To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

When they arrived at the Lartman mansion, the doctor examined Liv’s body thoroughly. But the doctor’s answer made Emmett angry.

“There’s nothing wrong…”

“Then why did my wife cough up blood?”

“Well, for now, it might be better to observe…”

The usually rational Emmett now looked like he might genuinely fire the doctor, but Liv stopped him.

“I’m really fine.”

“Liv… Your standard for ‘fine’ is too low.”

“But I really am fine.”

Apart from coughing up blood earlier, there really was nothing wrong. …In fact, she felt her body was a bit heavy and her head hurt, but Liv decided not to tell Emmett about this. It seemed like things would only escalate if she did.

‘It’ll probably get better if I just leave it…’

Liv, who had inherited Gracia’s blood, had faster recovery than others, and whatever problem had occurred, it would probably heal soon at this rate. Yes, that’s what Liv thought at the time.

* * *

“What happened today?”

Emperor August frowned while sitting on the throne. Marquis Peininger, sitting in front of him, hurriedly explained.

“Today, they say Mrs. Lartman showed the Supreme God’s power at the temple.”

Hearing this, August’s face turned red. He felt like he wanted to grab someone and kill them right away, but for now, he calmed his anger and ordered Marquis Peininger to explain in more detail. Marquis Peininger, who had always been eager to please him, seemed to think this was his chance and spoke with an excited face.

“Yes, it’s been a while since there were rumors that Mrs. Lartman receives God’s love… but today she proved it directly. The temple officially held an event for her and had her use her power. She had used her power before at the wedding too, with flower petals falling from the sky…”

“I know about that, so skip it.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. And today at the temple, they say the Supreme God’s voice was heard from the sky and it rained.”

“There!”

Finally, August couldn’t contain his anger and shouted. He yelled at the servant standing at the entrance.

“Go to the underground prison and bring any prisoner!”

“Y-yes, Your Majesty…!”

A moment later, he raised his sword towards the prisoner who had fallen bound before his eyes. It was a thin, sharp dagger he often used when torturing people.

“Aaaaargh!”

The prisoner’s screams echoed in the room at the Emperor’s cruel gesture. Marquis Peininger closed his eyes tightly as if frightened, but August continued his actions. He trampled on the flesh that had fallen to the floor and asked Marquis Peininger.

“So Liv Lartman is actually a real Saintess?”

“No. They said it’s different from being a Saintess. Mrs. Lartman just receives God’s love, they say.”

“Really? It might have been better if she had declared herself a Saintess.”

August said this with a sneer, causing Marquis Peininger to flinch. It didn’t look like the laugh of a normal person at all.

“Lartman, so you’ve decided to stand on that side…”

Even while laughing with a deranged face, August recalled Duke Lartman who had finally turned his back on him. He never dreamed that he would turn his back on him because of one woman. To betray him, who had taken him in, for the sake of a mere lowborn girl of no consequence…

‘Did he realize?’

For a moment, August’s expression turned cold. Yes, perhaps Duke Lartman had now realized who the real culprit was who killed his parents.

‘Well, if that’s the case, there’s nothing to be done.’

He had killed the previous Duke and Duchess Lartman because they consistently opposed August’s policies. It was done to eliminate political opponents, but… Suddenly, an interesting thought occurred to him.

It wasn’t difficult to fabricate the deaths of the Duke and Duchess, and manipulating their young son in the process was purely out of interest, nothing more or less. How amusing it had been to watch Emmett Lartman loyally serve the enemy of his parents.

Yes, his loyalty couldn’t have lasted forever anyway. There was no need to be so angry about Duke Lartman turning away. However…

‘It’s vexing that he’s taking the temple’s hand.’

If he had started a rebellion on his own, August would have killed him while finding it amusing, but siding with the temple was irritating. August recalled the temple officials who had opposed him most vehemently when he ascended to the throne.

‘What should I do…’

No matter how angry he was, he couldn’t directly touch Duke Lartman or his wife. It would be troublesome to touch someone known as ‘one who receives God’s love’ and who had the attention and support of the people and nobles. Then what remained was…

“Hamelsvoort.”

Even beasts know to be grateful for the kindness of being raised, surely Duke Lartman’s wife wouldn’t turn her back on the Hamelsvoort family who had taken in an orphan like her. Come to think of it, it had been irritating how the Hamelsvoort family had been clinging to the temple from before. Pondering how to deal with the Hamelsvoort family, August sneered.

* * *

“Strange.”

Drawing formulas on paper, Louisa tilted her head. She was trying to use magic on Duke Lartman’s wife using the last descendant of Gracia as a sacrifice, but strangely, it wasn’t working.

“Could she be dead?”

Had the Gracia descendant, who had tenaciously held on for eighteen years, finally died? Of course, it wasn’t certain yet, so Louisa had no intention of reporting to her father yet. If things went wrong for no reason, she might have to bear his anger.

“Well, it wouldn’t be strange if she’s dead now.”

Muttering this, Louisa flipped an hourglass. It was like her habit when using magic.

“Well, there are plenty of sacrifices.”

She could use one of the prisoners in the underground prison as a sacrifice right away. Finding a sacrifice wasn’t a difficult problem. However, what was important was how to use ancient magic.

God’s power was literally sacred power. It was impossible to use it to curse others. God’s power could only be used in innocent ways. Her father had been using it to purify the unclean, make rainbows appear in the sky, and heal the sick.

‘But if you twist it well, it seems like curses might be possible too…’

The standard of that ‘sacredness’ was quite ambiguous. It didn’t seem impossible to exploit it.

After racking her brains for a while, Louisa finally came up with a good idea.

“Aha.”

Instead of ‘hurting’ or ‘cursing’, think of it as cleaning. Think of it as punishing those who dare to disturb the order of this land. Then…

“As expected.”

Louisa hummed a tune as she watched the magic circle begin to glow under the broken relic.

* * *

“Ugh!”

After receiving the doctor’s examination, Liv’s condition worsened. Liv intermittently coughed up blood, and she couldn’t even get up properly from her bed due to dizziness and headaches.

“Liv, please…”

Emmett didn’t leave Liv’s side, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief and constantly staying by her side. Looking at Emmett with a half-dazed mind due to fever, Liv thought it was very strange.

‘It’s really strange…’

His eyes looking at her were filled with affection. Emmett staying by her side looked just like someone who loved Liv.

‘But that can’t be…’

She knew well that he didn’t love her. But he sometimes made Liv misunderstand like this.

“You should stop confusing me…”

With her mind hazy, nonsense spilled from her mouth.

“What?”

“Why are you doing this…”

“Liv, do you need anything?”

“I, I love you, but…”

Groaning in pain, Liv barely continued speaking.

“You’re not a good person…”

“…That’s right. I’m not a good person.”

Wiping the sweat that had flowed from her forehead, Emmett said in a gentle voice.

“So you can hate me as much as you want, Liv.”

* * *

‘What’s the problem?’

Since Liv started getting sick, Emmett couldn’t maintain his sanity. Although the servants tried to urge Emmett to eat, food just wouldn’t go down his throat, and he couldn’t sleep. Emmett just kept circling around Liv, who couldn’t even get up properly from the bed, staying by her side.

He had already called several doctors, but they all failed to find the cause. Now Emmett knew it wasn’t because the doctors were incompetent.

Pain of unknown cause. An illness with a cause incomprehensible to humans.

“Is this related to you?”

Emmett quietly murmured under the sky.

If Liv is suffering, think about who would be most pleased by that.

“August.”

There was only one reason why Liv would be in such pain. It was clear that the Emperor had cast a spell to harm Liv.

But if so, how could it be cured? If it was something possible with God’s power, Liv would have recovered long ago. However, the gods who claim to love Liv had a strange aspect to them, only intervening in this world after Liv’s death.

Emmett had no idea what to do…