The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 128
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 128
“Let’s talk about that later.”
Kalid set the children down and turned to look at Clover, setting aside Ziteia’s question.
“Clover.”
“Mm?”
“Hold out your hand.”
“Your hand.”
With a soft pat, the child placed both her hands in Kalid’s palm—his hand was so vast that both of hers fit comfortably within it with room to spare.
Dad’s hands are really big.
As Clover wriggled her fingers, Kalid placed the World Tree Branch he’d retrieved from the temple just moments before into her open hands.
“Huh?”
A twig?
Clover tilted her head at the sight of the golden-gleaming branch.
But then—
‘This!’
The moment she felt the power flowing from the World Tree Branch, Clover’s eyes snapped wide open.
The power the fish in the sea had gathered for her, one by one. But this—this was something far greater, flowing slowly into her body.
[The World Tree Branch….]
She didn’t need Lucky’s murmur to understand. There was no doubt—it was the World Tree Branch. Her Authority resonated with its power.
The two forces intermingled and resonated, and a gentle breeze stirred. Clover’s short bangs lifted in the wind, then settled again.
And in that moment—
A song whispered softly at Clover’s ear. Before the child’s eyes, brilliant five-colored light burst like fireworks, pop-pop-popping with radiance. As she stood breathless in that rapturous sensation, her mouth falling open slightly—
Gurgle.
‘Soft and squishy!’
The World Tree Branch melted like liquid, growing soft and squishy, and then vanished from Clover’s grasp entirely.
Everyone who witnessed the spectacle stared at Clover with stunned faces. Only Kalid, who had brought the World Tree Branch, gazed at his daughter with a satisfied expression.
In that moment, every Authority Bearer present felt Clover’s power surge to a new level. They couldn’t help but feel it—the potent Authority washed directly against their skin.
Of course, it was still weaker than Claudian’s or Abe’s, but by the sheer presence of power radiating from her, she now matched many Authority Bearers of considerable standing.
And Clover felt it just as keenly.
‘Clover got stronger!?’
Now she could summon Spirits and Seeds as freely as she wished. It seemed that if she set her mind to it, she could restore the Garden that Pluto had destroyed, without even a nosebleed.
This sensation was only the second time Clover had experienced it in her life. The child flexed her hands open and closed.
She could feel something filling up inside her.
Until now, Clover had always thought of her Authority like water pooling at the very bottom of a leaky bucket.
Water that would spill and vanish in an instant if someone tipped it.
Lucky had told her that her Authority was remarkable, but the Authority that Clover occasionally sensed within herself was precisely that—and nothing more.
But now—
“The bucket, it’s full—”
Not anymore. This was different from before.
In the child’s heart, hope began to sprout and grow—the hope that one day she might fill that once-distant bucket completely.
Clover hugged Kalid’s hand tightly.
“Dad, thank you. Can you give me more of this?”
“Well, Dad will do his best.”
“Really? For real?”
“Yes, really.”
Kalid stroked Clover’s cheek. Then, as if the growth of the child’s Authority still didn’t feel real to him, he lifted her up and set her down several times.
“We found it at the Trina Religion Temple, stored carefully in the basement.”
“There was a World Tree Branch. I’d been wondering how a newfangled charlatan sect managed to gather so many followers.”
Ziteia raised an eyebrow.
“Did you wipe them all out?”
“Some escaped. I left a few alive to investigate them.”
That meant the rest were dead.
“Did you find out why they targeted Clover?”
“Obvious enough—they worship the World Tree as their god. They saw Clover’s Authority and got greedy. When they saw her bloom the Ancient Flower, they thought they could implant the World Tree in the child’s body once more.”
Kalid spoke matter-of-factly, but it was a terrifying thing to say. Fortunately, the children didn’t fully understand what he meant.
“So the stronger Clover’s power becomes, the more danger she’ll naturally face.”
Ziteia exhaled heavily.
“You see that wolf?”
“This is….”
“A Fullmoon Wolf cub. It was originally a Demonic Beast, but your daughter restored it to its Original Form.”
Kalid watched the wolf cub licking Clover’s hand eagerly.
“Hmm…….”
“……Wairon would be delighted if he knew.”
“Mind your tongue, Ziteia.”
Kalid’s displeasure showed plainly across his face.
Just then, cradled in Kalid’s arms, Clover stirred as she half-grasped the exchange between Kalid and Ziteia.
‘Bad people come after me because of the flowers I make?’
That was the extent of what Clover understood.
“Papa.”
“Yes, Clover?”
“Is it ’cause Clover can make flowers that bad peoples want them?”
When Clover made flowers, people always delighted in them.
They said only the young lady could do such a thing.
Lucky was the same. He said it was something only Clover could do.
Then.
“Only Clover can do it?”
As the child tilted her head in confusion, Ziteia and Kalid fell silent, simply watching her.
While Kalid and Ziteia struggled to find words for Clover, the child spoke with wide, round eyes.
“Then those peoples are really silly.”
When the child spread both hands, seeds piled up into a mountain in an instant.
“They should just ask Clover for one instead.”
Then Clover would give them one.
Because Clover’s mission was to make lots and lots of beautiful sprouts bloom.
That’s why she shows beautiful flowers everywhere.
After a moment of silence, Kalid gently stroked Clover’s soft cheek.
“You’re right, Clover.”
And he pressed a kiss to the child’s round forehead.
“People really are quite silly.”
***
Ziteia and Kalid parted ways at the Inn. Ziteia, who had come hastily to look after the children for a time, had to return to the Duke’s Residence.
Neiniu promised to search for the remaining World Tree Branches while Clover was away, then disappeared following Ziteia.
And Kalid promptly settled accounts at the Inn, procured a transport carriage to haul the Trina Religion faithful, and returned to Claudian.
Of course, the young demonic beast that Clover had transformed back to its original form came with them. The beast slept soundly in Clover’s arms.
And the moment they finally arrived in Claudian.
Between the servants lined up to welcome Kalid, Pluto, and Clover home, Jena and Harriet appeared with faces flushed with excitement.
Kalid descended from the carriage holding the sleeping Clover and taking Pluto’s hand, when he spotted Jena and Harriet bouncing with barely contained excitement.
So excited were they that Jena’s Summoned Creature spun ceaselessly beside her.
Finding this curious, Kalid parted the crowd of servants and stepped before the two of them.
“Something seems to be the matter.”
Kalid looked between them both.
“Or perhaps you have something you wish to tell me.”
As Kalid finished speaking, Jena opened her mouth with a flushed face.
“Well, yes. I wanted so much to show you something when you returned. But…… it’s not for you, sir—it’s for Miss Clover.”
At the young girl’s clear voice, Kalid tilted his head.
“Not for me, but for Clover? It must concern the Flower Bed.”
“Y-yes, exactly! Do you remember the Ancient Flower that Miss Clover bloomed in the Flower Bed before?”
He remembered well. He knew Pluto had been heartbroken when it began to wilt. He knew too that having that single flower between them had begun to draw the children closer together.
“Well, before it withered completely, Harriet and I collected seeds from that Ancient Flower, and we built a small Greenhouse where we could control the temperature, and we planted them there.”
“And then?”
“Then they sprouted! I used my Authority to accelerate their growth slightly—through the Authority of Earth, you see. And they’re growing, but there’s no foul odor at all. They’re growing just as Miss Clover had bloomed them before!”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————