To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

‘Today is the day I meet Emmett!’

As soon as she got off the carriage, the excited Liv strode off.

Hildegard had gone to volunteer today, so Liv was alone. Instead, she had heard that Emmett would also be attending the Heller family’s banquet that she was going to today, so Liv was thrilled.

Screech.

But the moment she opened the door to the banquet hall, Liv flinched at the heavy, sinking atmosphere. As soon as Liv entered, everyone shut their mouths. For a moment, it felt like an invisible wall was erected in front of Liv, and she even contemplated running away for a while.

After a while, as if that silence was a lie, the people inside the banquet hall began to chatter noisily among themselves again. However, they didn’t give Liv even a single glance.

‘What was this called? Transparent, transparent…’

They’re treating you as a transparent person.

They seemed to be trying to treat Liv as a transparent person. No matter how they provoked her, Liv seemed calm and even stuck close to a powerful person like Duke Lartman, so this time they decided to bully her by ignoring her. In fact, compared to putting a rat on her seat or surrounding her and pouring out bad words, being ignored seemed like nothing.

But the problem was that Liv…

“Ugh…”

Liv groaned as she felt completely cut off from people and left alone in this world. She hated being isolated from people terribly.

If no one recognized her existence and she was left isolated alone, it was so painful that she couldn’t bear it as a certain day from the past came to mind. Yes, it was about the time before she was adopted into the Hamelsvoort family.

Feeling suffocated, Liv looked around with pleading eyes. She thought it would be better to be cursed at as usual.

“Hic…”

Child, I shall bring judgment upon this world.

‘No…’

Even as she tried to maintain at least a minimum of reason and tried to stop the gods, who would appreciate her efforts? It became increasingly difficult to breathe, and in the midst of that, arguing with the gods in her head made her feel like her head would crack.

Just as Liv closed her eyes tightly and tried to somehow overcome it, a gentle voice was heard from behind.

“Miss Liv.”

“Emmett!”

At that familiar voice, Liv immediately turned around. As always, Emmett was standing there with a dazzling light reflected from the chandelier on his face, smiling in a way that eased people’s tension.

‘Ah, how in moments like this…’

Truly, Liv couldn’t help but love him. From the beginning, it was Liv’s destiny and mission that was already determined. As Liv looked at him with eyes sparkling with tears or vitality, he spoke in a soothing voice.

“You’re alone today. It looks boring here, shall we take a walk in the garden together?”

“Yes, I’d like that.”

After that, the voices of flustered noble ladies could be heard.

“No, didn’t he say he would be late today because he had work at the palace? There’s no way he would come this early…”

“I know, he has never attended a banquet at this hour…”

Leaving their voices behind, Liv went out to the garden with Emmett. The lightbulbs imported from the Merna Empire were characterized by lavish and excessive decoration despite their small size.

“Wow, I love light…”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I have always loved the sunlight seeping through the cracks…”

When Liv said that in a dreamy voice like a philosopher describing utopia, Emmett gave a faint smile. Then, looking at Liv with a face like a tempting angel, he said.

“Miss Liv.”

“Yes.”

“Today, I finished the meeting presided over by His Majesty earlier than usual and came here.”

“Why?”

“Because I was worried about you, Miss Liv.”

That was a really strange thing to say. Somehow, Liv had the illusion that she had become a special being, but was it really an illusion?

“…These days, you make me act strange, Miss Liv.”

“How so?”

“You make me do things I would never do normally. For example, breaking the calm life like a still lake and creating ripples.”

Saying that, Emmett stopped walking and looked at Liv with softly curved eyes.

“Miss Liv, shall we be friends?”

“Friends?”

“Yes, friends.”

“What changes if we become friends compared to now?”

“You can ask me to meet without reason. You can also send me letters. Of course, I can do the same too.”

“Ah…”

Some might be frustrated that the man they love proposed to be friends, but for Liv, becoming friends was as joyous as becoming lovers.

“I’d love that…”

Liv had never had a friend before. The ladies in high society were all hostile to Liv, and Hildegard, the only one who treated Liv well, was more of a caring sister than a friend.

From the moment she first learned the word ‘friend,’ Liv had dreamed of having such a being by her side. Not only was this wonderful person by her side, but he even wanted to be her friend. Liv felt an incomparably blissful feeling.

“You’re my first friend, Emmett.”

When Liv said that like a child declaring a gift she liked as her own, Emmett responded in a calm voice.

“It’s the same for me.”

“Why? Why don’t you have friends, Emmett?”

At those words, Emmett became a little awkward and slowly chose his words to answer.

“…My parents passed away, and I inherited the dukedom a bit early.”

“I see.”

“There were many people around me who looked down on me for receiving the title at a young age and rushed at me, so I had to be wary of them.”

Liv listened to his story with her mouth agape. It was the first time she had heard such a personal story, and Liv suddenly realized that she knew less about Emmett than she thought. She simply loved the human being Emmett that she saw in front of her, and she had no interest in the background that created the human being he was.

“Then why did you accept me as a friend?”

“I came to know that you would never attack me, Miss Liv.”

“Because I’m in a position to be hated by people?”

“…It’s not simply that.”

He seemed a bit flustered by Liv’s overly straightforward words.

“You seemed too pure to harm others, Miss Liv.”

“Ah.”

“…And strangely, I was also drawn to you, Miss Liv.”

“I felt the same way.”

Liv spoke in a voice that was stronger than usual. What was contained in that voice was, oddly enough, something of the nature of hope or expectation.

“I liked you from the beginning, Emmett.”

“…Let’s save that conversation for later.”

Whenever Liv talked about her feelings of liking him, he always showed a flustered reaction. Well, of course, since he didn’t like Liv. Although she didn’t mind, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Instead, Liv decided to focus again on the conversation she was having with him to change the subject.

“How old were you when your parents passed away?”

“I was fifteen. By the way, it’s rude to casually ask about someone’s parents’ death, so you shouldn’t do that to anyone other than me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright, you’ll learn as you go. At that time, His Majesty the Emperor helped me a lot. That’s why I decided to always be loyal to His Majesty.”

How dare he mention that arrogant person in front of my child!

How can a mere human claim to be the absolute!

As soon as Emmett mentioned the Emperor, the gods began to chatter noisily, and Liv flinched.

The gods hated the Emperor terribly. If they could break causality and intervene in the human world, they would have crushed the Emperor right away in the ‘way of the transcendent.’

Liv continued, pretending not to hear the gods’ words.

“Then can I write letters to the Duke from now on?”

“Yes, of course.”

At those words, Liv smiled brightly with a face as if she had gained the world. It was the purest smile of all, simply immersing herself in her love and rejoicing without any desire for anything else.

It was okay if people pointed fingers at her and called her a fake Saintess. As long as she had Emmett, Liv was happy enough with just that.

[To the Duke.

Hello, Emmett. I’m happy that this is my first letter. I bought pretty stationery and ink at the market.

I’m currently reading books and learning many words. Hildegard is helping me.

I saw the term ‘Five Noble Houses’ in the book. It’s a difficult word to understand. What does this word mean?

And would you like to come visit my house? I think Countess Hamelsvoort would like that.

—Sent by Liv Hamelsvoort]

[To Miss Liv Hamelsvoort.

Greetings, Miss Liv. I am also pleased to write a reply. It would be helpful to read while looking up difficult words in a dictionary. I have enclosed the dictionary I used when I was young.

The Five Noble Houses refer to the five families that support the Empire. They are the Steinberg Grand Ducal House, the Lartman Ducal House, the Schmidt Marquis House, the Arendt Marquis House, and the Hamelsvoort Count House.

The Five Noble Houses have maintained a balance of power with the imperial family for generations.

After the bloodline of the previous imperial family, the Gracia family, was cut off, the Five Noble Houses selected a new Emperor through discussion. That person is none other than the current Emperor from the Steinberg Grand Ducal House.

In other words, a new imperial dynasty began with the current Emperor.

I hope your curiosity has been satisfied, Miss Liv.

And while I would be happy to visit the Hamelsvoort House and meet you, Miss Liv, I am worried that Count and Countess Hamelsvoort might misunderstand our relationship. After all, we are still just friends for now.

Instead, I will invite you to the Lartman Ducal House, Miss Liv.

—Sent by Emmett Lartman]