To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

Liv, holding Hildegard’s hand tightly, entered the banquet hall and looked around. Although there was no need to wait for Emmett, who had said he couldn’t come to the banquet today, looking around to see who had come was a habit for Liv, who liked people. Unlike usual, there was anxiety in Liv’s eyes as she surveyed the banquet hall.

At that moment, a hand was placed on Liv’s shoulder.

“Liv, it’s been a while?”

At the familiar voice, the color drained from Liv’s face. Liv turned her head, hoping it wasn’t who she thought it was, but…

“Kreppelin.”

It was indeed the man Liv knew. The one who had sent her a marriage proposal just a few days ago!

“Take your hand off.”

Hildegard reacted before Liv. She spoke in an unusually stern tone, but Kreppelin didn’t even blink.

“I’m in the middle of talking with the Saintess’s sister.”

Gert Kreppelin. The only son of the Kreppelin Viscount family.

While it had mainly been noble young ladies who had bullied Liv until now, and Liv had only been concerned about them, it wasn’t that Liv had no relationships with noble young men.

Gert Kreppelin had been following Liv around tirelessly since the day she first debuted in society. When Liv was still a Saintess, he maintained a certain level of etiquette, but after Liv was revealed as a fake Saintess, his obsession changed in a chilling way. Kreppelin even seemed to rejoice that Liv had been demoted to the position of a fake Saintess. After Liv distanced herself from Emmett, he spread unfavorable rumors about Liv and kept trying to drag her to secluded places. He was also one of the people who angered the gods the most.

“…Why?”

Liv gritted her teeth and made a sound. The ingrained aversion she felt upon seeing him made it difficult to speak properly. It wasn’t that she was afraid of him. Compared to what truly troubled Liv, he was insignificant. However, when she saw him, she couldn’t help but feel a physiological revulsion, as if looking at something dirty or disgusting.

“You clearly went back to the Kreppelin Viscounty.”

The reason he had been sent back to the viscounty was that Hildegard, unable to bear seeing Gert pestering Liv, had falsely reported to the Hamelsvoort couple that he had been disrespectful to her. The Viscount Kreppelin’s family, ashamed of having offended the Saintess, said they would discipline Gert, so why was he here?

“Ah, my disciplinary period is over.”

Gert showed a snake-like smile.

“Don’t you think I was disciplined for too long for such a minor incident?”

Saying this, Gert grabbed Liv’s hand. Feeling goosebumps all over her body, Liv trembled.

“Don’t do that!”

Liv strongly shook off his hand and slowly backed away. Gert looked at Liv with a ‘see this’ expression.

Both Liv and Hildegard knew why Gert was acting so confidently. Although Count Hamelsvoort had hastily rejected the proposal, Gert had already sent flowers to Liv’s house and deliberately made the process visible to many people. Once rumors spread that Gert had proposed to Liv, people would inevitably talk about Liv and Gert together. Moreover, according to imperial custom, it was also extremely rude to treat someone who had proposed to you harshly.

In other words, Gert knew that Liv couldn’t treat him carelessly due to the eyes of those around her.

“Young Lord Kreppelin.”

Liv calmed herself and opened her mouth in a serious voice.

“I am preparing for my wedding with Duke Lartman. That’s why I rejected your proposal recently. It’s not proper for someone about to be married to be entangled with another man, so it would be best if you kept your distance from me.”

Hildegard looked surprised at Liv’s composed attitude. Previously, Liv had always shown a frightened appearance in front of Gert.

But after experiencing being acknowledged in the Lartman Duchy, Liv had matured more than before. If she goes through many more experiences, Liv would become an even more different person than before.

“Ah, you say you have a wedding planned…”

Gert smirked.

“But couldn’t you reject me more gently?”

Gert raised his voice. It was an attitude meant for those around to hear.

“You’re being too harsh.”

He was making it seem as if Liv had treated him badly. As if waiting for Gert’s words, a group of nobles who usually disliked Liv made faces as if mocking her and started whispering among themselves. The group included both noble young ladies and young men.

“Miss Hamelsvoort is indeed a sensitive person.”

“To be so cold to someone who proposed to her…”

“There’s certainly a reason why she’s not popular with men.”

The more she heard their words, Liv felt her irritation rising. It seemed she should leave this place. If she stayed here any longer…

Child, I will tear that one to pieces and kill him. I will dismember his limbs.

My child, if you just say the word, that one can suffer eternally even after death.

Child, use my power. Punish that one directly.

Hmm, she felt like something might happen.

“What? Are you running away?”

As Liv hurriedly left her seat, Gert’s voice was heard from behind, but fortunately, it seemed Hildegard was blocking him well.

“If you cause any more disturbance here, I’ll ask for help from others.”

If another noble young lady defended Liv, her honor would also be tarnished, but Hildegard was Liv’s younger sister on paper and a Saintess. The act of a kind-hearted, good Saintess helping her selfish and mean older sister made Hildegard look even more virtuous. Although she couldn’t marry because she was a Saintess, there were quite a few noble young men who were interested in Hildegard because of her appearance and character.

If others stepped in to help Hildegard rather than Liv, it would be troublesome for him, so Gert didn’t pursue Liv.

Liv quickly entered the Hamelsvoort family’s carriage. She was about to hurry and start the carriage, but remembering Hildegard, she didn’t. A moment later, when Hildegard arrived, Liv looked at her, catching her breath.

“What about Gert?”

“I shook him off.”

Saying that, Hildegard sighed.

“Why did Gert come back? I thought we had warned him enough back then.”

“I know…”

Liv felt horrified by what Gert was doing, but above all, what troubled her was stopping the angry gods because of Gert. The gods tried to persuade Liv to let them kill Gert, saying they would punish him for daring to trouble their sacred and pure child. She found it difficult to not fall for the gods’ words and keep her mind clear.

‘The reason Gert came back…’

While pondering this, Liv recalled the group of nobles who had been mocking her earlier. It was as if they had planned it beforehand, creating rumors as soon as Gert finished speaking.

They were the group centered around Deborah Zibel. Deborah Zibel currently held the greatest influence in society. In fact, most nobles in society recently treated Liv indifferently. Only Deborah and those around her tormented and mocked her.

‘It seems Deborah had a hand in this.’

It wasn’t a leap, but there was a high probability that it was true. The Kreppelin Viscounty wasn’t a particularly powerful family. Gert had to be disciplined for so long for offending Saintess Hildegard. The fact that Gert had returned to society meant that someone had become his backing. And at this point, the only person who was hostile to Liv and had enough power was Deborah.

Deborah was skilled at spreading rumors, so she might try to spread dirty rumors about Liv and Gert’s relationship. It felt like her head was throbbing…

* * *

“Miss, what kind of jewel would you like set in the necklace? Should we go with all diamonds?”

Listening to Laga chattering to her, Liv had a blank expression.

She was currently at the Lartman mansion to prepare for the wedding. They had decided to hold the wedding in the garden of the Lartman mansion, and they needed to decide how to decorate the garden, choose the dress and accessories to wear that day, decide on the rings, choose the food… There were so many things Liv had to pay attention to.

But everything was progressing smoothly, which amazed Liv. It was as if Emmett had prepared everything from a very long time ago.

“Diamonds, you mean white ones?”

“Yes, the dress is white and the tiara is white too. So don’t you think diamonds would match well? Just like a Saintess… Oh.”

Realizing she had made a slip of the tongue, Laga closed her mouth. Usually, being ‘like a Saintess’ was used as a compliment, but the people at the Lartman mansion didn’t mention ‘Saintess’ in front of Liv. Everyone knew that Liv had suffered as a ‘fake Saintess’. When Liv didn’t particularly react to those words, Laga looked at Liv carefully and spoke.

“Um, Miss, by the way…”

“Yes?”

“Do you have no intention of revealing your power in the capital?”

As Liv just blinked her eyes, Laga added.

“The people of the Lartman Duchy liked you from the beginning, but they followed you even more after rumors spread that you use the power of the gods. But the servants in the capital are too arrogant. Even when people who came up from the Duchy with me tell them about it, they all think it’s a lie.”

“…So that’s why they all don’t like the idea of me marrying Emmett?”

“Ah, that’s not what I meant…”

Laga tried to explain belatedly, but seeing her excessively flustered face, it seemed Liv’s guess was correct. They all follow him out of loyalty to Emmett, but they probably don’t like that Emmett is engaged to Liv.

“Well, I still have no intention of revealing my power in the capital.”

“Why?”

At Laga’s question, Liv couldn’t answer and just swallowed her words.

‘Because I’m afraid of the Emperor.’

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

“Liv, may I come in?”

“Yes.”

The door opened and as he entered the room, Emmett’s steps stopped abruptly as he faced Liv directly. He looked around, seemingly flustered.

“Liv…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just…”

“Does the dress not suit me?”