To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

Or rather, was it not a dream but a return to reality? Had she woken up from the dream of being a Saintess, back to being an insignificant girl from the slums? Had everything she had enjoyed until now been an illusion?

Hildegard stood there with an empty face, then suddenly laughed, finding her situation amusing.

Sixteen years in the slums, she had lived so fiercely. Hildegard wanted to live. So she did everything she had to do to survive.

Hildegard’s main job was pickpocketing. But besides that, she had her hand in various things. She had begged by pulling on the clothes of passersby, lied about having a sick younger sibling to extort money, stolen bread from bakeries. She had kissed the slum gang leader when he said he would protect her if she dated him. She had stolen blankets from dying people and gotten into fistfights with groups.

Yes, it wasn’t a clean life. How could an insignificant girl from the slums live considering ethics?

But one day, Hildegard gained power after hearing a strange voice. From then on, Hildegard’s life changed. Priests who said they came from the temple sought out Hildegard and served her as a Saintess. When she showed her newly acquired power, the priests looked up to her.

Hildegard, who had lived her whole life watching out in the slums, didn’t miss what her instincts whispered to her at that moment. She recalled what the temple people who occasionally came out to volunteer would say, and pretended to be devout despite not knowing much about theology. She acted as if she had lived a kind life all along.

Hildegard’s efforts to appear sacrificial while volunteering after becoming a Saintess were simply because she knew that doing so would allow her to gain more. If someone were to investigate Hildegard’s past and find fault, she would have nothing to say. How could she make nobles who had fortunately been born into and enjoyed everything understand her life?

Strangely, she didn’t even feel angry. It felt like her mind was becoming extremely calm. Hildegard guessed that she would soon fall endlessly.

* * *

The letter sent from the Hamelsvoort family quickly arrived at the Lartman mansion.

“What? They’re holding a hearing for Hilda?”

After hearing the news about Hildegard, a surprised Liv jumped up from her seat.

“A-Are they already attacking the Hamelsvoort family? I thought there would be some time…”

“…I didn’t expect this either. For now, I’m hurrying to recruit nobles.”

“Are you going to join hands with the Hamelsvoort family?”

“That would be better, but I’m concerned that Marquis Schmidt has come up to the capital. He’s probably watching me…”

The Emperor or Louisa, which one could it be? Since she was scheduled to meet Louisa soon, she probably hadn’t taken action yet. So this must have been orchestrated by the Emperor’s side.

Liv pondered ways to help Hildegard, but all she could do was…

“Please help Hildegard!”

Ah, she was such an insignificant being. Liv had no power, wisdom, or force. The Hamelsvoort family, the Lartman family, and the gods… She only knew how to cling to and rely on others.

Child, why do you care about such an insignificant person?

“But she’s the Supreme God’s Saintess! Shouldn’t the Supreme God protect the Saintess?”

The Saintess position is merely to protect you.

“Then I’ll help Hilda myself. I’ll go to a sanctuary and create the voice of God, and declare that Hildegard is the real Saintess.”

As Liv said this, panting after pleading with the gods, Emmett intervened.

“But I’m not sure what the Emperor’s intentions are right now.”

“What?”

“Even if they hold a hearing, Miss Hildegard won’t lose her position as Saintess. Because then the Emperor would have to wage war against the temple. So it seems like he’s trying to distract us and do something else…”

“No.”

Liv shook her head at Emmett’s words. Even if the Emperor attacked Hildegard, he no longer needed to wage war against the temple.

“The temple… might abandon Hilda. Because I exist.”

“Hmm…”

“And those people don’t know about life in the slums.”

Liv recalled the scene she had witnessed that day. She couldn’t imagine how desperately Hildegard had lived in such an environment. After being selected as a ‘Saintess,’ Hildegard had tried to live up to it, but it must have been impossible to live as a Saintess in those slums. Whatever sins Hildegard had committed, Liv had no intention of blaming her.

“We don’t know about Hilda’s past. If they attack using her past as an excuse, it will be difficult for the temple to defend her.”

“The Emperor must be attacking the Saintess to weaken Hamelsvoort’s power.”

“…Yes, he might be trying to force Count Hamelsvoort to step down using the excuse of adopting a fake Saintess.”

Liv’s mind worked quickly. She began to consider ways to help Hildegard.

“The temple has already sent a warning letter to the imperial palace. They are defending Miss Hildegard.”

“That’s a relief…”

Liv was prepared to approach a sanctuary for Hilda even if she was afraid, and she wanted to run to a sanctuary right away, but…

“I, I have an appointment soon.”

“…With Her Highness the Princess?”

“Yes.”

Today was the day Louisa was scheduled to visit the Lartman mansion. For now, Liv had to meet her and hear what she wanted from her.

* * *

Louisa came to see Liv still with a pale, sickly face. It was such a harmless face that no one would believe she had come to threaten her. While the Lartman servants guided Louisa as politely as possible, only Liv didn’t hide her wariness towards her.

“You seemed to be on good terms with Miss Hildegard.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The tea in the cups placed between Liv and Louisa remained untouched, with the amount not decreasing at all. Sharp gazes were exchanged between them.

“But I’m going to help Hilda.”

“Ah, yes. You can use tremendous power… Power incomparable to what I use with ancient magic.”

Louisa seemed a bit upset as she said this. As if she felt inferior to Liv.

“You might think you don’t need my help right now. But…”

Louisa gently curved her eyes.

“In the end, for you to survive, you need to eliminate my father. To do that, it would be better to join hands with me and remove him now.”

“…And you’ll become Emperor, Your Highness?”

“That’s right.”

“But there’s no way you’d keep me alive. Because you never know when I might threaten your imperial authority.”

“But you know I can’t kill you, right? Don’t worry, you won’t be imprisoned in Abgrund again.”

Liv flinched at the mention of Abgrund. Yes, she really knew everything.

“Of course, I’ll reward you. By the way, did you really marry Duke Lartman out of love?”

Louisa continued in a sing-song voice. Her face was gently relaxed as if imagining the future after she became Emperor.

“People all say you’re crazy about Duke Lartman, but love tends to cool down eventually. When I become Emperor, I’ll allow you to divorce. The position of Duchess Lartman might seem attractive now, but nothing would be as special as a marriage arranged by the Emperor directly.”

“…”

“Anyway, you save your life, and I become Emperor, so isn’t it good for everyone?”

Louisa acted as if she had no intention of harming Liv, but Liv didn’t trust her. Those who gain power tend to change. Louisa would eventually try to kill Liv too. Also, she didn’t like the idea that she could divorce Emmett. Liv was a selfish person and had no intention of letting go of Emmett.

However, since she didn’t know when Louisa might tell the Emperor the truth about Liv’s birth, Liv kept her mouth shut, not wanting to provoke her unnecessarily. At that moment, a thought flashed through Liv’s mind.

‘…What if I eliminate this person?’

God’s power didn’t allow ‘killing people.’ After all, they were gods who loved humans. But if she used the power well, couldn’t she find a way to eliminate Louisa without leaving evidence?

Then Liv shook her head, frightened by her own thoughts. What a cruel thought to think about eliminating the person in front of her. If the gods knew this, they would probably scold Liv.

Then what on earth should she do? While Liv was lost in thought and remained silent, Louisa continued in a cheerful voice.

“There’s a gathering of nobles who have taken my side. I’d like you to attend that day.”

“…”

“Then I’ll assume you’re attending and take my leave now.”

Believing that Liv would naturally take her side, Louisa’s voice was confident. After Louisa left, Liv’s worries only deepened. How could she keep the Emperor from knowing that Liv was the last imperial descendant of Gracia…

* * *

Marquis Schmidt hummed a tune at his villa in the capital. The informant who had brought him information looked around nervously and left the room.

“Oh my, Princess Louisa!”

Having grasped the situation, he grinned. Although he didn’t know why the two had joined hands, he had heard that Louisa had recently visited the Lartman mansion. It was more likely that she went to see the Duchess rather than the Duke.

The reason why the Princess wanted to join hands with the Duchess was obvious. She probably wanted to become Emperor using the people’s support and the temple’s support that came from ‘God’s love.’

Louisa had learned cunning from her father, but she was still incredibly naive when it came to politics. Look how transparent this was.

Moreover, he had obtained information that Louisa’s close associates would gather soon. Liv Lartman would probably attend and declare her support for Louisa there.

“What should I do…”

He considered whether to tell the Emperor about this information, or whether to maintain some connection with Louisa’s side as well. Although young and inexperienced, Louisa was moderately clever and moderately wicked. Enough to inherit the throne right away without any problems.