The Overlord's Parenting Dilemmas

Ainz PoV:

Location: Ainz's Room; Royal Suite; 9th Floor of Nazarick

"Haa," Ainz breathed a sigh of relief as he reached his chambers. He ordered the maid who was supposed to be looking after him for the day to exit the room. He wanted a few moments of privacy to calm down.

He was mentally exhausted trying to come up with countermeasures for the issues that had sprung up and keeping Albedo's rage in check. It was somewhat contradictory as he was an undead but this feeling of exhaustion was something he had gotten used to now.

Too many developments had taken place over the past couple of days. Lilith's arrival seemed to have brought about a storm within the walls of Nazarick. While her presence added a vibrant energy to the atmosphere, there was an undeniable sense of turbulence beneath the surface.

Things seemed to be moving in a different direction from how Ainz had originally imagined them to play out. His expectations had been filled with optimism. He would save his friends daughter, cure her of her trauma, both physical and mental, and then wait peacefully for about a hundred years. This was not how events had played out

There were still multiple challenges to be faced before he could be reunited with his friends once more. But now that one of his most earnest wishes of meeting his friends could possibly be realized in the distant future, Ainz was not going to let a few obstacles stand in his way.

Nazarick and its inhabitants were all he cared about and he would go to any lengths to ensure their permanence. Everything that had transpired in order to conquer the New World had made him more colder and indifferent as well.

Now, he could commit actions that his past human self would have found horrifying without a second thought if they benefitted Nazarick in some way. Of course, he would choose not to do any such deeds without reason.

'I have thirty more minutes before addressing everyone in the throne room…' He thought. He had to set the directions for Nazarick's future actions into motion.

They were no longer in the New World, which now seemed like a tutorial before the actual game could begin. He knew the tendencies of everyone in Nazarick very well and certain actions just could not be tolerated anymore considering what they would be facing.

As he had expected, Lilith's arrival was welcomed by all of his friend's creations. It seemed like she had attained a princess-like status. Since the NPCs thought of the Supreme Beings as their gods, this treatment was only natural.

Of course, most of them had barely interacted with her even if they wished to. The ones closest to her were Yuri and Narberal who looked after her as well as Demiurge. Her being closer to Demiurge was expected as he was with Ainz when they had rescued her.

Ainz was deeply saddened when the poor child had started crying but acted as if nothing was wrong later. He understood that it would take a long time to make her open up. Fortunately, time was something he had plenty of.

Lilith had first given him a surprise during the feast he organised for her. He had already instructed everyone, the guardians especially, to be restrained. The child had been shy until Sebas brought the cake out.

It seemed as though she forgot about everyone's presence after she realized the cake's existence. It was cute seeing her drooling yet trying to hold back from pouncing on the cake. That was until an aura somewhat similar to Ainz's own [Despair Aura] surrounded her for a few brief moments.

After it subsided, one of her eyes had changed colour and became akin to the depths of the abyss. Her whole temperament had undergone a change as well.

"Is everything fine, Lilith?" He enquired. He couldn't possibly have something going wrong on the first day of her being under his care.

"…Nyx…" She mumbled.

"What?"

"Nyx…not Lilith…" She replied once more.

"It seems this she is the split personality that the files were referring to, Lord Ainz." Demiurge replied.

'I see. That makes sense,' Ainz thought. He had read about Lilith having a possible split personality in the files that Demiurge had procured.

"Is everything fine, little Nyx. Do you want something?" Ainz corrected himself and asked once more. It would not be right to continue calling her Lilith if she did not want to be called so.

"…I want that…" She pointed in the direction of the cake in front of her and demanded in a flat voice. She certainly did not seem as insecure in demanding things from them as compared to the Lilith persona which is more shy and reserved.

"Sure, go ahead. It's for you." He replied somewhat amused and relieved at least one of them was still capable of acting like a normal demanding child. Granted, they had only met for a short while so far.

At the same time his concerns for some random pervert abducting her with the allure of sweets deepened. Of course, Ainz subconsciously removed himself from the pervert category.

He was an undead now. How was it possible for him to be a pervert? He mentally convinced himself that his previous actions were for Lilith's safety and nothing more.

The similarity between both the personalities seemed to be the fact that both could not resist sweets. What if some boy tricked an innocent girl like Lilith? Ainz had every reason to believe this was possible.

As he imagined her leaving with some boy, Ainz felt his urge to kill rise like a doting father. Ainz thought of all of his friends creations as his own children and personally would have preferred not having boss them around like servants.

Unfortunately, serving him was what they truly desired and so Ainz had no choice but to relent and fulfil this want of his children. Now that he had taken Tabula's daughter in his custody, it was his turn to ensure that she was protected.

Especially as she was truly an innocent child both mentally and physically. He would treat her as his own child at least until Tabula returned for her.

Looking at Lilith's alter-ego being drawn out possibly due to the allure of sweets, Ainz made a mental note to eradicate any perverted lolicons from the face of the Earth. He would not have some random pervert targeting his daughter. His paternal instincts were rising. 

Ainz was a bit sad that he missed watching little Nyx enjoy the cake as he was lost in his thoughts. Or more like devoured as the cake had vanished in the few moments he was thinking as if multiple mouths had sprouted and consumed the huge cake instead of just one.

After that little Nyx just sat there with a blush on her face in a reverie before collapsing and falling asleep. He quickly ordered the maids to carry her back to her room while deciding to limit her sugar intake if possible.

While he would certainly spoil her, he did not want her to get addicted if sugar had such an effect on her. He felt somewhat bad considering he essentially lured her here using the promise of more sweets but decided that this was for her own good.

He would also have to make sure to educate her about dealing with these possible perverted fiends and protecting herself like a responsible guardian should. This was now his duty as Lilith's foster father.

The next day, he made preparations to cure Lilith and arranged time to speak with her once she woke up. He had expected Lilith to be cured but these expectations were shattered. Lilith went on to speak about a god-like entity called Being-X responsible for everything happening so far.

It had caused Lilith to suffer, go blind and possibly been behind Nazarick's transportation to the New World. And all of this in an attempt to make Lilith worship it? What a psychotic entity! Quite possibly one of those perverts he had thought of earlier as well!

After all, this Being-X had gone about doing all these things in order to make a minor girl worship it. 'Yeah…it is definitely a pervert,' Ainz pondered as he mentally ticked all the boxes in his mind regarding whether Being-X had such inclinations towards Lilith.

Of course, since this Being-X might have been an abstract, god-like entity, the way it expressed this perversion must have been different. That is why it casually transported all of them across worlds for its leisure while attempting to torture poor Lilith into submission.

For it, these acts must have been as routine and ordinary. It's actions were essentially similar to one of those protagonists from works that Peroronchino was so proud of, except for the fact that it operated on interplanetary scales.

No wonder, Tabula never allowed his daughter to visit Nazarick before. It makes sense now considering Peroronchino's deranged tastes. Considering the flavour text that Shalltear was made of, it was certainly a wise decision on Tabula's part.

Ainz did not know what was so special about Lilith that it demanded such malicious attention from Being-X. Unfortunately, as much as Ainz wished to exterminate Being-X, that would have to wait until he actually had the power to compete against it.

He was paranoid about being prepared and not picking fights he could not win. He would bide his time waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike after finding Being-X and amassing enough power.

Based on the information Demiurge uncovered, this world had plenty of opportunities that might allow him access to a new avenue of power. Ainz himself was a bit shocked that the world he had lived in prior to becoming the undead overlord was not as normal as it seemed.

Then there was one more major issue they had to address. That interdimensional pervert had cursed Lilith to travel to different worlds for unknown reasons. He did not understand what it would gain but something like this was far too dangerous for a lone child.

 Luckily, Lilith could bring one person with her. Ideally, he would not want to endanger Lilith after what she had been through but there was nothing he could do right now. Ainz felt powerlessness for the first time in a while.

He would have suggested accompanying her to these other worlds but internally he knew that would not be possible. He was the ruler of Nazarick now. He could not just leave the troublesome children alone.

They would try to turn the world upside down if Ainz disappeared with Lilith, whom they might consider their hope in case something happened to Ainz. He had to figure out who would accompany Lilith.

Albedo seemed to make a strong case that she should be the one to do so but was conflicted about leaving his side and her duties in Nazarick unattended. Now that he thought over her flavour text, there was a part about Albedo considering Lilith as her daughter.

He considered how protective she seemed towards Lilith in private in combination with his own experience with Albedo. Ainz had a feeling that she had a similar level of possessiveness towards Lilith as she did towards him. Except Ainz's case was due to his own actions.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Come in.." Ainz answered the knocking.

"Pardon me, Lord Ainz. Everyone had gathered in the throne room as you ordered." It was Sebas who spoke.

'Hmm, is it time already. Time sure does pass fast' Ainz reflected on how deeply lost in thoughts he was that he did not notice the passage of time.

"I'll be right there, Sebas. You can go on ahead." He got up and looked into the mirror. AInz proceeded to pose a few of regal stances and revise a few lines in a hurry. This series of actions was almost like a ritual for him now considering how many times he had done them.

He then used the ring of AInz Ooal Gown to teleport to the throne room leaving his chambers empty.

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~I didn't like the previous chapter 14 so I deleted it and rewrote a new one from scratch. Hope you enjoyed reading!~