The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 123

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

Chapter 123
Schools of fish shimmer white beneath the surface, rushing toward the boat just as they had once rushed toward Clover from the sea.
Dozens, hundreds, perhaps thousands of fish were swimming toward the vessel Clover rode in.
[That’s right, I remember now……!]
Lucky spoke from within Clover’s arms, his voice growing thin and faint.
[Our baby is smart. Smarter than me, it seems…….]
The school of fish arrived and collided with the hull.
Crash!
The boat lurched violently again at the impact. The kidnappers who had taken Clover stood bewildered at this sudden turn of events.
The Red-Eyed Woman who had brought Clover aboard sensed that something had shifted, and muttered to herself.
“……The wind has changed direction.”
“What?”
“The wind’s direction…… it’s changed.”
The meaning was unmistakable.
Their location had been discovered by Kalid Claudian.
Crash!
The fish struck the hull again. Simultaneously, thousands of fish surrounding them began to rotate slowly in the water, turning the boat’s course completely around.
“!”
The direction of the Harbor they had fled from earlier.
That was exactly where they were heading.
“Damn it, the Duke knows we’re here!”
“Row! Turn the ship around!”
The man thundered down below deck. The sound of him pressing the rowers drifted up faintly.
As the hull grew noisy with frantic movement below, the woman stepped closer to Clover.
She fixed her gaze on Clover’s eyes. Clover, as if enchanted, stared back into the woman’s eyes.
The woman’s eyes were red as blood.
In the darkness, those pupils gleamed like the eyes of a beast, and Clover flinched, her body trembling.
And in that instant.
‘Listen to me.’
‘Hear my voice.’
‘Come to me.’
A voice flowed into Clover’s mind. It trickled in slowly, like a gentle spring.
But just as thin rivulets gather to form a river, that voice swelled within Clover’s mind. Clover’s face went pale as she realized what was happening.
‘Control!’
She was trying to control her.
It was a mercy that Lucky’s power still remained; Clover had not yet succumbed to the brainwashing. She gripped the railing tightly, squeezed her eyes shut, and shook her head.
‘Don’t look!’
Until now, the woman’s voice had not reached her, but the moment she met those eyes, the voice began to pour in.
This meant she was wielding her Authority through her eyes. The moment Clover realized this and shut her eyes tight——
“Look at me.”
“……Ugh.”
“Girl, look at me.”
The woman growled and seized Clover’s cheek. The child’s eyes snapped open and she thrashed in panic.
And in that very moment.
“……Let her go!”
Pluto’s voice rang out.
Shaken awake by the impact that rocked the hull, Pluto struggled to his feet, barely conscious, and saw what was happening.
“Get back!”
But the brainwashing had not fully worn off yet; he could not control his body properly. Unable to steady himself, Pluto tumbled with the tilting ship and crashed down.
“Pluto!”
“Tch…….”
The woman squeezed her eyes shut.
Clover Claudian’s brainwashing mattered little to her. Clover’s Authority was trivial and worthless; there was nothing the girl could accomplish by struggling.
But Pluto was a different matter.
Blood of the Rosipheron Imperial Family, an accursed prince whose Death Authority had manifested.
If ‘that’ Pluto were to command his Authority and rampage, the situation would become far harder to contain.
Moreover, if Denorraon learned that she had kidnapped another child besides Clover, the cruelest and most severe punishment in Trinaism would fall upon her.
‘This won’t do. I need to restrain this brat first.’
She pivoted toward Pluto, keeping Clover gripped in one hand.
And in that moment.
Something dark hurtled through the air and landed on the deck with a thunderous crash.
Rumble, bang! Crack-boom!
At the same moment, lightning flashed sharp and vicious across the sky, illuminating the silhouette of the beast that now stood upon the deck.
A massive form occupying more than half the ship’s deck, with a full mane rippling in the wind.
Kalid’s Summoned Creature—the Lion of the North Wind—gleamed with demonic eyes through the dark clouds and gloom, fixed upon the woman. A deep, bestial growl rumbled from within its body like boiling water. Fury crashed through its gaze in waves.
“Father!”
“…How are you already—blast it!”
Joy and despair crossed paths in an instant. Clover, recognizing her father’s Summoned Creature, broke into a smile despite her grimy face, as if everything had suddenly shifted.
***
“That’s right. It’s me, little one.”
Kalid Claudian stood towering on the coastline where the ship had been moored moments before.
His right eye glowed blue as he muttered to himself. The eye of an Authority Bearer sharing sight with his Summoned Creature—it flashed with a keenness like a blade and an icy coldness through the darkness.
“Come to me, Clover.”
His voice was calm and measured.
His face showed no change of expression whatsoever.
Outwardly, he appeared perfectly composed. But Teniron, the adjutant who served him, knew that Kalid was not merely “calm”—he was holding down his rage with superhuman force.
If he gave in to that fury and unleashed his Authority recklessly here, his beloved daughter and Pluto inside the ship would be caught in its surge and hurt.
So he held himself in check.
Without blinking once, Kalid kept his eyes fixed on the ship glimmering faintly in the distance, then flicked his hand.
In an instant, the air around him rushed together like a violent gust. A sea wind strong enough to send several massive vessels wherever he willed bore down upon them, driving the ship carrying the children toward Kalid.
***
There was nowhere to run.
She pulled Clover close and held her firmly. If there was nowhere to run, then she would use this child as a hostage to buy time.
Spiriting Clover away was, at this point, practically impossible.
Then she had to preserve her own life, even if it meant abandoning the other disciples.
She retreated step by hesitant step from beside the Lion of the North Wind, keeping Clover in her grip.
Woman and child now stood precariously at the edge of the deck. One stronger gust of wind and they would both plummet together into the cold sea below.
“Don’t come any closer! The moment you move, this child dies! Kalid Claudian, are you listening?”
She fixed her gaze on the lion’s eyes.
“Take one step and I’ll throw her into the sea.”
At the woman’s words, Clover’s eyes widened as she glanced down at the water.
Into the sea?
In the sea were the fish friends Clover had called here to come.
But.
‘I don’t really want to fall in…’
The day was cold, and the sea was pitch-black. Besides, Clover couldn’t swim. It was just as the child paused, tasting uncertainty, that it happened.
<Clover.>
The Lion of the North Wind called to her in a warm voice. The child lifted her head instinctively, looking toward the beast.
<Don’t be afraid, little one. Your father is watching over you.>
Nod, nod.
Clover nodded and thought to herself.
‘Clover’s not scared.’
Or was she?
‘Well… maybe just a little.’
Clover, dangling helplessly in the kidnapper’s grip, reached her arms toward the lion.
The Lion of the North Wind spoke again.
<Your friend is coming too.>
Friend?
Clover’s eyes rolled, confused, when—
The woman spun sharply on the deck and bent her legs to leap from the ship.
“Huh?”
Clover’s body swung helplessly along with her.
And in that instant.
Something burst up from the water and struck the woman’s body with its tail. Her body flew upward and crashed into the corner of the deck. At the same moment, the Lion of the North Wind bounded forward and caught Clover’s airborne form.
The Lion of the North Wind carried Clover to where Pluto was waiting.
It all happened in an instant.
Clover had no idea what had just unfolded.
Soaked to the skin by whatever had erupted from the water, the child shivered as she stared back at the deck where she had been dangling moments before.
There, in place of the kidnapper, stood Nainia’s Summoned Creature.
As the second Summoned Creature—the Sea Lion—gave a long, piercing roar, everyone on the deck lost all will to fight.
Through it all, only Clover watched the entire scene with bright, sparkling eyes.
“Nainia!”
Upon spotting the sea lion, Clover’s eyes gleamed. The creature wheeled around with a swift motion and descended toward her, peering down as it spoke.

The sea lion spoke in a soft, gentle voice.