Chapter 215

Ainz sat across from Albedo, her eyes still puffy, with red cracks that were proof of her previous tears as she laid out the events as her dopplegangers and local agents had informed her of and guided. When she reached out her hand to him from across the table, he accepted it, even squeezed it a little bit.

"So you enhanced the corruption already rotting from within, you stoked the fires of rebellion in the South by helping a slave insurrection begin, and using a home grown agent to help push a narrative of resentment toward the Queen for her actions, and put agents at the wall to let the Demihumans in when they invade… does that summarize everything?" Ainz asked, while trying desperately to focus on the business of Kingdom breaking, but he could not turn his face away from Albedo's, the longing in her bright eyes, 'Longing I put there,' he reminded himself, ate at his conscience.

"Mostly, My Lo- My Lord." Albedo replied, "I did leave off your actions, privately helping the new Queen in the Abelion Hills. The elf servant I took has also been taking hostages from humans for some time, a bargaining chip to use later. My Lord did instruct that casualties should be as few as possible, and I admonished both my servants to remember this." She smiled with a faint sense of pride.

"I admit, for lesser beings, they have proven useful," her proud but fragile smile remained, though her head bowed a little, "My Lord's admonition is now well understood. And now that the human Queen has sought my Master's aid, how will he respond?" Albedo was not one of the three geniuses for nothing, and recalling her own argument with Shalltear over who would be Ainz' first wife, it was easy to conclude a likely outcome for the Holy Queen and the Allfather.

But she would not, could not, bring herself to ask, "Will you marry her?"

That did not stop Ainz from seeing the question in her eyes.

It was a punch in his guts. 'I'm still a virgin! I can't… I don't…' He didn't really know what he was mentally protesting, but from a practical level, a part of him that did stay rational understood why Albedo was thinking it. 'Political marriages to unite Kingdoms were common enough in my own world, I shouldn't be surprised by them here. Plus it would fit my instructions on minimizing casualties… but no… no, no, no, no, no.' He suppressed the shudder which would have rattled his body with nerves, and to cover any sweat from rising on his brow, he ran his gloved hand over his forehead.

Putting the mask on would have been for the best, but somehow, despite it sitting just inches from his hands, 'It feels wrong to hide my face from my Albedo now… and I can only think it would hurt her if I did.' And that was even worse. Hurting her was the single worst thing he could imagine doing at that moment, the very notion made him want to retch like his first sight of battle, watching the lizardmen and frogmen in their final clash.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them. "I will… render her some aid. Our runecraft weapons are making their way into the hands of my nationalized adventurer's guild, and our teams in the Draconic Kingdom are performing so well with them that Queen Draudillon has expressed an interest. A shipment of weapons and armor… on credit, will help our financial situation and our reputation with our neighbors."

Albedo's body relaxed perhaps more visibly than she intended. 'Of course he wouldn't marry a human, what were you thinking?' She asked herself the question in an almost mocking fashion, it was some relief that she thought, 'The only reason that even occurred to me is… is how I feel now… if only I could make him see me as the woman who loves him… not the woman he… he 'broke'.'

But 'how' she was at a loss.

At least at that moment, she could savor his touch.

So she refocused on the matter at hand. "Then, My Lord, when will you respond to her request? It has been a fair while, hasn't it?"

He nodded, "It has. But she isn't desperate yet. The truly horrible thought that the Kingdom of Demalbion and the Southern Holy Kingdom would join hands against them, I doubt has even been considered."

"I see. And when they clearly have, My Lord?" Albedo asked.

Ainz made a wild guess, 'I was making up all that… It's too confusing! What was I even saying… I got so lost thinking of Albedo…' He brought a hand up to his chin to hide the obvious motion of swallowing hard, "Then I will respond." Ainz made his response as vague as he could, and quietly hoped she would fill in the blanks before quickly following up, "Do you have any plans for the Queen of Frost?"

Albedo's smile became heartfelt, loving, and she squeezed his hand again, "My Love… My Lord's wish that the world be a place where we can all be happy and safe… it means if we don't wipe all others out, they have to be willing to share the world with us. The Frost Queen tolerates other races, treating them all equally under her rule. She will further My Lord's will if she is well handled."

It was easier to agree than to argue, and so he nodded.

The silence stretched.

Both filled with thoughts they didn't, couldn't speak aloud.

"There is the possibility of you being caught in all this." Ainz finally said, breaking the tight air between them.

Albedo let her little smile grow, "I know, My Lord. The doppelgangers are effective, as are my home grown tools, but have no fear, nothing here has a chance of defeating me."

Ainz recalled a raid in Yggdrasil where a guild used a proxy to undertake a specific action, disguising raiders as pop monsters for an ambush… 'They got caught precisely because they used that World Item, an item nobody else had…'

"I know. But you realize that your strength will inevitably expose us, using the [Gate] spell where the wrong people can see it, knowing as most eventually will know that it is ours alone, and only we can be so strong…" Ainz trailed off, and Albedo nodded immediately.

"Of course, Master. Of course. If I am exposed, I will simply fake my death. Let them wonder where I come from, and I will rejoin you at home that very night. My 'body' simply disappearing." She sighed, her own thoughts on what that meant, very different from what she knew him to be thinking.

She could still feel his arousal like a pounding drum, a man's wants, a man's needs, 'But he won't accept me…' The bleeding in her heart was such that the thought of faking her death at least brought some relief. 'How am I supposed to live with this now… at least before…' She dared not progress to the word 'hope' but it was not far from her mind either.

"Ahem," Ainz interjected in the long quiet reverie and broke his touch from Albedo to reach for his mask, "Are your servants prepared?"

Albedo kept a smile plastered on her face and pushed herself away from the table to stand up. "I will summon them at once, My Lord." She replied with the greatest depth of enthusiasm she could muster.