It was just past noon. The Guardian of the 7th Floor of Nazarick sat in his office, catching up on some of the work he'd missed while focusing on that special project. As he was working, part of his mind also began pondering how exactly Lord Ainz would utilise that item they worked so diligently to obtain. Demiurge, of course, had some theories, as did Pandora's Actor. Though the latter was not that keen on sharing his, instead preferring silence as they researched the object's powers together.

Whatever his master's plan was, it must have been something-

"Demiurge?"

Those thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Albedo's knocking.

"Come in."

He stood up as he spoke, readying himself to properly welcome the Guardian Overseer. She opened the door and walked over to his table in a manner that seemed somewhat hurried, even if it was hard to tell due to the succubus' skill in maintaining her elegance. When she reached his table, he was interrupted as he opened his mouth to greet her.

"Demiurge. I see you're back to regular work?"

Her tone and general demeanour just now intrigued him. There seemed to be a sort of impatience, something he sensed despite how well the succubus would normally hide her true feelings.

"I am, Overseer Albedo. May I inquire as to the purpose of your visit?"

"Well... First of all, what was it that kept you so busy until now?"

Demiurge adjusted his glasses, remembering his master's earlier words. They were all told that there was a variety of reasons for the special operation's secrecy, with the example used being that Lord Ainz did not want his wives to get the wrong idea about the purpose of it all being to make heirs. That would supposedly just cause some issues for him, as he did not want them getting "too excited about the whole thing".

"... Lord Ainz has instructed us not to speak of the details without permission."

A frown found its way onto her face, and a noise of frustration escaped her mouth.

"Feh. Why would there be things I shouldn't know about? I'm his favourite spouse, after all!"

It was clear she was mostly thinking out loud with that statement, while possibly also hoping for some reassurance from the demon. He sighed slowly.

"I suppose I can't help you any more with that matter. Now, I suppose there must have been something else, Overseer Albedo?"

"Hm? Ah, forget it. I'll just ask my beloved, then."

She turned around and stormed off towards the door.

...

A dim light.

And warmth.

Lots of warmth... Enveloping her...

What was it?

When Neia opened her eyes, she got the answer. Her head was resting on the chest of a sleeping Satoru, whose arm was wrapped around her. She moved to look up at his face, at which point the sight of him sleeping peacefully brought the warmest of smiles to her face. Unfortunately, it also made her wings flap several times before she could regain control of them again.

"... Hm?"

His eyes slowly opened in response, converting her happiness into guilt. She spoke in a quiet whisper.

"Ah, sorry darling..."

"... Sorry? For waking me up? I..."

He looked around for a while, blinking somewhat rapidly and taking deep breaths.

"... So this is how it felt to be sleepy... It's been a while..."

His eyes wandered around for a bit more before they finally found their way back to Neia, at which point both lovers smiled happily at each other.

"... I love you, Satoru."

"I love you too, honey."

The pleasant silence from before resumed for a time, until Satoru interrupted it again.

"Oh, and this is... hunger and thirst. I really want to eat and drink something..."

"Ah, right... Should we eat lunch together?"

"Hmm... well..."

Neia was a little confused at his hesitation. Why was this something to ponder?

\\\

Satoru wondered... should he indulge his hunger? He did always feel a tinge of envy that he could not enjoy the wondrous food made within Nazarick, especially considering how food was for the non-rich back in his own world...

But he didn't want to get too used to being back in his old body. It might cause some issues for him if he gets too used to its pleasures, and employs it so often that he is eventually caught by someone who he doesn't want knowing about it. Or was that being too paranoid?

With that train of thought over, his gaze shifted back to Neia, whose eyes betrayed some concern.

"Oh, sorry love. I'm probably thinking for way too long about such a simple thing, aren't I?"

"Well, I assume your thoughts led you to some other places somewhere along the way."

"Yes, that's right... and about the lunch..."

Now that Satoru was looking at the most beautiful woman in the world, it seemed the answer came to him on its own. A little indulgence was fine.

"... Sure, it should be nice eating together."

"What will you be having, dear?"

Satoru could scarcely remember how most things tasted. Not that most of the food he got to eat back then tasted like much at all...

"Uhm, I suppose maybe we could eat the same thing?"

...

As usual, the meal was delivered to Neia's bedroom by a Lady Midday. This summon of his had no personality, and would therefore not intrude on Neia in any meaningful way whenever making such deliveries.
While it did not have a particularly fearsome appearance compared to some other types of undead, it was of course still covered completely in fancy clothes, not letting anything below them peek out. It would be extremely appetite-ruining, not to mention generally disturbing, if Neia was forced to see such a thing's true appearance as it delivered her meals every day.
She apparently also found some comfort in the fact that she could think of this undead as being feminine, even if she also admitted it was probably weird to see it that way.

The summon disappeared after placing their identical platters of food down in front of them, letting Satoru focus on the meal they were both about to eat.

He saw a decently-sized pitcher full of milk, some sort of brown pastry, an ice cream cone elaborately decorated with colourful sprinkles, and some nigiri sushi. Neia told him before how she liked to start off all meals after she woke up sweet, but then observed her tastes rapidly changing after that for an unknown reason, resulting in some strange combinations.

Either way, he found himself rather fixated on the food in front of him. It all looked so delicious…

"... Uhm... so, this is your first time eating in a while, isn't it?"

Her words tore those thoughts away, letting him realise he must have been staring at the food with his mouth open for a decent bit now. He was sitting across from her, so she must have seen him like that the whole time.

"S-sorry... I think I made a rather weird expression just now..."

"Oh, that's fine! I suppose it just means you're hungry, hm?"

"More than I thought. Time to start eating, then?"

"Mhm!"

Neia nodded while making a noise of agreement and reached for the pitcher, pouring a full glass. Satoru decided he might as well follow her lead in eating today, which she seemed to notice, waiting for him to finish before starting to drink.

As soon as he tasted the milk, Satoru couldn't stop himself from gulping down the entire glass immediately. It was the first thing he'd tasted in a long time (besides Neia's tongue, but he didn't count that), and it did not disappoint. It had a perfect sort of subdued sweetness. Satoru didn't know what animal the milk came from, but it was extremely unlike what he knew back home, where a white powder was combined with water to make an artificial imitation.

His beloved spoke with a chuckle.

"I didn't know you liked milk so much."

"Well... I suppose I didn't know either..."

Neia put a finger to her chin, and seemed to be thinking about something.

"Milk, huh?"

"Did that make you think of something?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

He sensed that this was a little bit of a lie, especially considering her blush, but decided not to push it, instead refilling his glass. Once again following what Neia did, it was then time for him to find out what that brown pastry was.

Biting into it, he found out it was filled. A most wonderful taste exploded into his mouth, and he needed several seconds to process it before starting to chew. The pastry's walls worked together perfectly with the jelly inside to make every time he bit down an incredible journey of its own. Immediately after swallowing, he bit off another mouthful as if he were a starved, feral animal.

But then, an adorable noise tore him out of his little frenzy. Apparently Neia was giggling at this display. He quickly corrected his posture and expression, trying to look more like the gentleman she deserves to eat with, and not some vulgar vagabond.

"... you looked cute just then, darling."

He hurried his chewing, and swallowed before responding.

"Oh? Not disgusting?"

"Ah, not at all! I'm glad you're enjoying the food. It's nice eating together."

"Yes... it really is."

Neia showed him a most radiant smile before reaching for her glass of milk, and washing her first bite down.

... After only a few more moments, he had finished the pastry, meanwhile Neia was still halfway through hers. He finally reached for the glass of milk, and spoke.

"My love? What was the thing that I just ate?"

Neia seemed to be momentarily caught off guard, probably surprised he did not know.

"That was soft gingerbread filled with plum jelly."

He nodded vigorously, committing the name of this great food to memory. Reaching for his glass of milk and gulping it down, he was slightly impatient in waiting for Neia to finish, as he wanted to once again eat the next item together with her. That impatience was tempered by how easy it was to get lost in her beauty, distracting him from other thoughts.

When she was done, Neia took a sip of the milk before they both reached for the ice cream. Bringing it closer, he recognised the fragrance as being that of caramel. Now excited to find out how such a flavour would be when prepared by the chefs of Nazarick, Satoru started licking the ice cream in sync with Neia, only to be once again surprised by just how utterly delicious it was. Upon biting into the cone itself, he realised it was filled with a thin layer of delightfully sweet, solid chocolate.

He sped up, and soon the cone was gone from his hands. Looking back at Neia, it seemed she was taking her time. They exchanged warm smiles before she started licking again, at which point he felt something strange. Watching her lick away happily awakened something in him, and he could feel the familiar sensation of blood slowly but surely moving towards and into his most private area.

"Huh? Satoru?"

She must have noticed the subtle changes on his face. He looked away in embarrassment.

"Uhm it's just that... the way you're licking the ice cream... it reminds me of..."

"Ah!"

When he looked back at her, she was blushing.

"Y-you mean it reminds you of when women use their mouths on their men's..."

"Yes, that..."

After a brief pause, both spouses started laughing. Even though they were very well acquainted in the bedroom, these specific thoughts were still a bit new to them, making it all feel like their love was young again.

After they finished their hearty laugh together, Neia went back to eating with a few flaps of her wings. This time however, she did so with a sort of smugness, and a somewhat seductive smile.

"Hey, don't tease me now, Neia. Let's finish our meal first, hm?"

She stopped with a giggle.

Not long after, the cone was gone from her hands as well, meaning it was time for her to finish her glass of milk.

They then reached for their chopsticks, each using them to grab a piece of the nigiri sushi. Bringing it closer to his face, he could now smell and see some of the seasoning. Putting it in his mouth, he was once again very pleasantly surprised, despite his expectations being very much set appropriately high this time.

"... Satoru? Have you used chopsticks before?"

"Oh, I have. In fact, sushi comes from my homeland."

Her eyes sparkled a little.

"Ah, your homeland. You've never told me much about it before."

"I haven't, yes... but it's all in the distant past now. Well, maybe 'distant' could be argued, but it definitely feels that way."

"Hmm. I wonder what you'll think of some of the Holy Kingdom's traditional recipes that Nazarick's chefs adapted at my request..."

She smiled happily.

"... Yes, food from my homeland... The homeland that you saved, darling."

As soon as those words reached his ears, his breath was caught in his chest.

"I seriously can't believe I'm married to the saviour of myself, my nation, my parents..."

The pressure was increasing by the second, and he was completely frozen in place. He could feel his heart pounding harder and harder, faster and faster. His breathing was quick and shallow.

"... You're so wonderful, Satoru... Satoru? Satoru?"

'No... you wouldn't think any of that if you knew what... if you knew that I-'

"Satoru? Why are you silent? What's wrong darling?! Please, respond!"

By this point, he felt a completely suffocating pressure. A sharp, headache-inducing ringing slowly drowned out Neia's voice, and her deep concern only made it all worse.

'No... I don't deserve your love...'

"Darling! Please talk to me!"

Finally managing to break out of his trance-like state, he did the only thing that came to mind. Pulling out the golden pyramid, he activated it. Golden light pierced his skin from the inside, tearing it all apart and burning it into fine golden dust, which was all swept away into nothing as if by an ethereal wind.

And when only his bones remained, emotional suppression finally activated, relieving him of a most crushing guilt.

"Satoru?"

Now being able to look his beloved wife in her eyes, he breathed in slowly.

"S-sorry, my love... I suppose I just suddenly felt... ill. But it's all right now."

"Are you sure, darling?"

"W-well... perhaps I'm still just getting used to being back in my old body... I assume things like this will stop as I use it more. Just don't worry about it, okay?"

"Of course I worry!"

The stress rose again. 'You really shouldn't... not for someone like me...'

"I uhm... let's just cuddle for a bit while you finish the rest of your meal, alright?"

"... okay..."

... ... ...

After looking back at the peacefully sleeping Neia one more time, Satoru activated the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown, taking him to his room in Nazarick. There, he sat down on his bed, adjusting to being back.

He wondered if anything interesting happened at times like these, when he was away. He would of course be notified in case of any emergency, but what were the children of his dear friends doing in his absence? Well, hopefully they were content at all times.

...

Sitting down at his table and hearing Fith walk to the usual maid's spot behind him, he breathed in deeply. It was time for some paperwork, after which he'd have a meeting with Demiurge to discuss more of those plans regarding the Minotaur Nation. Apparently he discussed the matter in detail with Renner, at which point they both agreed to observe the situation for about 2 months with minimal interference.

It seemed this was most likely going to be yet another long-term project, which was likely a good thing, as it allowed them to properly focus on the vast territories they currently controlled, since those still needed some work.

He reached for the first document of the day. It was a report from Albedo describing the current situation in the Abelion Hills. Skimming through, it seemed there weren't many problems, with the process of integration being predicted to happen smoothly, if slowly.

As he put the succubus' report down, Albedo herself knocked on his door.

"My beloved?"

Satoru was momentarily surprised by her appearance, considering how he had only just arrived back to the Tomb.

"Come in."

When she did, he could quickly sense that she had a bit of a different air to her today.

"Greetings, my dear husband."

It was only more obvious as she spoke and walked over. She then simply stood in front of his table silently, with a strange look in her eyes.

"... Albedo, love? Uhm, are you here in an official capacity?"

"I was just wondering if you were going to tell me what manner of business required so much time be taken off the hands of not only Demiurge, but also Pandora's Actor, only for some sort of operation involving Aura and Mare to also take place right in the middle of that."

"Uhm... well... Why do you need to know? I took care of all this personally, so there's no need to worry."

Her expression intensified, making it obvious it was one of unease, and probably something else.

"My dear, I only wish to serve you as best I can! I hope you didn't feel I would make some sort of mistake if I were to help with it all… and besides…"

"Ah, you were worried about that?... Please, don't be. I trust you a great deal with all sorts of delicate matters, and have come to rely on your superb work. The reason I haven't informed you of anything regarding this is because... uhm... well, I simply did not want to add to my dear wife's workload."

He nodded, both to her and to himself.

"Yes... hm. It was all under my direct control, so there was no need to trouble you."

She stood there silently with a surprised expression for a few moments before finally blushing and smiling.

"Haahhhh... you are such a thoughtful husband... oh, how I love you! But please, there is no need to worry about such things! I was created to serve!"

"Uhm, no... I shouldn't overwork you..."

He coughed fakely.

"Though, I do have my schedule packed for the time being. Unless you have official business, I need to get back to my work."

She pouted, with sadness in her eyes.

"Ah, okay…"