To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

At Zaks’s words, Liv’s face became flustered. Illegitimate child? What is he talking about? However, Zaks and the other vassals seemed equally confused.

In the Holy Hilysid Empire, illegitimate children were strictly forbidden. It wasn’t just a custom of looking down on illegitimate children, but it was established as a law.

Those who have or cause to have a child with someone other than their spouse shall be severely punished.

There were several things forbidden in this country according to the laws of the Holy Church. Things like divorce, disowning children, polygamy… And having illegitimate children was one of them. If Liv had really been an illegitimate child, it would have been a much bigger problem than being a fake Saintess.

“We are aware of the rumors about the ‘fake Saintess’. But what’s this about an illegitimate child?”

“Illegitimate child? What do you mean…”

“Lord Zaks, this is the first time I’m hearing about this too. Could you explain what rumor you’re referring to?”

As Emmett interjected, Zaks began explaining in a slow voice.

“Well… some of us recently received anonymous letters. The content was…”

[I have information to report about Liv Hamelsvoort, who is to marry Duke Lartman.

Liv Hamelsvoort pretended to be a Saintess but was eventually revealed as a ‘fake Saintess’. The Hamelsvoort family couldn’t disown the child, so they had to take her in. You probably know this much. But…

Have you never doubted? Although they couldn’t disown her, they could have thrown Liv Hamelsvoort out to a commoner village and cut off all support. But why didn’t they do that?

That’s because Liv Hamelsvoort is actually Count Hamelsvoort’s illegitimate child. After discussing with his wife, he decided to register the illegitimate child into their family, and for that, they chose the method of pretending Liv Hamelsvoort was a Saintess. Others think they were forced to take her in because they couldn’t disown her, but in reality, they’re using the law to raise an illegitimate child as if she were their own.

Of course, you might not believe my words. So I attach the following evidence.

And as evidence, there was attached the testimony of a prostitute claiming to be Liv Hamelsvoort’s birth mother. She testified that the Hamelsvoort family had taken Liv away to sell her off in marriage because of her beautiful appearance.]

After hearing that story, Emmett and Liv’s faces became blank.

“That’s really… an absurd story.”

“Your Grace, then does that mean it wasn’t true? But if so, why…”

At that moment, Liv, who seemed to have realized something, muttered.

“Malea.”

“Pardon? Surely not…”

“For now, I can’t think of anyone else but Malea Tschermak. I didn’t think she would go this far…”

“If it’s the young lady of Marquis Tschermak, she is indeed a woman with strong ambition for power.”

Seeing Emmett and Liv talking with an attitude that suggested they were even more surprised, the vassals seemed a bit relieved.

“I thought it was strange because I had never heard such rumors in the capital. The testimony could also be fabricated easily.”

“Yet you trusted this?”

“We just thought we needed to confirm in advance for everyone’s honor. If this is really just a baseless rumor, there’s no problem.”

Zaks, saying this, seemed a little embarrassed that it had turned out to be completely false.

“Um, and above all…”

Liv, who had been listening to Emmett and Zaks’s conversation, interjected.

“As you know, Count Hamelsvoort only has brother Walter as his own child, and he hasn’t had any children since then.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“The reason is… because of Count Hamelsvoort’s health issues…”

At those words, everyone’s eyes in the room wavered. Even Liv, who brought it up, looked uncomfortable. She didn’t want to reveal Count Hamelsvoort’s private matters like this, but…

However, previously, Liv had once come out into the corridor when she couldn’t sleep and heard Count Hamelsvoort and his wife arguing.

-Admit it, your sexual function has become impaired!

-N-no! That can’t be!

-It took years just to have Walter…! And the situation is getting worse day by day!

It was unlikely that Count Hamelsvoort, who was also a devout believer, would have slept with someone else, let alone a woman of the streets, and it made even less sense that Liv would be the child from such a union…

A silence fell over the room for a moment at Liv’s shocking words. The vassals, who unintentionally learned about Count Hamelsvoort’s situation, deliberately avoided eye contact.

“…I will investigate and punish the person who wrote that letter. It would be best not to mention that false rumor anymore.”

“Y-yes, we will do so, Your Grace.”

“Ah, and I have something to say about the fact of being a fake Saintess.”

Soon, Emmett continued with the words he had prepared in advance. It was about how Liv could handle the power of gods and do things others couldn’t, like finding relics. She had actually proven that power in front of noble young ladies recently, and that was the reason the Hamelsvoort family had adopted her.

However, looking at the vassals’ expressions, they already seemed to no longer care whether Liv was a fake Saintess or not. They didn’t even demand that Liv prove her power.

‘Should I thank Malea for this…’

Because Malea had tried to create discord with lies, even being a fake Saintess seemed like a minor issue. Liv was able to gain recognition from the vassals more safely than she had initially prepared for.

Of course, it didn’t stop there, as Malea came to find her the next day.

* * *

“You’re from the slums, aren’t you? Aren’t you ashamed to order around your subordinates?”

“Hmm.”

Liv was quietly listening to Malea’s words. Her posture, comfortably leaning back in the chair, might have seemed rude to the person sitting across from her, but Malea seemed blind with anger and unable to see anything. Somehow knowing that Liv had gained recognition from the vassals, Malea had come straight to her the next day and was openly confronting Liv. She had completely forgotten all noble etiquette.

When she heard that Malea had come to the Duke’s mansion, Liv wondered if she really needed to meet her. After all, there was no need to respond to malice with kindness. 

But Liv still wanted to meet Malea. The feeling of telling people the truth and having them believe it wasn’t bad at all. It was also nice that other noble young ladies realized Liv was loved by the gods and showed her sincere goodwill.

So Liv wanted to prove it to Malea too. She wanted to show her that regardless of Liv’s background, she could do anything. Then she felt she could become a more confident person to herself and to Emmett.

However, Malea didn’t seem to have any intention of listening to Liv… As Liv looked blankly into space with an indifferent face, Malea seemed to become even more angry.

“Are you daring to not listen to my words properly right now?”

Well, Liv didn’t have the mental capacity to properly listen to Malea’s words.

Child, show my power to that one. The true power.

How about coming to my sacred grounds and gaining my power too?

If you wish, I will trap that one in eternal time.

Even at this moment, the gods were confusing Liv’s mind. Malea should have been grateful that Liv was trying to calm them down.

“What should I do?”

Finally, Liv continued in a monotone voice.

“Should I show you once again what kind of power I possess?”

“No, that doesn’t work on me! No matter what, your bloodline doesn’t change!”

“Still, think about it once more.”

Liv spoke slowly. The gods’ words were usually not helpful, but this time there was a part that inspired Liv.

‘True power.’

The god Lufasha told Liv to show the true power. What Liv had shown to the noble young ladies in the land of goats before wasn’t true power. If she were to show humans the ‘real power’ of a god, that human would…

“What are you thinking about right now?”

At that moment, Malea spoke in a sharp voice, so Liv turned her gaze back to her.

‘Sometimes you need to respond to malice with malice, they said.’

She could continue to ignore Malea, but if left alone, she would not only trouble those around Liv but also continue to look down on those of lower birth in the future. Recalling Hayden’s words once again, Liv finally made up her mind and slowly stood up.

“Miss Tschermak, I have something to show you…”

“What…!”

“What I showed before wasn’t real power. I thought about it a lot, but after seeing this, even you will think differently, Miss Tschermak.”

Liv slowly looked around the room.

There were frames with masterpieces in the room, and flowers were planted in pretty pots. Sculptures with elegant curves were placed here and there. The magnificent chandelier hanging from the ceiling also caught the eye. As the reception room could be considered the most important place in the castle, the Lartman Duchy’s reception room was also lavishly decorated.

“I told you I’m not interested in your power!”

Ignoring Malea’s words, Liv smiled faintly.

“Now, watch.”

If a human sees the ‘real power of a god’, they will go mad. Because gods are beings in a realm that humans dare not handle.

The moment Liv used her power, things that shouldn’t happen started to occur.

The humans in the beautiful paintings stretched their necks long and poked their faces out of the frames. They grinned in grotesque shapes. The beautifully blooming flowers suddenly grew multiple eyeballs and stared at Malea with piercing gazes. The elegant sculptures were covered with red sprouts, becoming disgusting in appearance. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling started spinning. Through the rapidly spinning chandelier, glimpses of another world could be seen.

“Kyaaaah!”

Malea screamed with a pale face and immediately ran out of the room.

In the room with the bizarre scenery, Liv just blinked quietly. She can never handle the true power of the gods.

* * *

“Ugh, urgh!”

“Young lady, young lady! Are you alright?”

“What’s happened to my daughter?”

“Get out! Everyone get out!”

Malea screamed, throwing everything she could get her hands on. She couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear anything. Only the terrible forms she had seen in the reception room that day filled Malea’s mind. She couldn’t dare to hold anything else in her mind besides that, and it wasn’t easy to express what she had seen out loud.

“Sob, hic.”

Then suddenly, as if something flashed in her mind, Malea made a strange sound and grinned. Even though everyone was worried and surrounding Malea, she didn’t look at anything, just smiling with a strange face and uttering only one phrase.

“God loves that child.”