To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

[I know I’m not close to you, but I can’t bear to watch a fake Saintess deceive everyone, so I’m writing this letter.

Did you know? Liv Hamelsvoort is an adopted daughter of the Hamelsvoort family. She claimed to be a Saintess herself, so the Hamelsvoort couple believed it and adopted her.

However, a year later, the existence of the real Saintess, Hildegard, was revealed, and Miss Hildegard was also adopted into the Hamelsvoort family.

In other words, that woman Liv is not only not a real daughter of the Hamelsvoorts, but she’s also a brazen person who deceived everyone by claiming to be a Saintess. I can’t stand by and watch such a woman deceive you. Please make a wise judgment.

And as for the vassals…]

‘I’ve already taken care of that.’

At the point when she sent the threatening letter to Liv Hamelsvoort, Malea had already sent anonymous letters to the vassals of the Lartman family.

Expecting the one who dared to stand above her without qualification to be driven out, Malea quietly smiled.

* * *

The day after receiving the threatening letter, as Liv was reading a book in the library, she could feel Emily constantly glancing at her. Emily seemed to think she wasn’t being obvious, but it wasn’t easy to ignore Emily’s piercing gaze.

“What is it?”

When Liv finally took her eyes off the book and asked, Emily hesitantly spoke up.

“Um, Miss…”

“Yes.”

“About that letter. What are you going to do?”

“I decided to leave it to Emmett.”

When something unknown happens, ask Emmett. That was a habit Liv had internalized since she was in Abgrund. If she just followed Emmett’s opinion without meddling in things she didn’t know about, she’d at least be average.

“You’re not going to do anything yourself, Miss?”

“No.”

“That’s a wise approach. The best answer for such people is usually to not give them attention.”

But even as she said that, Emily still looked like she had more to say. After a while, Emily hesitated and opened her mouth again.

“But… what if that person really spreads bad rumors in the social circles here?”

“Then people will come to dislike me. It can’t be helped.”

“What?”

“People in the capital already disliked me anyway.”

“Whaaaat?”

Emily looked at Liv with eyes as big as saucers.

“Miss, about those bad rumors in the capital. It’s a presumptuous question, but did you really do something wrong? I, I just wondered if there was anything I could do to help…”

“Hmm…”

Because Emily’s eyes were truly filled with only worry as she said this, Liv didn’t bother to point out the rudeness of the question. Instead, Liv trailed off, pondering how to answer.

It was true that she received the love of the gods and could hear their voices directly, but she wasn’t a Saintess. As a result, Liv had ended up deceiving people. But it was hard to see it as entirely Liv’s fault. Liv had only done what the gods told her to do.

“There was a bit of a misunderstanding.”

When Liv finally answered like that, Emily nodded as if she had expected it. Her face showed firm trust in Liv.

“Don’t you want to clear up the misunderstanding?”

“I don’t know…”

Would people even believe Liv’s words? Of course, the gods could punish those who harassed Liv as they wished, but Liv didn’t want people to die so cruelly. She had thought of peaceful ways to prove the gods’ power, but the gods only gave incomprehensible messages saying that ‘the time’ hadn’t come yet and that they couldn’t intervene.

Therefore, Liv had no way to prove her words to people.

“It’s hard to clear up the misunderstanding. I don’t think people will believe me.”

“So you want to clear up the misunderstanding, but you don’t have a way to do it, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is there really no way at all?”

At those words, Liv tilted her head and then realized that it wasn’t that there was no way at all, just that she hadn’t been proactive.

If she goes to the sacred grounds, she can obtain the power of the gods and Liv can also exert power. A power on a different level from Hildegard healing injured people. Unlike now, when Liv can’t do anything while relying on the mercy and love of the gods, if she enters the sacred grounds, she can acquire her own complete power. However, Liv was just avoiding everything because she was afraid to go to the sacred grounds.

“Actually, it’s not that there’s no way at all.”

“Then why…”

“Now I’m not sure why I need to clear up the misunderstanding.”

Communicating with humans was too difficult. Liv had already had too many misunderstandings with humans due to minor misunderstandings. She knew the cause lay with her, but it wasn’t something she could easily fix her way of thinking about. Liv didn’t know much about the world, and she had trouble talking for long periods due to the pressure from the gods.

Anyway, since it was better than when she was in Abgrund, Liv just thought it wasn’t bad to keep living like this.

At Liv’s words, Emily stared at her for a long time, then carefully opened her mouth.

“Miss, there’s no harm in clearing up the misunderstanding.”

“I guess so…”

“Anyway, if you reveal the truth, there will be moments when it helps you later.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes, you should reveal the truth even for the sake of your future. I dare not know what the truth of that rumor is, but anyway, why don’t you try to clear up the misunderstanding?”

At those words, Liv just blinked quietly, then answered in a small voice.

“I don’t know. I think it’s hard for me to speak honestly.”

Things kept getting tangled when Liv opened her mouth, so at this point, it seemed like there might be a problem with her herself. Maybe the love of the gods was a kind of curse.

However, Emily looked at Liv with a benevolent face and said:

“It’s okay, Miss. In the end, sincerity will prevail.”

“Ah…”

“Really, this isn’t just empty words. As long as the Supreme God oversees this world, all evil things will disappear and only the truth will remain in the end.”

That seemed to be a statement stemming from Emily’s deep faith, but it wasn’t entirely unhelpful to Liv. After all, Liv was the human who believed without a doubt in the existence of gods in this world more than anyone else. As Emily said, maybe the Supreme God really had a purpose for everything, and someday everyone would be able to know Liv’s true heart?

Lost in thought as she left the library, Liv met Hayden leaning against the wall in front of the library.

“Hayden! What are you doing here?”

“…Ah, I was just looking for something, but it’s fine now.”

“What?”

“It seems to have disappeared completely from this castle. Well, never mind that. You don’t look very happy.”

Ah, come to think of it, this was a moment when she needed to talk to someone, so this was good timing. Recalling what Emily had just told her, Liv asked Hayden”

“Hayden, do you think I should do something about receiving the threatening letter?”

“You’ve finally decided to kill that thing? I can help a bit with that.”

Hayden looked ready to grab his gun and run out right away, so Liv hurriedly grabbed him.

“That’s not it. Just… what should I do?”

“Huh? Of course, that’s…”

Hayden stopped walking and stood in place, looking down at Liv.

“Our Miss is innocent and doesn’t know much, but you tend to respond too stupidly to malice.”

“You’re saying I’m stupid?”

Since no one had ever said such a thing to her, Liv asked again.

‘…Is that wrong?’

In fact, Liv still doesn’t know much about the world, so she could be described as stupid… While Liv was struggling with Hayden’s words, Hayden continued:

“Miss, you shouldn’t respond to malice with kindness. You should respond to malice with malice.”

“Hmm…”

“Is there anyone you dislike?”

“No.”

“Then people who dislike you?”

“A whole lot.”

“Argh!”

Hayden grabbed the back of his neck as if frustrated.

“You should dislike those people too! Why are you so simple?”

“Because I like humans.”

When Liv said that with an innocent smile, Hayden let out a deep sigh.

“I guess I’ll have to teach you from the very beginning.”

“Is there something I need to fix?”

“Yes. If someone treats you badly, you should treat them badly too!”

“Hmm… But even so, I can’t let the gods tear that person to pieces and kill them.”

“…That’s true. What I mean is, don’t rely on the gods’ power, just stand up to that person strongly yourself.”

“How?”

“If you’re angry, splash water on them, or throw a punch!”

After saying that, Hayden glanced at Liv’s hand and changed his words.

“Your fist would just get hurt. Anyway, at least pull their hair or something.”

“Hmm… Okay.”

Respond to malice with malice… The gods had somewhat different interpretations of that. For example, the Supreme God said, ‘If someone takes your gold, give them your silver too.’ The god Hisral said, ‘Pluck out the eyes of your parents’ enemy, cut out their tongue, and take their hands.’ The god Echo said, ‘Being stabbed by a sword is not a bad thing. Because you can pull out that sword and stab the other person with it.’ They each had different stances on revenge, so it was unclear which to follow.

But what’s certain is that no matter which one Liv follows, the gods won’t blame her. Even if Liv acts wickedly as Hayden says.

Reciting his words in her mind over and over again, Liv walked to the office to see Emmett.