To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

9. The Last Royal

The narrow staircase leading underground exuded an ominous and dark aura as if hell itself lay beyond. There were even eerie red marks on the floor, but Louisa paid no attention to them.

“This is it.”

After even lying to her father about finding traces of ancient magic, Louisa secretly slipped out of the imperial palace and rode here on horseback. It was her first time riding a horse for such a long period, but her body was so tense with nervousness that she didn’t notice how uncomfortable and tiring it was.

There was only one soldier guarding Abgrund. Even he wasn’t guarding right in front of the door leading to Abgrund, but was just dozing off at a guard post a bit away. Although the door was firmly closed to prevent anyone inside from escaping on their own, and the area around Abgrund was a vast plain so anyone approaching could be spotted immediately… even considering that, it still felt unsettling.

The soldier said he had been guarding this place for nearly twenty years. He was the only soldier who knew the secret that someone was imprisoned in Abgrund. He seemed surprised by Louisa’s sudden appearance, but seemed to recognize her identity when he saw the imperial emblem she brought.

“Open the door to Abgrund.”

“…His Majesty ordered not to let anyone in.”

He was a well-trained soldier in that he didn’t blindly trust someone just because they were royalty.

“Is that so?”

At the soldier’s answer, Louisa smirked, then gave a nod to the knight she had brought. The knight then drew his sword and pointed it at the guard’s neck.

“What are you doing, not following Her Highness the Princess’s orders?”

“Y-Your Highness…”

Though the Emperor boasts strong power, not everyone in the imperial palace follows him. There were quite a few who followed Louisa. Louisa’s forces were soon to be the Emperor’s forces, but they weren’t exactly the same. In the end, people who believed in Louisa’s potential to take over the imperial palace in the future subtly attached themselves to her. Starting from the servants who followed Louisa.

In a life-or-death situation, the guard had no choice but to lead the way down to Abgrund. He unlocked several locks and chains wrapped around the door, and even lit a fire to melt wax. When the door finally opened after such a complicated process…

What entered Louisa’s eyes was an empty prison.

Even looking around the prison with a light, there wasn’t even a mouse inside. In fact, the answer was already clear since it was such a small prison that there wasn’t much to see in detail, but the soldier still couldn’t believe his eyes and even fumbled around every corner.

‘To think Father threw a newborn baby in a place like this.’

There was not a single trace of someone having lived in the prison. If someone had died here, there should have been at least bones left, but it seemed that nothing existed here.

“H-How is this…”

While the guard stammered in confusion, various thoughts flashed through Louisa’s mind. Should she report this to the Emperor? Of course, that would be fine, but… there’s a high chance it would just anger him. Rather than that…

‘I’m going to become Emperor.’

That thought alone dominated Louisa’s mind right now.

Despite being the only princess, she didn’t know if she could become Emperor. Her mother, the Empress, had an affair with a guard knight and gave birth to a child. Although Louisa’s hair and eye color were the same as the Emperor’s, her features were completely identical to the guard knight’s, and as Louisa grew up, it gradually became more noticeable.

The moment the Emperor realized this fact, her mother had no choice but to confess everything to her father. The enraged Emperor killed his wife.

Louisa watched that scene. How her father’s gaze towards her changed, and how her mother, who had cherished her, died.

She shouldn’t trust her position as a princess. She too might end up in the same situation as her mother someday.

So to escape from her father’s hands and ascend to the throne…

“Aha.”

Louisa smiled as she realized the answer. Then she snatched the sword from the guard knight and…

Stab.

The guard’s neck was pierced by the sword. He looked at Louisa with bulging eyes without making any sound of pain, but his body soon collapsed to the floor.

Because Louisa’s strength was still weak, it wasn’t easy to kill him instantly, but thanks to aiming for a vital point, he soon lost his life. The fallen guard was looking at Louisa with resentful eyes.

“Hmm hmm…”

Louisa hummed a tune with an unconcerned face. Since no one comes to Abgrund anyway, it will take a long time before this guard’s death is discovered.

People tended to think Louisa was frail just by looking at her appearance. It was true that Louisa was physically weak, but…

The most important fact people overlooked was that she had grown up watching August. August was an absolute existence in Louisa’s life, and she emulated the way August acted.

Louisa came to pursue absolute authority, just as her father had done.

At the same time, she knew well how fleeting family could be.

“Ah, this is really a good opportunity…”

Louisa intended to use Liv Lartman. She could help Louisa ascend to the throne.

* * *

“…Ah!”

At the tingling sensation, Liv unconsciously scratched Emmett’s back, then feeling the strength in her fingertips, asked in embarrassment:

“A-Are you alright…?”

“I’m fine. More importantly.”

Emmett’s eyes languidly scanned Liv’s face.

“You should focus.”

“Ah, no!”

Tears reflexively flowed down her cheeks. Shedding tears while looking up at Emmett with uncontrollable sensations, Liv was confused seeing his face. Looking like this, Emmett seemed like someone who loved her… Human emotions were really complicated after all.

A moment later, Emmett kissed Liv’s cheek and lay down beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist. Liv’s body was naturally drawn closer to Emmett.

“Why don’t you look at me?”

“…Should I?”

“I’d like you to.”

“I was just embarrassed…”

As Liv mumbled and unconsciously buried her face in Emmett’s chest, the sound of someone knocking on the door was heard.

“Duke, Madam. I apologize for the late hour. A letter has arrived for Madam.”

“…Is it important?”

When Emmett asked in a rare irritated voice, the servant’s flustered voice was heard from outside the door.

“It’s an urgent letter sent by Her Highness the Princess…”

“…What?”

It was Liv who was more surprised and got up from her seat at those words. When it came to the Princess, she only had memories of being threatened, so it didn’t seem like she would have written for a good reason. She knew how cunning the Princess was, unlike her appearance.

A moment later, Liv was reading Louisa’s letter with a serious face.

[To the Duchess Lartman,

Hello, Duchess. This is Louisa Steinberg. Well, we can skip the greetings between us, can’t we?

To get to the point, I know your real surname. The surname that would have naturally followed your name the moment you were born.

However, I don’t intend to reveal the truth yet. I could even help hide your existence.

Of course, there’s something I want in return. I want to reach the highest position. And I’d like you to help me in that process. Of course, it would be troublesome if you wanted that position too, but judging from your actions so far, I don’t think that will be the case.

Unfortunately, my previous request for cooperation failed due to various circumstances. I believe we can be good helpers to each other.

I’ll be waiting for your reply.]

Liv’s face hardened after reading the letter. Emmett, who had stuck close to Liv to check the contents of the letter, also turned to look at Liv with a surprised face.

“Liv, this is…”

“E-Emmett. Her Highness the Princess has noticed my existence…”

As she voiced that fact, the fear she had been suppressing came flooding in like a dam breaking. At the thought that she might be imprisoned in Abgrund at any time, Liv’s body started trembling reflexively. Noticing this, Emmett gently embraced Liv. In a situation where her head was throbbing as if something was running around inside, Liv clung to his arms and tried to maintain a minimum of rationality.

No, there must be a way. Even the Princess didn’t immediately tell the Emperor and wrote to me first…

“Liv, it will be alright. It seems Her Highness the Princess doesn’t intend to reveal your existence to the world right away. If she did, the issue of succession to the throne would become complicated.”

“Yes, for now… That’s right.”

“But it doesn’t seem good to agree to this either. If the Princess succeeds in her rebellion, she’ll try to kill or imprison you afterwards.”

“That’s true too… I would just be used.”

There was no way Louisa would leave Liv alone. Would she be crazy enough to do that when there’s a risk of losing the throne at any time? Louisa’s ascension might not mean ‘the end of the tyrant August era,’ but ‘the beginning of a new tyrant era.’ Louisa might even completely bring down the Lartman Duchy by tying up Emmett together after becoming Emperor.

“Let’s think about it a bit more for now. The Princess probably won’t demand an immediate reply either.”

“Yes, but…”

Emmett seemed to hope that Liv wouldn’t respond to Louisa’s letter.

“Liv, don’t worry. If necessary, I’ll immediately summon the soldiers. Currently, Hayden is also trying to secure cooperation in the Kingdom of Reboer. I too… will try to request cooperation from other noble families.”

“Yes…”

However, Liv’s body was still trembling. She simply couldn’t escape from that fear that rose in her heart just thinking about the Emperor. It felt like darkness was imprisoning Liv in an endless hell. Liv was a person who knew better than anyone the feeling of being trapped in a room without doors.

In the end, the next day, after returning to her room, Liv wrote a reply.

[To Her Highness the Princess,

What do you want?

We should meet soon.]