To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

“Are you the eldest son of the Hamelsvoort family?”

“Yes, I am.”

Walter, kneeling, answered in a polite voice. He had heard beforehand that the Emperor sometimes did this to intimidate guests he summoned. It seemed the Emperor had not called him for a good purpose today.

However, not a trace of tension could be seen on Walter’s face. He had left home with a carefree expression in front of his family, and in reality, he was not taking this situation seriously.

‘Compared to divine punishment.’

The world no longer appeared the same to Walter as before. After experiencing divine punishment, his standards had completely changed. No matter what the Emperor did to him, he would not feel much emotion. Even if he died, he would accept death as it was.

For Walter, ‘one life’ did not feel important. Although this life had no ‘next,’ well. He had lived enough.

“I hear you studied law in the Merna Empire.”

“That’s correct, Your Majesty.”

“Well, how was the Merna Empire?”

“The scientific development in the Merna Empire was remarkable. They were actively trading with the East through superior navigation techniques, and because of that, they could easily adopt new cultures and technologies.”

“Hmm, I see. Then do you think the Merna Empire is more developed than us?”

“That’s not the case, Your Majesty.”

Walter continued in an elegant voice.

“Their science and technology are more advanced than the Holy Hilysid Empire, but that’s limited to science. Conflicts were occurring all over the Merna Empire as they accepted many foreigners. I believe the Holy Hilysid Empire, unified under strong imperial authority, is a better place.”

It was a blatant attempt to curry favor with the Emperor, but the Emperor did not point this out. Instead, the Emperor, who had been listening with an amused face, finally spoke.

“Walter Hamelsvoort.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Do you think I have the proper qualifications to be Emperor?”

Pondering the meaning of those words, Walter was silent for a moment. Then he soon answered in a calm tone.

“How could Your Majesty not have the qualifications to be Emperor? Your Majesty is the rightful sun of this Empire.”

“Well, I’m not so sure myself.”

The Emperor grinned while looking at Walter. It was an unpleasant smile that anyone would find unsettling.

“There are too many in this world who don’t consider me a proper Emperor.”

The moment he saw his expression, Walter guessed. He would not be able to escape from here today. That would be the case no matter what he said.

“Is the Supreme God above, or am I above?”

“Everything in this world is beneath the Supreme God, but this country is also beneath Your Majesty.”

“Then in the end, that means I am also beneath the Supreme God.”

“…”

“Is that why the Hamelsvoort family does not show loyalty to me?”

“Our family will always be loyal to Your Majesty.”

“Liv Lartman revealing her power at the temple rather than the imperial palace reads as disrespect towards me.”

“That is absolutely not the case.”

Walter gave the best answers he could, but the Emperor seemed to have already decided what to do with Walter. In fact, Walter had already half lost his motivation, showing an attitude of ‘kill me if you want to kill me.’ Then Liv would feel even more guilt towards him. Ah, it’s a bit regrettable to leave without seeing that child break down.

“The Lartman ducal family or the Hamelsvoort count family, they’re both equally difficult to handle. But I can’t eliminate both families either.”

“…”

“Don’t worry, I intend to keep you alive. Someone needs to succeed the Hamelsvoort family.”

The Emperor continued rambling while Walter remained silent, then shouted towards the tightly closed door outside.

“Escort Young Lord Hamelsvoort to an empty room.”

Walter silently bowed his head and thought. Should he be grateful that it was called an ’empty room’ and not a prison? But no matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t a positive situation.

Because he would be confined in the imperial palace.

* * *

‘What should I do…’

The room was clean and furnished with most necessities. The place where Walter was seemed like an ordinary room created to entertain guests in the imperial palace. The room had an attached bathroom, and meals were provided at mealtimes, so the person confined there had no need to step outside the room even once. In fact, he couldn’t go outside the room either.

He could sense the presence of a soldier guarding his door all day long. He was completely imprisoned.

It was unclear on what grounds Walter had been imprisoned. That was up to the Emperor’s whim. Probably the pretext for confining him without evidence would be something like ‘insulting the imperial family.’ Even the Emperor couldn’t frame Walter for non-existent treason charges. If one of the Five Noble Families were to be exterminated, other nobles might unite. Especially if the target was Hamelsvoort, the temple wouldn’t stand idly by either.

A day had passed since Walter was confined in the imperial palace. The Hamelsvoort family must be in an uproar by now.

‘How troublesome…’

Yes, in fact, Walter being confined here was because Liv had allied with Duke Lartman and turned her back on the Emperor. To the end, his sister was making him troubled.

It was unclear what the Emperor wanted. But until the Hamelsvoort family gave the Emperor what he desired, he would not be able to escape from here. And there would be no one to stop the Emperor.

Even when the Emperor first started acting arbitrarily, there were many people who stopped him. However, all those loyal subjects ended up losing their lives at the Emperor’s hands.

Over ten attempts at rebellion also repeatedly ended in failure.

The Emperor who had pushed out the Gracia family and newly ascended to the throne was more cruel and merciless than anyone in history. Whenever he tried to kill servants out of boredom, the servants would divulge all the information they knew, and in the process, information about rebellions would often leak.

After numerous failures, the nobles finally gave up. Since Duke Lartman, the most powerful among the nobles, was on the Emperor’s side, other nobles chose to side with the Emperor while watching the situation.

The only thing that could counter the Emperor was the temple, but because the Emperor strangely showed miracles occasionally, they couldn’t excommunicate him either.

That’s how the tyrant August had been able to maintain his throne until now.

‘It would be better to just submit.’

Walter sat on the bed, lost in thought. Rather than opposing the Emperor, it would be better for the Hamelsvoort family to lie as flat as possible and get Walter out.

‘But…’

Walter’s eyes shone sharply as he recalled something.

* * *

An atmosphere so sharp that one could hardly breathe, and at the same time gloomy, hung over the Hamelsvoort mansion.

“What on earth is going on!”

Lady Hamelsvoort was sitting on the floor, shedding tears. Liv, who had come down to the first floor dragging her sick body due to the commotion felt outside, asked with cheeks flushed from fever.

“What, what’s happening?”

However, Lady Hamelsvoort couldn’t answer Liv’s question and only wailed loudly. The Count was nowhere to be seen. Hildegard, who was comforting the lady in his place, opened her mouth.

“Sister… Brother Walter has been confined in the imperial palace.”

“What? Why?”

“They say it’s for insulting the imperial family… But there’s no way Brother Walter would have really done that, so it’s just an excuse in reality.”

At those words, Liv’s mind worked quickly. It was undoubtedly the Emperor venting his anger over her use of power at the temple. …Perhaps he had decided to attack Hamelsvoort instead of Liv. Daughter of one of the Five Noble Families, wife of one of the Five Noble Families, and one protected by the temple. He might have decided to cut off the things that gave Liv power one by one, since attacking Liv directly would mean fighting too many things.

Of course, she found Walter uncomfortable, but she couldn’t leave him like this.

“What can we do… to get Brother Walter released?”

“Well… The Count is also considering what kind of proposal to make. In fact, it would be difficult for His Majesty the Emperor to easily touch a powerful noble family like Hamelsvoort, so he can’t really punish Brother Walter. He probably intends not to release our brother until we agree to a deal.”

At that moment, Count Hamelsvoort appeared, flinging open the door of a room on the first floor. He was holding a letter in his hand.

“Dear, calm down. I’m going to send a letter to the temple.”

“To the temple?”

Lady Hamelsvoort raised her head in surprise.

“Darling… Shouldn’t we be begging His Majesty the Emperor and offering gifts now?”

“Well, that would have been the case before. But…”

Count Hamelsvoort’s eyes turned to Liv and Hildegard. His eyes were inappropriately calm for the situation, as if calculating all the moves he could make.

“Now we have a Saintess and a being loved by God. Even if we become hostile to His Majesty the Emperor, the temple can’t help but take our side.”

“In the end… you’re saying we’ll rebel!”

When Lady Hamelsvoort shouted like that, the Count frowned with an uncomfortable face.

“No, I’m saying we’ll create a situation where the temple excommunicates the one who committed wrongdoing. Who doesn’t know how severely His Majesty has committed tyranny all this time? Above all, there are rumors that His Majesty succeeded to the throne in an improper way… He clearly has no legitimacy as Emperor.”

“But Walter is in His Majesty’s hands! If we’re not careful, Walter could become a hostage!”

“If he doesn’t want to be excommunicated, we can ask him to return Walter. Now is not the time to negotiate with the Emperor. It’s time to threaten him.”

Hildegard, watching their conversation, had an anxious face. Hildegard, who had somehow approached Liv’s side, took her hand.

“I feel uneasy for some reason…”

“Yes, me too…”

According to what Liv had heard from Emmett, attempts at rebellion had repeatedly failed so far. She doubted what would be different this time. If they failed, they would all die. In the process, it might even be discovered that Liv was a descendant of Gracia.

Count Hamelsvoort seemed confident in his own way, but Liv couldn’t hide her anxiety at all. Hildegard was even biting her nails in the end. While the Count was sending the letter, Liv and Hildegard watched with anxious eyes.