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"...That's good. Although it was confirmed through the Crystal Screen, I still felt it would be better to hear it from you in person."

Albedo's voice rang out again: "Lord Ainz, you don't need to monitor my itinerary through the [Crystal Screen]. Sebastian is watching over us in the capital, so there won't be any major problems. You should save your energy for when I return to Nazarick."

Ainz paused for a moment.

She's right. Sebastian is in the city, and if anything unexpected happens, Albedo can call for help immediately.

"...That's true. However..."

"But what?"

"...It's nothing, I just think it's always good to be careful."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication.

“Lord Ainz, if you are really worried, why don’t you continue to watch over me? It just so happens that I need to bathe and change after arriving in the capital. If you are willing to watch over me the whole time, I would be more than happy to do so.”

Ainz's jaw suddenly snapped open.

That's not what he meant! He was just worried about her safety!

“That’s not what I meant,” he retorted almost instinctively, speaking a few seconds faster than before. “Now that you’ve arrived safely, I won’t look anymore. Contact me immediately if anything seems amiss.”

"Yes, Lord Ainz."

Communication was cut off.

Ainz sat on the throne, his jaw slightly agape, before slowly closing it after several breaths. He raised his hand, extinguishing the image on the [Crystal Screen]. The light dissipated into thin air, and the throne room returned to silence.

He leaned back in his chair, helplessly covering his skull with his hand.

"...Really."

King's capital.

After Albedo finished her "message" with Lord Ainz, the smile on her lips gradually faded.

Lord Ainz is still so easily worried.

She really wanted Ainz-sama to look at her a little longer, but if he didn't say that...

Lord Ainz will probably be watching this place frequently with the Crystal Screen until she returns to Nazarick.

But the plans she's about to make must not be seen by Lord Ainz.

Chapter 147 Tiphimi's Intelligence

Albedo attended the court banquet again on the second night after it began.

This banquet was hosted by Rune Aindora in the name of the kingdom's nobles, ostensibly as a continuation of the welcoming ceremony for the Demon Kingdom's envoys, but in reality, the purposes of each party were different.

Albedo changed into a deep purple dress that was completely different from yesterday's. The neckline was decorated with fine dark patterns, and the skirt was narrower than yesterday, outlining her slender figure.

As she walked through the brightly lit hall, the surrounding conversations seemed to be suppressed by an invisible hand, only to rise again a moment later, this time with an added layer of subtle restlessness.

Albedo stood in the center of the living room, slightly to the east, with a floor-to-ceiling carved window beside her. Her deep purple dress shimmered softly in the light of the magic lamp.

Her posture while holding the wine glass was casual, yet she possessed an undeniable presence, as if the lights in the entire living room automatically shifted slightly in her direction.

The nobles around him, in small groups, seemed to be talking amongst themselves, but their gazes kept drifting in that direction.

The frequency of raising the wine glass to the lips was twice as fast as usual, and the topic would inevitably veer around "that demon messenger" within three sentences.

Rune stood near the west pillar, also holding a glass of wine, but he hardly drank any.

His gaze fell on the restless nobles, using the observation of their disgraceful behavior to relieve his own stress.

Rune silently counted the time in his mind.

Within a quarter of an hour of her entering the hall, five nobles had already approached her to strike up a conversation.

Three earls, one viscount, and the heir to a baron.

Rune secretly rejoiced that his father hadn't gotten involved.

These noblemen who approached the women all used the same approach.

First, he observed from a distance to confirm if the timing was right. Then, holding a wine glass, he walked calmly through the crowd and stopped beside Albedo, followed by his carefully crafted opening remarks.

"...Lady Albedo has come from afar. I wonder if you are settling in comfortably in the capital?"

"How do the Demon Lord's lifestyle differ from that of humans? I'm really curious."

"Lady Albedo, if you have some free time, why not come and visit my home? I have a cat there that can do backflips..."

Rune observed the last baron heir, who spoke respectfully to Albedo, but the barely concealed burning desire in his eyes betrayed him.

Albedo responded with a brief and distant reply. The baron's heir stood there for a moment, then, as if finding no excuse to stay any longer, he took his wine glass and walked away.

Rune lowered his eyes, using the act of drinking to conceal the barely suppressed twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Those foolish and stingy nobles, at this moment, all put away their calculating faces and put on almost obsequious flattery, and the reasons they came up with even refreshed Rune's understanding of their lewd merchants.

Their gazes turned uncontrollably intense when they fell upon Albedo.

Even if the other party is a demon.

Or rather, it is precisely because the other party is a demon that this sense of taboo makes some people's gazes even more unrestrained.

Albedo handled those who tried to talk to her very politely, and even when she clearly refused, she didn't make the situation awkward.

She would occasionally chuckle, but there was always a barrier between her and those who tried to get close, preventing them from getting to her.

But that very alienation only made more nobles flock to it.

Rune saw Marquis Brumrashut lingering a few steps away with a wine glass in his hand, but in the end he didn't dare to go forward. Instead, he turned and whispered to Earl Lytton beside him.

Earl Lytton's gaze kept drifting towards Albedo, and while he muttered something about "demons being dangerous," his eyes betrayed him.

Rune withdrew his gaze; he should have known long ago that he couldn't have any expectations of this group of incompetent nobles.

Albedo's disappointment was also deepening.

She glanced repeatedly at the faces of the nobles who were crowding around her. They were all trying to get closer, but their conversations revealed not a trace of true wisdom, not even a fraction as much as Lord Ainz's.

Albedo recalled a sentence that Sebas had mentioned in his report: "Most of the kingdom's nobles rely on their ancestral bloodlines to maintain a semblance of respectability."

She hadn't taken it to heart at the time, but now that she'd seen it with her own eyes, she realized that the description had been quite tactful.

These people, dressed in finely tailored formal attire, discussed trivial matters of the territory as if they truly were the pillars of the nation.

But in Albedo's eyes, they were nothing more than parasites living on the body of the kingdom, sucking the blood and sweat of their people and using the gold and silver they had been exploited to decorate their own facade.

These humans are not qualified to live in the Kingdom of Tacimi.

Albedo mentally pronounced her death sentence.

And within this...

Her gaze lingered on Rune for a brief moment.

Rune is indeed an anomaly among insects.

But this still wasn't enough to change her overall judgment.

The kingdom's aristocratic class is not worthy of her further attention.

Albedo came to this conclusion, then picked up the wine glass in front of her and brought it to her lips.

It contained red wine, which had a low alcohol content and would have no effect on the demon's body.

But the moment the drink went down her throat, her eyes began to wander.

She put down her wine glass and leaned slightly towards the long window, a striking blush appearing on her delicate face, like a flower petal stained with wine.

"...Lord Aindora."

Her voice was much softer, with a hint of languor at the end.

Rune raised his head and met those golden vertical pupils.

At this moment, those golden eyes were shrouded in a hazy mist, as if they had truly been intoxicated by the wine.

"Lord Albedo?"

"I'm a little drunk." She placed her fingers on her forehead. "Would you... trouble Lady Aindora to take me to rest for a while?"

The conversation in the banquet hall paused briefly for a moment.

Several gazes simultaneously turned towards Rune's direction, some filled with surprise and envy, and others with undisguised jealousy.

Rune felt those gazes piercing his back like needles.

He put down his wine glass, his smile calm and composed.

"Lady Albedo, you're too kind. Please follow me."

He turned to the side, made a "please" gesture, and kept about half a step away from Albedo.

Albedo stood up, her steps faltering slightly, as if she were genuinely unsteady on her feet due to the alcohol.

Rune raised his arm, his fingers loosely joined, making a near-standard "helping" gesture.

But his hand hovered about a hand's width to Albedo's side, as if ready to catch her arm if she stumbled, yet he never actually touched her clothing.

He kept a half-step distance, walking beside Albedo, using his body to shield her from the lustful gazes around them.

The two walked through the hall and up the stairs leading to the second floor.

Although Albedo is quite beautiful, the process was very difficult for Rune.

'If you accidentally touch it, you'll definitely die. This is practically a rule-breaking myth.'

Rune complained inwardly while praying that the journey would end soon.

But just as they started walking up the stairs, an accident occurred.

Albedo stopped and turned her head. Her golden vertical pupils were shrouded in a hazy mist, and her voice carried a hint of resentment.

"Lord Aindora, why won't you actually help me up? Are you ashamed of my demonic identity?"

Rune suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

If I had actually helped her up on this beach, I'd probably have to scatter her ashes to the winds.

However, if the other side hadn't been altered by Ainz and was still a genuine beach... then tonight's events seem like a really good opportunity.