The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 130

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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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Episode 130
Right after Clover emerged from the Garden.
“Little one! If you were here, you should’ve come to me. What were you doing in this place?”
“Clover, give me a kiss. I’ve missed you so much because we haven’t seen each other in so long. I know Nenia likes you, but I like you more than Nenia does, so I hope you won’t stay away for such long stretches anymore.”
“Don’t bother your sister. Clover, come here.”
After Arwin, Demian, and Sone heard from Clover—freshly returned from Eibe—what had happened to her, they all began bouncing with indignation at the mere thought of obliterating the Trina Church then and there.
“What do you mean, they kidnapped a child?”
“There was still a Brainwashing Authority Bearer left…….”
“This won’t do. Where was it again? Near the Eibe Duke’s estate? I should go sweep through there once more!”
The commotion grew so heated—some even insisting the captured ones should be eliminated—that Kalid had to step in and calm the children.
“Settle down. There’s more to discuss.”
Kalid quieted the three siblings and led them away, where each had a warm cup of cocoa before he recounted in greater detail everything that had transpired.
From the encounter with the fish Magical Beast and the Full Moon Wolf, to Clover turning those beasts into circles.
When the three siblings heard that Clover had succeeded in turning a Magical Beast into a circle, they naturally expressed concern.
They were of direct lineage to Claudian. Moreover, Sone was even undergoing Succession Training. Such children could hardly be unaware of what it meant that they could “turn Magical Beasts into circles.”
But.
“Huh? Clover’s fine. Don’t worry too much, okay? Dad said that if Clover grows lots and lots of flowers, it’ll be even more fine.”
With Clover speaking so cheerfully, the three siblings couldn’t simply sit there fretting.
So they voiced their approval of Clover’s “grand flower field plan.”
“If you ask me, the Ancient Flower is so rare that everyone keeps targeting Clover because of it.”
“Right. If we commercialize it completely, it might become common enough that it’s less dangerous. Of course, that’s assuming the little one says it won’t be hard.”
Sone glanced at Clover once, then at Kalid.
“As long as Clover doesn’t overexert herself, it’s fine.”
And so, by unanimous agreement of the three siblings, Clover came into possession of vast land on which to grow flowers.
Claudian, located in the north, had slightly cooler temperatures than other regions, but spring and summer brought warmth enough to cultivate flowers.
Still, Kalid selected the broadest, sunniest, and warmest plot within Claudian Territory and presented it to Clover as a gift.
Unlike when he’d gifted her the toy shop documents before, this time Clover was genuinely delighted.
After inspecting the vast land herself, she huddled with Harriet and Jena—the two tasked with overseeing the project—and they earnestly drew up plans together.
“Listen carefully to what Clover has to say.”
Clover’s plan was this:
First, have workers sow Seeds across the broad land in great quantities, while in the greenhouse, nurture new flowers.
It was a very simple plan.
Moreover, there was no problem in mass-producing Seeds.
Clover’s Authority, now one step further evolved, made seed-making child’s play.
Even when she tested her power with Lucky, she found she could mass-produce Seeds of the Ancient Flower—ones she had once bloomed—without needing to see any “smoke” again afterward.
That was extraordinary!
So there was nothing difficult about Clover’s plan. The child would make Seeds, and the workers would grow them.
Clover’s shoulders bounced up and down with excitement. Each time she produced a Seed, Jena and Harriet applauded.
***
When Pluto heard Clover’s plan, he affirmed it was a good idea.
But.
“Why doesn’t your mood seem better?”
“It’s not that my mood is bad…….”
“But you look like your mood is bad…… Is it because of Clover that your mood isn’t better?”
“It’s not.”
Pluto answered offhandedly, then picked up a Cookie and fed it into Clover’s mouth.
Crunch-crunch. Clover accepted the Cookie and gazed up at Pluto.
“Don’t you like the flower field?”
“No.”
“Then are you scared of something?”
…….
That’s it.
Pluto was always afraid he would ruin everything. He still despised his own Authority, and using it was something he pathologically avoided.
Why, Clover thought, was there any need for that?
“Even if the Emperor destroys all the flowers, it’ll be fine.”
“……Don’t say that!”
“Well, but even if something like that happens, it’s okay.”
Clover licked away the Cookie crumbs at the corner of her mouth as she replied.
“Because Clover will just plant them again.”
…….
“The sprout wilts anyway, and the flower goes away.”
Lick. Clover, having licked up the last cookie crumb like a shiny black seed, stared at Pluto with round, gleaming eyes.
“But if it doesn’t wilt and keeps growing and growing, that’s actually terrifying.”
She picked up a cookie and snapped it cleanly in half as she spoke.
“So if Clover is the one making things, then Pluto has to be the one destroying them too.”
[That’s right, that’s right—life and death are always a pair. There’s no Power in this world that’s unnecessary or useless.]
Lucky chimed in agreement. Clover smoothly pressed the halved cookie back together as one.
“So Clover and Pluto are.”
“…….”
“One.”
The child’s voice carried surprising conviction.
[Huh? That’s not quite right, little one!]
Lucky protested in a flustered tone.
But Clover paid no mind.
She thrust the halved cookie toward Pluto, speaking earnestly.
“Do you understand what Clover is saying?”
“……Yes.”
“Pluto is needed in the flower garden Clover makes—do you understand that too?”
As her Power grew, Clover spoke far more fluently than children her age, her face bright with anticipation as she looked to Pluto for confirmation.
“Yes, I understand.”
Only then did Pluto smile and accept the cookie. Crunch. The boy bit into it.
Clover’s face lit up in turn. Watching Pluto savor the cookie, she suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke.
“Come to think of it, before Clover came, I ate a cookie here alone.”
“Huh?”
“The day Pluto told Clover to leave.”
In that instant, Pluto’s face flushed crimson at the memory of that mistake. He stammered toward Clover.
“I, I wasn’t, I mean……”
“It was such a delicious cookie, and I was so sad I couldn’t eat it with you.”
As Clover’s voice grew dejected, Pluto’s flustered panic only deepened, his words tumbling faster. The boy blurted out a desperate excuse.
“I, I just, you were…… No, that’s not it.”
Pluto lowered his head, coughing violently—hack, hack! It seemed the cookie had gone down the wrong way.
After coughing for a while, Pluto apologized in a hoarse voice.
“Sorry.”
“You’re all red. Want some water?”
“……I’m fine.”
Clover stared at the coughing Pluto for a moment, then broke into a bashful smile.
“But I’m so happy about this.”
“…….”
“Because I can share cookies with you now.”
Pluto, who had been listening quietly to her words, answered with his face still flushed.
“……Me too.”
“Huh?”
“I’m happy too.”
Pluto’s Summoned Creature wagged its tail beside him, ears perked eagerly.
But now there was no need to watch the creature to know Pluto’s feelings. Clover gazed directly into his eyes.
They were the eyes of someone truly glad to be together.
“Could you build a swing in the flower garden too?”
“Yes.”
“And then we can play there, and you can push the swing for me.”
“All right.”
Pluto agreed without hesitation, casting a sidelong glance at Clover.
Since Clover was looking at Pluto too, their eyes naturally met.
As the children burst into laughter, a bird watching them furtively through the window suddenly fluttered away.
And the snakes peering through the keyhole into the room slipped silently back to their places.
***
Children grow in the blink of an eye.
When he was young, and even in his youth, Kalid never understood why adults spoke of such things.
But as time passed and he grew, and became a father to four children, and guardian to one more, he finally came to understand the hearts of those adults who spoke that way.
Clover and Pluto grew taller by the day—like sprouts that had drunk deeply and basked in full sunlight.
It was only natural that watching them grow so quickly filled him with both delight and a tender ache—the feeling every father knows.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, someone rapped on the door. Kalid, who had been reading a report on Clover’s flower garden, looked up at the sound.
“Come in.”
The words had barely left his lips when a rosy-cheeked girl pushed open the door and peeked her head through.
Her plump cheeks were flushed pink, and her beautiful light-green hair fell in a charming cascade tied down her back.
“Father, what were you doing?”
Eight years old—
Clover.

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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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