------------Overall conclusions on how much Shalltear loves Ainz------------
(Most quotes are not included in the main document, so I recommend reading it.)
Main document dealing with how much Shalltear loves Ainz: https://pastebin.com/6XCWndr5
Shalltear’s biggest desire is to become Ainz’s wife and for him to love her back. She also wants to have children with him so they can become a family. In some sections there are cute sentences that I haven’t quoted because they are too short to quote independently, but examples of these are: “Ohhh, I thought I could be of service to Ainz-sama…”; “I love him with all my being”; “You are the most beautiful person in the world…”
Likewise, there are others that I vividly remember her saying, but unfortunately don’t remember where, so I was unable to provide quotes. Somewhere, for example, Shalltear says that everything she has, including her servants, is his to do with as he wants.
Yet, Shalltear has a deep rivalry with Albedo as both of them have fallen for the same man. “The two of them were at each other’s throats because they were rivals in love.” (Quote from light novel)
Even so, it’s important to note that Albedo is the main heroine in the series and she gets to spend way more time with Ainz than Shalltear because Albedo is the overseer and must report constantly to Ainz. This is also something that hurts Shalltear, as she would like to spend more time with him as Albedo does.
“Don’t think you’ve won just because you’re the Guardian Overseer and can stay next to Momonga-sama”. Albedo’s answer: “Hmph. That’s correct. While you’re stationed in a faraway place, I’ll swoop in and achieve a complete victory.”; “I’ll slowly decrease the distance between myself and Ainz-sama while Shalltear is out on business! Although the objective is hard to breach, as long as I keep up the pressure and gain a beachhead, I’ll be able to bring it down one day! On that glorious day, Shalltear will weep bitter tears of regret!” (Quotes from light novel)
Shalltear’s main goal in life was also very well conveyed when Ainz’s servant, the death knight, asks her what it is that she desires:
“I want Ainz-sama’s love. I don’t mean to say it only has to be me. After all, it’s normal for a great man to claim many women for himself. It would be surprising if any woman could resist an absolutely amazing man like Ainz-sama. However, I want to be the first in his heart.” (Quote from side story)
This sentence written by Maruyama is very cute. It shows Shalltear’s biggest wish, which goes beyond being Ainz’s wife. She accepts the fact that he might claim more women, but she wants him to love her more than any other.
Shalltear is wrong though, just as Albedo is. Although both of them say he’s already had sex with countless women, this is not the case. It may be a good thing too, as in one of the side stories both Albedo and Shalltear show their wish to kill the women Ainz may have slept with. They’re also wrong in believing that pretty much any woman would fall in love with him simply because they have. A very good example of this is the floor master, Aura. I would have really liked her to have been a love interest for Ainz, but the author constantly makes it plain that Aura doesn’t love him in a romantic way, just like obviously all the male floor guardians aren’t romantically in love with him either. Here’s a funny quote from the light novels:
| Quote from light novel |
|---|
| “Haha, that makes me glad.” |
| The pleasantries of Aura the child made Ainz happy. For Ainz, who loved the NPCs like his own children, he would naturally smile when he hear them say they liked him. |
| “So, who does Ainz-sama like the most? Albedo or Shalltear?” |
| “Haha. Well, I like Aura a lot.” |
| “—Eh?” |
| Ainz patted Aura’s head from behind, ruffling her hair through his fingers. |
| “—Ehhh!?” |
| … (Ainz monologues) |
| “—Ehhhhhhhhhhh!!” (Aura continues shouting in distress) |
| “What is it Aura, that was loud.” |
| “Ah! I-I am sorry. Doing that so near the Giant of the East’s territory…” |
| “It’s fine, no need to apologize. It is a matter for the future anyway—” |
| “F-future?” |
| “Yes, that’s right. What is it? You seem worried… Something wrong?” |
| “No no, it’s nothing. Yes. Eh, so it will happen in the future?” |
| “Ahh, yes. If there is a nation of dark elves, it will be good to visit it. You should come along then.” |
| “Huh?... Ah, okay! That kind of future! Right. Yes! Please let me go along with you. Well then— we are almost there, Ainz-sama.” |
While I’m quoting funny, yet unrelated stuff, I’ll also include a very funny moment between Albedo and Ainz:
| Quote from light novel |
|---|
| What a laughable sight, Ainz smiled wryly as he pulled his face away slightly in order to speak with Albedo. |
| “My finger pierced Ainz-sama’s important place…” |
| Albedo’s entire face blushed red, her eyes were wet and there was a fragrance about her. It was similar to what Ainz smelled on his bed. |
| “— Hey, I already asked this before, but isn’t this girl really weird?” |
| Aura asked her question while holding Shalltear back, while Ainz was stunned. |
| “…My sincere apologies, Ainz-sama. I couldn’t help myself. Eh, please think of this as the result of accumulating too much stress from working for Nazarick. Please.” |
| “That, that can’t be helped. Yes. Albedo, I am grateful for the hard work you put in everyday.” |
Going back to the topic at hand, Shalltear was made by Peroroncino (the supreme being that designed her) to have a lot of fetishes. These include tormenting and inflicting severe pain on people, and it’s even stated that she has a fetish for beings with the status of “undead” (including even necrophilia.) Here’s a funny quote from a drama CD, where Albedo offers Shalltear the possibility of having more clothes while also touching on the fetish subject:
Shalltear: “I have lots of clothes Peroroncino-sama prepared for me, so there is no need. Dress, nurse uniform, maid uniform, bunny girl, sailor uniform, leotard, school swim-wear, gymnast, school blazer… Erm, some ears and tails…”
Albedo: “How enviable, I only have this White dress and several other sets of the same design.”
Basically, Shalltear’s creator enjoyed watching her do some very weird stuff, and that’s why he made her have fetishes. However, something I like about Shalltear is that, despite her fetishes, the only person she’s ever fallen in love with is Ainz, and he’s also the only one she would ever consider marrying and having a family with: And it’s not because he’s a corpse. As a matter fact, she felt nothing for the death knight when it asked her what it is that she desires (the quote I wrote before where Shalltear answers “I want Ainz-sama’s love…”) Not only was it a corpse with a bony structure like Ainz, but it was an intelligent one to boot (the side-story is narrated from the Death Knight’s point of view, showing it’s not mindless), yet still she felt nothing and showed that her biggest wish was to be loved back by Ainz-sama.
It is the same when Shalltear sees living corpses/undead bony structures of all kinds in the light novels/stories. Despite the undead being among the official members of Nazarick, Shaltear doesn’t even consider marrying or entering into a formal relationship with them either and Ainz remains the focus of her love. Then again, it could also very well be that since they’re female, she’s unable to fall in love with them, and she simply doesn’t want to join in marriage or have an emotional and romantic relationship with another woman. But I believe that the outcome would be the same even if they were men. Shalltear would just love Ainz, in the same way that Albedo loves him. Granted, it is the way it always happens in most light and visual novels, they’re never going to fall in love with someone else, but it’s still a very beautiful element of the storyline.
There is also an extremely cute sentence that the author Maruyama makes her say, although it’s not quoted in the main document because, even though Maruyama wrote it, it doesn’t belong to any of the official side-stories/drama CDs. It’s just a few lines the author wrote depicting a super short confrontation between Albedo and Shalltear, who are discussing who’s more worthy to be with him:
本当の愛の何が分かるっていうの？私たち二人とも恋に落ちるのは初めてだけど、私は強制的に彼を好きになった訳ではなく、自分から彼に恋に落ちたの。
Shalltear: "And what can you possibly know about true love? We’ve both fallen in love for the first time but, unlike you, I wasn’t forced to love him.”
And then, Albedo answers that the very fact her nature is telling her to love him, is proof in itself of her superiority. This is actually reference to the fact that it was Ainz who altered her settings and made her compelled to love him. Albedo, however, doesn’t mind and actually feels quite happy about it. This is shown a few times in the light novels as well, like this small example here:
“Albedo went kuku, her smile full of superiority. It must have been the sense of superiority a woman felt when she was ordered to love such a marvelous man.” (Quote from light novel)
That quote is one of my favorites. Shalltear is basically saying that the one who deserves Ainz is her because her love is truer and it’s not just because of her settings. Shalltear truly felt in love with him, she truly chose him. Albedo, however, interprets it in a very different way. In the light novels, they not only fight over who is more worthy of him, but even look for allies that may help in their quest to become Ainz’s wife.
This is just my opinion, but if Ainz ever did choose to marry someone, it would be Albedo first. He shows more love for her in the visual novels, and I don’t think it was mere coincidence that he decided to make her love him instead of Shalltear. And, in case you’re an Albedo’s fan, I’ve never said that her love is worthless. Albedo is a great heroine, and there are hints in the light novels that she would have loved him even if Ainz hadn’t tampered with her settings. Besides, rather than simply accepting the events, she’s incredibly happy about loving him. Not to mention that, just like Shalltear, there is just one person that Albedo loves and wants to marry (her settings don’t say she can’t also fall in love with someone else as well, but she chooses to love only him.)
Going back to Shalltear, she has the power to make living people her undead servants by drinking their blood. They then become her loyal undead slaves:
“...For the most part, they’ll become my slaves after I drain their blood, which should make things simple”; “Vampires were a species which could drain a victim’s blood and turn them into perfectly loyal minions.” (Quotes from light novel)
One thing to consider though, is that she couldn’t care less whether her servants live or die, so generally it’s not good to be her servant. I actually pity the female vampires at her service who are very loyal to her. There are many examples about this, and to quote a couple of them:
(When one of her vampires falls for a trap. Shalltear starts by monologuing that it hadn’t been her fault, but of course, that doesn’t mean she’s forgiven her.)
| Quote from light novel |
|---|
| Still, even if she understood why it had happened, Shalltear still made a noise of annoyance. After that, she smiled sweetly. That was not a smile born of kindness, satisfaction, or even embarrassment. Come to think of it, she should have anticipated that they would put a pit trap in front of the cave entrance. However, it angered her that she had not seen through it, had even fallen for it. It was with a heart boiling with such emotions that she had smiled. Shalltear Bloodfallen was a Guardian of the glorious Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. The fact that a servant of such a mighty individual had fallen for a trap like that was utterly intolerable. A voice filled with murderous intent leaked from between Shalltear’s crimson lips: “Get out of there before I tear you to pieces.” |
(Or when one of her vampires leaves the place she had been assigned to be to go talk with Shalltear)
… her vision turned red as she briefly entertained the idea of killing her. In the end, she managed to bank the flames of her wrath with great effort. If she had left her position for an important matter, then she should be spared. “Whaaaaaaat — is iiiiiiiiiiit?” (Quote from light novel)
In the drafts from the light novels, she also suggests using humans as toys to torture, and even mentions that it’s important the human toys lose all hope and suffer on a daily basis. While she can turn humans into undead servants, that would also be a terrible fate for the humans.
玩具用の人間とかはどうであり印象変え....食べたり拷問したりしてもいい人
“How about using humans as toys? Humans we can torture and eat”
In my opinion, one of her most cruel acts towards her toys takes place when she kills one of her female vampires for no reason in the light novels:
| Quote from light novel |
|---|
| “Well, we came all this way, so there’s no need to hide anymore, is there? It isn’t in my nature to skulk around like a spy.” |
| “Shalltear-sama is always shining brightly, after all” |
| “Stating the obvious isn’t flattery. If you want to flatter me then put more thought into it next time.” |
| Ignoring her servant that was now begging for forgiveness, Shalltear reached out her hand and grabbed the lesser vampire. |
| “I’m giving you the important mission of being the vanguard. Now, go.” |
| With a flick of her skinny arm, Shalltear threw the lesser vampire, and a sound like air being torn apart exploded. The scrawny, corpse-like body spun into the air countless times, and spiraled towards one of the sentries in the distance. |
| Upon impact, the sentry’s head and chest exploded into a bloody mist. It was a scene that was hard to believe. |
| The smell of blood was fresh in the air. The other sentry looked at the cruel remains of his partner in a daze, as if he couldn’t process what had just happened. |
| To the one who did the throwing, it was a delightful spectacle. |
| “Strike~,” |
| “Fantastic, Shalltear-sama.” |
| The two vampires excitedly clapped their hands while Shalltear raised her hands in celebration. Needless to say, the lesser vampire’s body was also obliterated along with the sentry, but no one really cared about that. Since it wasn’t even a member of Nazarick in the first place, there was no need to show concern for the death of a toy. |
| “Hmm, there’s one more, isn’t there?” |
| As Shalltear looked around, the two vampires quickly presented a sufficiently large rock. |
In the end, the only people she respects and owes allegiance to, are her creator and Ainz. Shalltear has also suggested she would be capable of killing members of Nazarick if they were to prevent a love relationship between her and Ainz (most likely referring to the lesser members of Nazarick, as I doubt she believes Ainz would forgive her if she were to kill someone useful to him.)
