CH.3 Twin Empresses

Ainz finishes listening to the portion of Demiurge's tale of how the heirs came into the world. "So, some outer entity must have added something to Albedo and Shalltear's settings to get them pregnant. But since 300 years have passed, it's going to be very difficult to find anything on who did this. Still…I think I should look into this in the near future. But for now…." Ainz thinks to himself for this moment.

Demiurge then asks "There is far more to say, Lord Ainz. Would you like me to continue?"

Ainz looks to the two girls and answers "No, save the remainder for a later time. I'd like to gauge their leadership qualities, first and foremost. Seeing them should put into perspective of how the tomb has been maintained in my absence. As well as my kingdom."

Demiurge looks a bit uneasy but has no qualms in his master's decision. Ainz then makes his plan "I will leave and cloak myself with magic. Tell no one of my presence until I order so." He orders Demiurge.

Demiurge understands his master's plan already since Ainz wishes to see how his daughters maintain order without knowing his presence. The two heirs appear to be negotiating below and then they walk together while being followed by their vassals. Ainz disappears and leaves Demiurge alone as he has his own duties to attend.

Ainz now finds himself in the throne room and then casts "Mirror World!" to cloak himself to his best ability. Doing otherwise could lead to the possibility of being detected by someone within the tomb. His presence masked completely, Ainz observes from near his throne and waits for the heirs to arrive. Before the heirs arrive, maids wearing both black and red outfits appear and set up what appears to be a large table, two thrones opposite of each other, and one maid wearing a red uniform places a dinner set of a steak,a bottle of red wine, a bowl of soup, and a dessert of cake with white frosting. A maid wearing a black uniform places a set of the same items, but has a tart instead of cake.

Moments later, the two heirs enter the throne room together and walk to the table. The first one who resembles Albedo sits as the part with the cake, and the one resembling Shalltear sits at the one with the tart. The guardian's of the tomb are not long in following but do not sits at this table and instead observe the two girls.

The one resembling Albedo is the first to speak "Justina, I have ordered the preparation our mutually agreed dishes as we negotiated. Why have you have provided me with cake instead of a tart like we agreed?"

The heir birthed by Shalltear, Justina Bloodfallen, looks confident when she answers with a clear sense of sarcasm "I felt it proper to feed my "dearest" sister the finest dessert in my empire. Or, would you rather I gave you anything below my best, Flamel?"

Albedo's child, the heir Flamel, looks a bit intrigued by this decision. The two don't say anymore as they begin to eat their meals. But upon taking a bit of her steak, Flamel smirks slightly. After eating her soup, Justina looks a little annoyed, but the deserts is where things get interesting. Flamel eats her cake and looks unimpressed. But when she takes a bite of her tart, Justina growls under her breath with clear anger, and this is heard by Flamel, who smirks.

Upon finishing their meals, Flamel states while wiping her lips "The best, you say. Well, I find that hard to believe considering you think feeding me meat and milk from a sick cow is appropriate." Her eyes glow yellow with anger while saying this.

Justina smiles and simply replies "Not appropriate? I thought you were a sick cow with your pale skin and black hair. You know the saying, you are what you eat, after all."

Flamel's head seems to nearly pop a vein "Oh, and a bloodsucking lamprey like you calls me a sick cow!?"

Justina laughs snottily and remarks "At least lampreys don't smack flies from their asses, and they have slim figures; like yours truly." She shakes her figure a little as means of mocking.

Flamel slams her hands into the table and knocks over her bottle of wine "Do you think I'll take that insult sitting down!?" She declares as the red liquid spills onto the ground. The two sisters throw their chairs away as they both give off a purple aura and look like they're ready for a fight.

However, a pair of voices both shout "That's enough, Flamel/Justina!" then the two look over by the throne and see their mothers standing next to each other, but they translucent like holograms. Albedo looks the same as she did 300 years ago, as does Shalltear.

Shalltear speaks sternly to the girls "Do not forget the oath you both swore to."

Albedo approaches the table and reprimands Flamel "Spilling a drink in the throne room. Do you think your father would like you defiling his glorious chamber?"

Albedo looks at the two girls and tells them both "Now, the two of you will apologize to your father for this outburst, this instant."

The two girls both look embarrassed and nod and their father, still invisible, watches and is a little humored as he chuckles a little "So, they bicker like sisters after all." He thinks.

He decides to follow the girls as they both teleport to a different room, and Ainz has a good idea where it is. His hunch correct, the girls make their way to the mausoleum. They both have access to this room thanks to Albedo and walk down the dimly lit hallway and pass by the other members of Ainz's guild and the supreme beings who they were taught are legend. They gaze at them while passing until they come across a door, a new feature to the area. Ainz doesn't recognize the door as he doesn't remember it being here. But the two girls open the door quickly.

Ainz gets a good look at this new room, which is just a giant room with only one single thing in it, a massive statue of himself that illuminates the room. The statue is made of gold with the most beautiful giant cloak made of the finest silk with two giant rubies acting as his glowing red eyes. His statue is massive and dwarfs the others. He is rather stunned by its beauty and happy the guardians made such a monument to him.

Both girls approach the statue and kneel to it with them both saying "Forgive us father, for we have both committed sins in your beloved home."

Flamel first confesses "I, your loyal daughter Flamel, have committed the sin of defiling the throne room by being careless. I apologize and promise to not make the same mistake."

Then Justina confesses "I, your equally loyal daughter Justina Bloodfallen, have committed the sin of nearly instigating a fight within your sacred tomb. I apologize and promise to never commit this sin again."

Ainz, watching in secret, can't help but think "Jeez, these two are so formal about that stuff. If they just said sorry, I'd forgive them. Besides, they're just bickering, it's not like they tried to kill each other or the others."

After the two girls finish, they return to the hallway but stop as Justina stops to gaze at the statue of
Peroroncino, her mother's creator. Flamel gazes with her despite having no true connection to him.

Ashamed of herself, Justina apologizes "Flamel, I'm truly sorry for that meal. I didn't intend to feed you bad food. I was just jealous that the meal you gave me was perfect, and I didn't want to admit it."

Flamel puts her hand to her sister's shoulder and asks "Just tell me what's happening. We're sisters; you can come to me if something is happening."

Swallowing her pride, Justina admits "The soil has been degrading in my empire. My people haven't been able to grow fruits without aid from Aura and Mare, and the livestock have been getting sicker by the day, and I don't know why."

Her sister's plight known, Flamel offers her "Then we'll negotiate aid for your empire. I won't do it for free, but I'll consider your troubles during our talk." The black haired empress backs up, holds out her hand, and her sister smiles as they shake hands.

Justina giggles a little and reminisces "This is a lot like that time we conquered the Re-Estize kingdom over 200 years ago. We had to negotiate then as well. Remember that, Flamel?"

Reminded of a previous conquest, Flamel laughs a little "Oh yeah, we did do that didn't we. Yes, and I remember that princess who sold out her own brothers just so we'd spare her and her..., what was it again, her puppy? Her descendants have made wonderful workers in my empire."

The two sisters share a hardy laugh at remembering their first real battle, and then they proceed to exit the mausoleum and begin negotiations for Justina's agricultural problem. Ainz, hearing of their conquest, thinks about the Re-Estize Kingdom and the fact that his daughters conquered it. But he wonders to what extent in terms of casualties and destruction.

Though it has been some time, in this world's perspective, Ainz decides to dawn his Momon disguise to personally investigate both empires. He decides to leave at once as it may be riskier to stay and be detected. He trusts Demiurge to speak to the others about his return.

A little later, the entirety of the tomb is present as negations in the amphitheatre as the two empresses have come to an agreement. The two make their announcements together "In the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, we, the empresses of the two great empires, have made our decisions in our negotiations."

The battle maids are commanded to step forward, with red badges are Lupusregina Beta, Solution Epsilon, and Entoma Vasilissa Zeta while Yuri Alpha, CZ2128 Delta, and Narberal Gamma are wearing black badges.

Justina announces to the maids "Solution Epsilon and Entoma Vasilissa Zeta, the two of you will fall under my sister's command until further notice."

Solution and Entoma bow as their badges change color while Flamel announces "In exchange, Sebas Tian, you will follow Justina's directives and will lead a small army of my best cultivators and casters to aid in the purification of the Crimson Empire's soil."

Sebas bows to his empress's order. The negotiations are pretty standard from here, but it ends with all present standing before the empresses as they raise chalices as flamel pours drinks full of purple wine and they announce "For the glory of Nazarick!" And then the crowds roar with cheers and they all drink along with the sisters. Once the drink is finished, the two sides immediately leave to go to their respective empires.

Since the plight of Justina sounds a little direr, Ainz makes her Empire his first priority to visit, and he dawns his guise to visit the Crimson Empire. He has an idea of where to find it since the Kingdom of Re-Estize kingom was conquered and most likely divided. But he'll need a guide to find it. For now, he'll simply be the adventurer Momon IV as an alias. Now's the time when he'll make a move on discovering more about this changed world and his daughter with Shalltear.

However…Justina arrives at her throne room, a room decorated in banners like the one she had at her meeting with her sister. Here she removes her crimson armor and now wears a slimmer outfit consisting of a black evening dress top with a deep purple accent around the chest area and arms, a skirt resembling four bird wings around her waist that also exposes her right thigh, and a pair of armored boot resembling bird talons.

In her throne room, a black knight garbed in armor like a demon hiding in the shadows, sits next to a throne of brilliant red and the room itself has a stream of crimson blood flowing around the room like a moat. Justina proceeds to sit upon her throne in an elegant manner and takes in the scent of her moat.

The black knight bows and speaks with a clear female voice "Milady, how was your negotiations?"

Justina summons a chalice and uses her magic to fill it with blood from her stream while answering "It went rather well. I managed to get aid from the Philosophers Empire for our agricultural problem. The empress was most generous."

The knight bows and says "What a relief. But what I am to expect from our beloved em….Oh." The knight stops suddenly.

Confused, Justina asks "What?" The black knight pulls out a mirror, holds it to Justina's face, and then her head feels like it's going to pop "That…that little BIIIIIITTTTCH!" Her face is revealed to have black spots all over it.

In her own thrown room, Flamel shakes a small bottle in front of her face while laughing and a very smug smile "As if I'd let that "cow" comment slide. OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"