To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

“Louisa, keep doing this from now on.”

“Yes.”

On her way out of the Sun Room after greeting her father, Louisa smiled faintly at the concerned servants.

“It’s okay. The work is done now.”

Recently, the Emperor had gained public favor by showing the people directly how he purified water. Of course, it was Louisa who had worked behind the scenes. From the day before, Louisa had to stay up all night activating ancient magic. Returning to her room completely exhausted, Louisa staggered to bed without thinking about the dignity of an imperial princess.

‘I’ll be able to rest for a while now.’

She recalled the memory of activating ancient magic. It was truly a complicated task that felt like her head might explode. If it had been anyone other than Louisa, they might have run away from under the Emperor long ago.

‘But the descendant of Gracia is persistent.’

Louisa was one of the few who knew that the last descendant of Gracia was confined in Abgrund. Louisa thought that descendant was really tenacious. She had clearly received the price of the magic several times, yet she was still not dead. The fact that the magic continued to activate when using her as the price meant that she was still alive.

‘Well, Father handled that wisely at least.’

It was a good idea to confine the Gracia descendant in a prison where God’s power couldn’t reach. If they had tried to harm her outside, God might have intervened. Her father had not opened the prison so far, fearing that the gods might rescue her through the gap when the prison door opened, and Louisa believed his actions were entirely correct.

‘Now then, I’ll rest for a while… Ah.’

Recalling something, Louisa barely raised herself from the bed. This was not the time to spend such peaceful moments.

‘Liv Lartman.’

As long as that woman was alive, she couldn’t rest easy. If she died, the relationship between Duke Lartman and the Emperor would return to how it was before, and peace could be restored.

‘What method would be good…’

Pondering how to kill her without leaving evidence, Louisa hummed a tune.

* * *

“Madam, the carriage sent from the temple has arrived.”

“Okay.”

Liv was in the middle of tidying up her appearance with Laga’s help.

“It’s done.”

As Laga stepped away from Liv, Liv looked at herself in the mirror in front of her. Dressed in an all-white dress, Liv looked just like a Saintess from legends. The dress, made of layers of delicately hand-knitted lace, swayed elegantly with every movement of Liv’s body. She wore only light and simple pearl accessories, but this didn’t make her look shabby.

‘It’s similar to what Hilda wears when going to the temple.’

“My goodness, young lady, you’re so beautiful!”

Although Laga said this with exaggeration, Liv didn’t believe it because Laga tended to exaggerate everything.

“Liv.”

When they arrived at the entrance, Emmett was waiting for her there. Emmett looked at Liv and smiled.

“You look incredibly beautiful today as well.”

“Yes…”

Strangely, even though it was the same compliment, when Emmett said it, she felt embarrassed for no reason. Liv avoided his eyes and took Emmett’s hand. When they went outside the entrance, they saw a white carriage with the temple’s clover-shaped emblem drawn on it. A priest hurriedly ran over as soon as he saw Liv.

“Mrs. Liv, please board the carriage.”

“Yes.”

Liv got into the carriage with Emmett. Perhaps because a priest was riding with them, Emmett just held Liv’s hand tightly without speaking first. As there was no intention to have a private conversation in front of the priest, Liv also remained silent.

The carriage rattled along quickly, and soon the temple came into view in the distance. And then…

“There are a lot of people.”

The outside of the temple was packed with people. Carriages with the emblems of various noble families were also filling the road. But soon, the carriages blocking their way began to make way.

“Wow! It’s the temple’s carriage!”

“Is that person riding in there?”

Voices of people surrounding the carriage could be heard. Judging by their attire, they seemed to be commoners from the capital. People who maintained a decent livelihood in the capital. Seeing far more people than expected, Liv asked in a surprised voice.

“Why are there so many people?”

Then, the priest said in a proud voice.

“Since it’s an occasion to show Mrs. Liv’s power, we spread the word as much as possible. We hope that many people will see Mrs. Liv’s power and serve the Supreme God more devoutly.”

There were incomparably more people surrounding the temple than when Hildegard occasionally held events as a Saintess. The carriage went straight into the temple and stopped in the back garden. When Liv got out of the carriage, the priests looked at her with welcoming faces.

“Mrs. Liv, you’ve arrived!”

“Please come this way.”

Going to where they guided, Liv saw Hildegard who had already arrived and was waiting for her. Because she was attending the event as a Saintess today, Hildegard was also wearing a white dress similar to Liv’s. It was a bit simpler in design than Liv’s.

“Sister, are you feeling alright today?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

The importance of the ceremony she was performing today was comparable to that of the Lartman ducal family’s wedding. Numerous people had gathered at the temple, and almost all the nobles were paying attention to Liv. But strangely, Liv didn’t feel nervous or tense. Whether it was because it was related to God, or because she had already experienced a wedding, all of this just felt light to her.

“That’s good. Today is an important day. You’ll do well.”

Liv stared at Hildegard saying this. Hildegard was sincerely cheering for Liv. Even in a situation where she was being called a fake Saintess.

‘So I must solve that problem today.’

A little later, the priests took Liv and Hildegard deep into the temple.

“Today’s ceremony will take place in the Sun Garden. As it’s a spacious area, many people will be able to see Mrs. Liv.”

“We will conduct the event, so Mrs. Liv, you just need to use your power when your turn comes.”

Even though they were inside the temple, the noisy voices of people could be heard from outside. Liv maintained an expressionless face and then opened her mouth.

“I need Hilda’s help for this ceremony.”

“Do you mean the Saintess?”

“Yes, she’ll be by my side while I use my power.”

Hildegard, who hadn’t received prior notice, looked puzzled, but Liv turned to Hildegard and said:

“You’ve heard the Supreme God’s voice before, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“It’s okay, just do the same this time.”

While waiting for the ceremony like this, Liv felt a strange feeling. Her insides felt ticklish, and it felt like something was welling up inside her. She felt unbearably nauseous.

‘…Did I suddenly get nervous?’

But it was really strange because Liv wasn’t experiencing any emotional fluctuations… Since she just felt a bit unwell but nothing else was wrong, Liv decided not to worry about it.

Finally, as the time for the event approached, Liv followed the high priest towards the Sun Garden. There, seeing the scene unfolding before her eyes, Liv gasped for a moment.

“Ah…!”

A huge crowd was filling the Sun Garden without a single gap.

Only then did Liv finally realize how important a moment she was standing in the middle of. After taking a deep breath, Liv stepped onto the stairs without hesitation. The feeling of ascending to the platform was somehow thrilling. As if she was finally finding her place…

As Liv completely ascended the platform, people cheered and shouted. Because they had only heard briefly about today’s ceremony through rumors passed from mouth to mouth, people who didn’t know exactly what Liv’s identity was shouted like this:

“Saintess! Saintess! Saintess!”

Hildegard’s expression stiffened in a way that only Liv standing close could notice. Although Hildegard had always said it was okay, maybe she felt that her position as a Saintess was being threatened.

“Thank you all for coming here today. This occasion is to show everyone the power of the Supreme God…”

As the High Priest began to speak, a solemn atmosphere fell over the Sun Garden. Meanwhile, Liv conversed with the Supreme God in her mind.

‘Before, when I asked you to make me a Saintess, you didn’t.’

Yes, I couldn’t give you such a troublesome task.

‘When I was struggling with being called a fake Saintess, you just watched.’

If you wanted, I could have given hell to those who troubled you, my child. But you didn’t want that.

‘You said then that the time would come if I waited.’

That’s right.

‘Is now that time? Is this the moment of my destiny?’

It is, my child.

“Now, Mrs. Liv Lartman will demonstrate the trace of the Supreme God!”

Finally, Liv’s turn came, and she slowly inhaled. And then…

[My child.]

A voice was heard from the sky.