The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 122

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 122
“Huh?”
Where was she?
Clover stirred groggily, taking in her surroundings.
No carriage, no cushions, no wool blanket that her father had tucked around her.
Clover found herself on a hard, cold deck.
Instead of the soft wool blanket, a thick, foul-smelling canvas tarp lay draped haphazardly across the children.
[Clover, wake up and listen to me.]
Lucky shimmered before her eyes, his light dancing as he spoke. But the glow was dimmer than before, flickering like a candle about to go out.
[Sometime while you were asleep, some kind of charlatan Divine Follower snatched you. He’s put you on a boat and is trying to move you somewhere else.]
……Kidnapping!?
Clover understood what kidnapping meant.
A cruel, merciless act—to forcibly take children away and tear them from their parents!
And this had happened to her?
“But Clover didn’t know……?”
So she had simply slept soundly while she was being carried away?
Frightened, Clover’s large eyes grew wet as she looked toward Lucky.
Lucky answered her.
[It’s not your fault. She cast brainwashing upon you—that Curly-Haired Maid we saw before was a Brainwashing Authority Bearer. She was hiding her power, so we didn’t know.]
At that moment, the ship lurched. Clover’s body tilted with it.
“Ugh, it’s swaying.”
[Whether it’s because of the brainwashing or because they thought you couldn’t escape anyway, at least they didn’t tie you up. From now on, be careful not to be noticed, and listen—I’ve broken your brainwashing.]
Lucky’s light dimmed further.
[And I left a trail on the way here, so your father will find you soon.]
Father.
At the word “father,” Clover’s head lifted slightly as she asked.
“Father’s coming?”
[Yes.]
Lucky said.
[So Clover, don’t cry. Just wait. I wish I could wake Pluto, but…….]
Lucky glanced toward Pluto.
Pluto had not yet awakened from the brainwashing. There was nothing more Lucky could do here.
He had already exhausted much of his strength just waking Clover.
[If you understand, nod for me.]
Nod.
As Clover nodded, Lucky fluttered down and collapsed into the shelter of her palm.
[Your father has to arrive before the ship sets sail…….]
Once the ship left the harbor, the situation would become far more complicated. Even Clover grasped that much.
After a moment’s thought, Clover swiveled her head, scanning the area around her.
Fortunately, the kidnapper was too preoccupied with getting the boat underway to pay any attention to the already “brainwashed” children.
Clover gently shook Pluto.
Pluto, wake up. Pluto.
But Pluto did not wake. His eyes remained fixed and vacant, staring into some distant void.
What should she do?
‘What should I do?’
Just then, the ship began to move slowly.
The small vessel pulled away from land and headed toward the sea. Clover dashed to the railing and peered out into the darkness beyond.
[The railing’s dangerous…….]
Lucky squeeezed out the last of his strength to speak. Clover quickly stepped back from the railing.
‘What do I do?’
But her worry remained unchanged.
And she couldn’t think of any clear way to escape this situation.
When she had been with Nia and Jiteia, the sea had seemed beautiful and grand. Now it looked nothing like that—it looked like a monster.
At the sight of the dark, churning waves, fear seized Clover’s heart, and she glanced toward Pluto.
‘This can’t go on.’
Clover had to protect Pluto!
She had to keep her wits about her until her father arrived.
‘But how?’
As Clover gripped the railing and wrestled with the question, the ship steadily drew farther from land. The anxious child’s feet pattered restlessly against the deck.
Then she heard a voice.
“I need to see the Divine Tree, even if just for a moment. I’d like to speak with him.”
It was a voice Clover had never heard before. Gripping the railing, she turned around with an anxious expression.
“Since she’s already brainwashed, conversation won’t be possible anyway. And Denorraon instructed us not to have any conversation with her before bringing her to the Temple…….”
Behind that, the Curly-Haired Maid whom Clover had seen at the Aib Mansion followed along, chattering nervously.
“……?”
In that instant, Clover’s eyes met those of the two Divine Followers.
“Hmm?”
The man spoke.
“She seems to be awake. What’s happened?”
The man turned to look at the Curly-Haired Woman. She approached Clover with a startled expression on her face.
“That can’t be right…….”
The woman, thinking that if the child had broken free from the Brainwashing Ability, she—as the Authority Bearer who wielded it—would surely have noticed, clenched and unclenched her fist as though checking her power.
It’s coming!
Shudder! Clover trembled and seized the railing tightly. But there was nowhere to run.
They were on a ship, and the black water below swelled as if ready to swallow Clover whole at any moment.
‘Clover, you can’t escape.’
So what should I do?
Dad, when are you coming?
The woman, seeing the frightened Clover, muttered in exasperation.
“The brainwashing really did wear off, didn’t it? Goodness…… even if she’s young, is this because she’s a seed of the Divine Tree?”
What on earth was the Divine Tree that they kept talking about?
Clover had no idea what the Divine Tree was. She was simply a young child who had woken up on a ship. The terror of the situation was beginning to grip her in earnest.
Lucky had exhausted all his strength, and Pluto wouldn’t wake up. Now Clover was truly alone.
Just as the woman reached out to place Clover under brainwashing once more, Clover squeezed her eyes shut.
If Nia had been here, she could have escaped. Or if the Whale Man had been with her!
The people who would have helped her had they been nearby bloomed in her mind like clouds, then faded into a wisp of smoke.
But in that moment.
Flash!
The Whale Man Neptunus’s words struck through Clover’s mind like lightning.
<What you hold is the Royal Mark that fish possessed. So whenever the day comes that you need the Sea’s help, send that Scale back to the Sea, and the fish that swarmed to you before will come to repay their debt to you.>
That’s right—the Scale!
‘The fish scale!’
Fortunately, the dress Clover wore had pockets. Clover frantically rummaged through the pocket.
Shimmer.
In the darkness, a large Scale gleamed faintly with rainbow colors in Clover’s hand. The child looked at her captors with a frightened face and spoke.
“Don’t come near me! If you come close, C-Clover will scold you!”
But the captors paid no heed to her words. Of course they didn’t. Who would be afraid of threats from a four-year-old child?
They hadn’t bound Clover precisely because she was such a young child, and even if her brainwashing wore off, she posed no threat whatsoever.
Sprout Authority.
It was no threat now, in this moment, and offered her no help at all.
Then.
Splash!
A wave struck at just the right moment, and the hull tilted. Clover, gripping the railing, didn’t fall, but those approaching her suddenly lost their balance and staggered.
Clover didn’t miss that instant and dropped the Scale into the sea with a splash.
Then she looked out at the black sea and swallowed hard.
Yes, she was still terrified.
But there were things she had to say.
“Sea, little fishies, help me.”
The black waves lapped at her feet.
“Take me home, please, to my dad!”
As the child cried out loudly, something gleamed brightly on the horizon for a moment.
“……What is that?”
Those who had fallen because of the wave looked toward the horizon.
Something was rushing toward them from the direction of the horizon, glowing with a bright light.
It looked like the shadow of a rising sun, or perhaps like some sort of monster rising up from the depths of the sea.
But one thing was certain: ‘it’ was heading toward them.
“What is that? What is it, sir? Do you know what that is?”
“A pursuit vessel?”
“A pursuit vessel wouldn’t be coming from underneath the water, and from the opposite direction too!”
The three Divine Followers on the ship, including the woman, murmured in confusion.
And then.
Only when Clover spotted the light did a faint smile finally bloom across her grimy face.
That moment.
A gentle breeze.
At last, a single gust of wind brushed across Clover’s cheek, soft as a caress.
It was as warm as Kalid’s touch.
***
“Found them.”
Kalid’s eyes opened as he murmured the words, having torn through the surrounding area like a man possessed, searching desperately for any trace of Clover and Pluto.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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