To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

It was a fact Liv had keenly felt all along, but this confirmed it. Unlike Hildegard’s fuss, Emmett still didn’t love Liv.

It was true that Emmett’s attitude had noticeably changed. However, what he held for Liv was likely just pity.

Having witnessed ‘that scene’ during the divine punishment, he probably pitied her. What Emmett felt for Liv was not love, but a sense of responsibility. Not love, but pity. Not love, but regret.

His proposal of marriage to Liv didn’t contain even a speck of love.

“It’s alright, I’m not hurt.”

Though Liv smiled brightly in a manner unsuited to the situation, it resembled such a contrived smile that Emmett couldn’t bring himself to return it with a smile of his own.

“Don’t worry. I won’t misunderstand your feelings. I won’t overstep.”

“…”

“Then there is one more thing I wish to ask.”

“…Yes.”

“If you married me, would it be a painful thing for you?”

“What is that supposed to…”

“It would be miserable to marry a woman you don’t love, wouldn’t it? Would marrying me be an unpleasant thing for you?”

At those words, Emmett wore an expression resembling both regret and endurance, shaking his head fervently.

“No, not at all.”

“Why not?”

“Liv, please…”

Emmett grasped Liv’s hand with an expression more earnest than ever before.

“I cannot say that I love you, but my desire to marry you is sincere.”

“That’s… difficult to understand.”

“This is… the only way for me to atone to you.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Liv understand Emmett’s feelings. Emmett harbored apologetic feelings towards her. And for him, marrying Liv was a way he could atone.

If Liv possessed the straightforward temperament of Hildegard, she wouldn’t have accepted his proposal here. For she knew that a loveless marriage would only cause Emmett distress.

However, Liv chose to make her first selfish choice since birth. She wanted Emmett to be on her side. Even if it meant he would miss the chance to meet his life’s partner and live happily, she wished to have an official relationship with him that was acknowledged by all.

Liv smiled brightly at Emmett, who was gripping her hand earnestly, and answered:

“Alright, I will marry you.”

“…Yes?”

Even Emmett, who had proposed to her, seemed to not have expected that response, his face showing surprise.

“I know you don’t love me. You don’t have to tell me you’ll love me for life. I just have the selfish desire to marry you. That’s enough for me.”

“Even so… you will marry me?”

“To be precise, it’s you who will marry me. Yes. If you harbor feelings of regret towards me, then at least marry me. I will be satisfied with that.”

“You need not say such things…”

Emmett wore a more flustered expression than ever before. Usually, Liv would have noticed his demeanor, but overwhelmed by her bittersweet feelings, she lacked the mental capacity to scrutinize Emmett’s expression.

‘Liv, be satisfied with this. After all, you’re marrying him, aren’t you?’

Marrying Emmett had been Liv’s greatest wish since long ago. Then why did she feel so strange?

‘No, Liv. You must be satisfied with this much.’

She recalled the past. The helpless days when she could do nothing. Back then, even the most trivial things seemed like miracles to Liv in the eyes of others.

Thinking that way, she felt she could somewhat control this bittersweet feeling. Seeing Emmett’s dejected expression, as always, Liv smiled brightly.

* * *

“Liv…”

After formally sending a letter to the Hamelsvoort family, Emmett returned to his study.

And now, he was agonizing with his head resting on the desk. When he raised his head again, his eyes were bloodshot red.

“Why, why couldn’t I say those words!”

He had originally intended to whisper words of love to Liv. Along with his proposal, he had planned to tell her that he loved her more than anyone else in this world, and would continue to do so.

But at that moment, his mouth wouldn’t move.

The sensation of his body not obeying his will. Unless some sudden illness had afflicted him, the reason was clear.

It was the divine punishment.

“You didn’t tell me this was its meaning!”

Emmett cried out towards the empty space, hoping the gods would hear his voice.

He hadn’t known if the divine punishment he had received in the past held this meaning. He couldn’t have imagined it meant he would be unable to utter words of love before Liv.

As he was flustered by this utter mess, Liv surprisingly accepted his proposal of marriage. That fact only made Emmett feel more wretched. For it meant she loved him that much.

Would his relationship with Liv be restored through marriage? Emmett already knew the answer.

‘It will only become more of a mess…’

Liv, living with a husband who can’t say he loves her, could never be happy. In the end, he would only plunge Liv back into unhappiness.

“I was a fool, Liv… If I could return to the past, I wouldn’t have acted that way.”

Emmett wished he could erase all the wrongs he had committed against Liv in the past.

But more than anything, what tormented him was the fact that his past self had made those mistakes entirely of his own choice. Without thinking he would come to regret it like this, Emmett had foolishly acted.

The ‘past’ was a topic both Liv and Emmett had avoided discussing. Talking about the past would inevitably mean acknowledging the uncomfortable transgressions Emmett had committed.

However, the time had come to face reality.

He had committed such a grave wrong against Liv, and that transgression would never disappear forever.

Finally, he began recalling what had happened when he underwent the divine punishment.

* * *

Why did our beloved child die?

Inflict divine punishment.

Punishment! Punishment! Punishment!

Though he had certainly thought he was shot, when Emmett regained his senses, he found himself floating in an entirely black space.

‘What happened?’

He recalled the last thing he had seen.

Liv Hamelsvoort dying before him while splattering blood, the crumbling world, and the enraged, bizarre entities. Having witnessed that sight with human eyes, there was no way he could still be alive.

‘Is this the afterlife?’

Emmett hoped the Emperor had at least survived unharmed. If the Emperor had died, he might fall into hell for failing to protect his master to the end. Of course, if that happened, Emmett was prepared to accept it.

As he resigned himself to the death that had befallen him in the void, the voice of a god rang out once more.

The blood of the child I love has spilled upon you.

‘The child they love?’

He furrowed his brow, then realized the world had crumbled after Liv Hamelsvoort’s death. Then…

‘This world revolves around Liv Hamelsvoort?’

But that was truly difficult to accept. At that moment, the immense voice of a god overwhelmed his body once more.

Insolent one. Do you doubt our love?

“Ugh!”

He groaned, feeling as if crushed under the weight of a massive building.

‘Just what is this…?’

Momentarily immobilized by the overwhelming voice, he soon realized it was the same voice he had heard before the world’s demise. In other words… the voice of God.

‘The reason the gods raged was because the child they loved died.’

And who was that ‘beloved child’? The one who had foreseen those events unfolding before him, uttering strange words as if in a trance before taking her own life…

‘Liv Hamelsvoort?’

The moment he arrived at the truth the world had been hiding, his mind raced as ‘that fact’ became embedded in his brain like an innate human instinct, an absolute axiom.

Liv Hamelsvoort is beloved by all the gods.

As if to confirm the realization he had gained was the truth, the voices of the gods echoed all around him.

Inflict divine punishment upon this one.

Make him suffer dreadful torment.

And at that moment, one immense voice tore through the space.

I have a good idea.

With his head feeling like it would split from the pain, Emmett squeezed his eyes shut. Did this mean Liv Hamelsvoort had been living while receiving the love of these entities?

Let us have this one save the child we love.

How?

By sending him to that time.

The correct answer.

Send him!

Along with those words, Emmett’s vision began to melt away as his body gradually turned transparent.

‘Am I dying?’

However, the next time he opened his eyes, he found himself on a dark, stone floor.

“What is this?”

Emmett tried moving his lips, but no voice came out. His transparent hands couldn’t grasp anything. It was as if he had become a ghost. But according to the gods’ words, it seemed they hadn’t killed him, but rather ‘inflicted divine punishment’…

‘Is existing in this ghostly state the punishment?’

First, he decided to survey his surroundings. However, it was so utterly dark that nothing could be seen. Only the humid air indicated he was trapped inside some stone structure.

It wasn’t until his vision adjusted to the darkness that Emmett could discern his location. He was in some dark underground prison-like place. However, no path leading out of the prison area was visible.

Then, the voice of a god rang out once more.

This place is Abgrund.

The worst prison on earth, Abgrund.

Since he had heard there was no greater punishment than being imprisoned in Abgrund, it wasn’t strange for the gods to have sent him there. Sitting there alone, Emmett began to reflect on the situation he found himself in.

He had received divine punishment for the reason that the blood of Liv Hamelsvoort, the child beloved by the gods, had spilled upon him. A punishment with no foreseeable end.

‘Liv Hamelsvoort… is beloved by the gods?’

Just what form did the gods’ love for her take? For what reason was the one called the ‘Fake Saintess’ beloved by the gods?

As he pondered this while surveying his surroundings, he ended up discovering someone he hadn’t expected to find there.

A girl with disheveled white hair snapped her head up. Even in the darkness, the girl’s eyes shone red.

Abgrund.

The deepest underground.

A place the gods’ grace cannot reach.

The lowest place in this world.

There, Liv Hamelsvoort was present.

* * *

The gods are merciless and capricious.

How could a human ever fathom the gods’ minds?

However, one undeniable fact.

The gods love the one born in the lowest place.