To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

“The Master… will return to the Holy Hilysid Empire again… She clearly said so at the end.”

Unlike Emmett who was suppressing his anger towards himself, Hayden, who seemed terrified, continued speaking with a trembling voice. He looked completely broken, to the point where one couldn’t imagine his annoyingly bright smile in front of Liv.

“It’s my fault. I… failed to protect her again. I should have protected her this time… In the end, there was nothing I could do again.”

Muttering like that, Hayden seemed to be lost in his own despair rather than conversing with the other person. But Emmett was in no state to converse with Hayden either.

‘Liv…’

The entire situation was heading towards the worst.

Princess Louisa had died recently. The Emperor said she had been killed by an unknown entity, but the nobles could guess who the culprit who killed her might be. There are heartless fathers in this world who use their children only as means.

Yet August threatened to find the one who killed Louisa and make them pay for their crime. It was clear as day that Emmett and Marquis Arendt would be framed as the princess’s killers. So now they needed to find a way to escape August’s clutches… but Emmett couldn’t focus on his own affairs at all.

‘Liv, what meaning does a place without you have for me?’

Perhaps trying to place the heavy crown of the Emperor on Liv was the problem? But he wanted to prove his love to Liv, and he couldn’t bear not returning to her what she rightfully deserved to enjoy.

The more he thought about it, the more the whole world seemed covered in despair, and finally Emmett groaned while clutching his head. He couldn’t see a way out of this quagmire. It felt like the god of death had come down and kissed his eyelids.

‘Liv, where on earth are you…’

* * *

“Hahaha!”

A refreshing laugh echoed through the imperial palace that was always filled with the stench of blood.

“So, that girl has disappeared?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Those who boarded the ship from Merna to the Holy Hilysid Empire say that as the ship was tilting, one woman jumped into the sea. Then there was a mysterious light, and the ship returned to land, allowing them to survive. However, the woman’s figure was no longer seen.”

“Has she really not been spotted anywhere else?”

“So far, there have been no sightings in the Holy Hilysid Empire. The soldiers we planted in Merna’s port haven’t found anything either.”

“Yes, finally that thing has disappeared!”

As August laughed with pleasure, Marquis Schmidt carefully spoke while watching his mood.

“However, some people presumed to be Merna’s soldiers appeared and said they lost Hildegard Hamelsvoort and Walter Hamelsvoort…”

“It doesn’t matter! Those things have no power!”

Since August didn’t get angry about that issue, Marquis Schmidt inwardly sighed with relief. It was indeed good that he brought it up when August was in a good mood.

“But Your Majesty, that woman is still alive after all. Aren’t you worried about her returning…?”

In fact, he was worried about his own position when she returned, but Marquis Schmidt asked that anyway. While he pretended to be happy, expecting a reward from August since he was pleased, Marquis Schmidt couldn’t understand why he was so happy. August wasn’t a person who foolishly failed to see the future, blinded only by immediate benefits. To his question, August opened his mouth with a face full of triumph.

“Don’t worry, do you think that thing can safely return alive from the sea? In the end, it’s just human too.”

August trusted the sea. How could he forget when he had deployed hundreds of ships to the sea while declaring war on the Kingdom of Nertan, only to fail miserably due to an unexpected storm? No matter how much divine power she has, it would be difficult to survive there. And even if she managed to save her life and arrive in a foreign country…

“It’s not easy to return to the Holy Hilysid Empire after arriving in a strange land. And how likely is it that she’d end up in a country of the Holy Church? What if she ends up in the East?”

Even if it was revealed there that Liv received the love of the Supreme God of the Holy Church, no one would step forward to help her. Especially if it’s not the Ein continent, there’s a greater possibility that Liv, who looks like a foreigner, would be ostracized as a witch. He knew that all the people from the Ein continent who had attempted to establish diplomatic relations with the Night continent or Eastern continent had failed.

“Maybe she’ll end up on an uninhabited island. In fact, considering the area of the sea, isn’t that more likely? Haha!”

Marquis Schmidt finally understood August’s thinking and nodded. If she doesn’t arrive in a country of the Holy Church, the power Liv Gracia uses becomes meaningless in the end. Ah, then they would ultimately win and he would hold the hegemony of the new era! Expecting to stand in a prominent position among the new meritorious families, Schmidt smiled.

“Julian.”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty?”

When August called someone’s name, a boy sitting quietly with his hands folded in a corner of the room raised his head abruptly.

It was Julian Steinberg, a collateral branch of the Steinberg family who had recently lost his parents and become alone.

“Did you see well? The thing that threatened us is now gone!”

“Ha, haha… I am grateful, Your Majesty…!”

Although the corners of his mouth turned up in a strange way, Julian was too busy offering words of congratulations to August to care about that.

He was afraid of August. Because he knew August was a man cold-hearted enough to kill his own daughter. Even he, sitting here, didn’t know when he might meet his death.

But if he followed August’s words, Julian would eventually become Emperor. Hadn’t August promised him before that he would hold a Crown Prince appointment ceremony soon? Losing his parents was rather a good opportunity for Julian.

‘Yes, this is the right path…’

Knowing that he had stepped onto an irreversible path with one choice, Julian thought so and clapped for August. He had caught the golden thread, and would soon be able to become Crown Prince…

* * *

“At first I thought you were just a foreigner who drifted in by chance, but it seems you’re no ordinary person… the princess says.”

“Of course, I’m a special being.”

“I like your arrogance too… the princess says.”

“There’s no reason to bow down unnecessarily.”

The longer the conversation with Liv continued, the deeper the smile on the face of Rania, the princess of the Kingdom of Ashur, grew. She seemed to like that Liv was intentionally acting haughty and arrogant towards her. Liv was acting that way based on her rough judgment, but in truth, it was difficult for her to read the minds of the people of the Kingdom of Ashur.

“But how did you really drift here?… the princess asks.”

“I fell into the sea after an accident, and received help from the gods there to come here.”

Even though Liv said ‘gods’, Princess Rania didn’t point that out. Liv liked this country for that point.

“Help from the gods, how interesting. My siblings and father would probably find it interesting too. I should introduce you to them… the princess says.”

“Yes, that’s fine. I wanted to meet the Ayr too.”

Rania arranged a room in the palace for Liv. Upon entering the room, Liv quietly looked around.

Although it seemed they had decorated it as a guest room in their own way, it was still unfamiliar to Liv who was accustomed to the style of the Ein continent. Especially the wall paintings that gave a flat yet mysterious feeling were like that. Yet feeling an auspicious energy from those wall paintings, Liv was reminded once again that the Kingdom of Ashur was also devoted to the gods.

The next day, it was time for Liv to meet the royal family of the Kingdom of Ashur. An interpreter sent by Rania guided Liv. Liv was wearing clothes of the Kingdom of Ashur that she had given her. The sensation of the thin clothes brushing against her legs as she walked felt strange. For Liv, it felt almost like being naked, to the point of embarrassment.

As guided, Liv arrived at the ‘Room of Cycles’. When Liv opened the door of the room, her eyes were met with densely carved wall paintings. She had thought the art of the Kingdom of Ashur was just monotonous, but seeing it like this, it also had aspects that overwhelmed people.

Next, she saw numerous princes and princesses sitting around a large table. Seeing that, Liv was momentarily shocked. So many members of the royal family.

However, soon Liv pretended to be calm and sat in an empty seat, and the royal family’s interested gazes were fixed on Liv.