made it even more painful.
"Your Majesty... I failed again. The country is sure to collapse at any moment... You've told me that you trusted everything would be alright as long as I did my best, but... I just couldn't do it... I-"
He sighed rather loudly and stepped closer, embracing her.
"Ah! Y-Your Majesty?!"
"What the hell, Neia... You need to stop apologising for everything. You're being so dramatic... Are you seriously trying to take responsibility for the state of your entire country?"
"W-what? S-so you forgive me?!"
"Huh? It's not even your fault at all."
"But-"
"Stop it with this already... I already told you nobody in their right mind would blame you for this. Or do you think I'm that cruel?"
"N-no! I would never think that Your Majesty would-"
"Shhh. Stop."
She decided to obey, simply hugging him back.
...
Now that they were sitting down like always, Ainz still felt that she was very uneasy.
They hugged and he explained everything was fine, like he did two times before.
But there was still something bothering her, and she wasn't even talking or looking at him.
"Neia?"
"Your Majesty?"
Now that she turned to face him, her eyes betrayed a great deal of concern.
"There's clearly still something wrong. Could you tell me?"
She shuffled about uncomfortably.
"Of course, I am very happy that you do not blame me for any of it, but... my country is still about to split. It is completely heartbreaking, regardless of who is to blame... in spite of all my efforts..."
Seeing her unhappy like this wasn't a common sight at all. It was certainly not a sight he liked.
And so, he thought of a way to cheer her up.
They already hugged. Maybe they should hug more?
Or maybe holding hands again?
He decided to try the latter first, holding out his hand for her.
She accepted happily, but it seemed she could only muster a very weak smile in response.
What else could he try?
"Neia... know that no matter what, I will be here for you. You are very dear to me."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. That means so much to me... yes, it's so great to hear that from you..."
Still, her smile still barely showed itself. It was an honest but weak one.
He sighed internally.
"Is there anything I can do to dispel this unease? Anything to cheer you up?"
"Uhm... well..."
She looked down, seemingly in deep thought.
After a few moments, there was an obvious blush.
"Uhm... could we..."
Oh no. He shouldn't have asked.
"... kiss?"
Damn it. In his rush to cheer her up, he accidentally locked himself into advancing their relationship further. What was he going to say? "No"? He couldn't refuse now, after he had already made the offer to cheer her up somehow. That would only make her even more unhappy.
And so, he braced himself.
"... Very well."
Her blush got even more obvious, and the unhappiness was rapidly disappearing from her face.
"Ah, really?!"
"Yes, of course."
"O-okay!... So, should you kiss me, or should I kiss you?"
"Does that matter?"
"Uhm... I suppose it doesn't..."
And so, she moved her face closer.
When it was right in front of his, she hesitated for a moment.
And then, she finally gave him a kiss right on the teeth.
There was once again no lust in that action, so he found that he did not really mind.
But when she moved away, he saw that something was off. She was blushing, but not smiling.
"Is something wrong?"
"Uhm, not at all! It's just that... well, can you kiss me instead?"
"Very well, though I'm not sure what this is about."
This time, it was him who moved his face closer to hers, and the same thing happened.
But her expression did not change.
"Neia?"
"It's... well..."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry if I say something that offends Your Majesty, but... well... I just imagined it a bit differently..."
"You thought it'd be better?"
"I wouldn't put it like that!"
A brief silence followed.
"Uhm... may I try something else?"
"Very well."
She moved her face closer, but this time she kissed his cheek.
When she moved away, he saw that her expression was still not entirely happy.
"Uhm... and one more thing?"
"Sure."
"Well... could we rub our cheeks together?"
"Hm? That's... well, I don't see why not."
And so, they did.
He only had a cheekbone, so it was probably a bit strange, but when she moved away again, she looked happier than before.
"Ah, that's probably the best out of them all..."
"Is that so? Might I ask why that is?"
"Uhm... well... It seems the things that make me most happy are when I can feel you acting affectionate towards me somehow. When we hug, I can feel your arms wrapped around me. When we hold hands, I can feel you squeezing mine... when we kiss, it's..."
"Ah, I see. So you don't like kissing, but that cheek rubbing is fine?"
"No! Not that I don't like kissing! It's just that... it's not as great as I imagined..."
"I am sorry to hear that..."
… … …
Ainz was now sitting behind his desk again, facing a giant pile of documents.
He'd already approved Demiurge's plans for the Holy Kingdom, so his workload probably won't be decreasing anytime soon.
Before he got back to stamping, however, he kept on thinking about the date from which he just returned.
It didn't feel nearly as refreshing as the previous one did.
But why was that?
He didn't have an answer, so he got to work, taking a document and glancing at it.
Something about internal affairs… the spread of Neia's religion among the people…
Whatever. He stamped it.
He took another.
Something about the undead's performance in the Baharuth Empire… whatever. He stamped it.
And then, he realised.
He realised the reason for why their date wasn't that pleasant of a break compared to the previous.
It was because of Neia's unease.
Her being gloomy and not her usual self made him feel a bit gloomy himself.
He wanted her to be happy, after all.
… purely so that she could be a useful asset to Nazarick, of course. For no other reason.
And so, he leaned back, thinking about more ways to cheer her up.
Some that wouldn't escalate their relationship further. He knew what the next step after kissing probably was, and didn't like the idea at all.