The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 14

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

Chapter 14
“So… you came to find this?”
Kalid asked, straining to keep his voice as gentle as possible so as not to startle the child.
Clover nodded, her face wet with tears, and looked up at Kalid before burying herself in his arms.
“Father, I’m sorry…….”
Kalid gazed at the Blue Sapphire, now drained of its light—a ring that repelled Claudian’s authority.
Though he couldn’t fathom the mechanism behind it, this seemed to be the source of the chaos that had just unfolded. And judging by the lost luminescence, even its function appeared to have failed.
Yet his attention was fixed elsewhere.
“No, it’s all right.”
Kalid stroked the small child in his arms—the second time he’d held her like this—as he spoke.
“It’s all right. As long as you’re safe, everything is all right.”
What was a fountain built by the first Household Master? A fountain was something that could be rebuilt if it broke.
If the fountain shattered, they could construct another. If the Residence collapsed, they could raise it again. Such things hardly registered as a concern.
Kalid carefully examined the scraped skin on Clover’s cheek.
The Lion of the North Wind must have been behind her, shielding her with its summoned strength, but it seemed difficult to protect perfectly against the torrential Storm Authority that had poured down.
Still, this much was fortune.
‘She could have died.’
With such devastating power, exposure would have meant losing her life in an instant.
The thought sent a chill racing down his spine. His hair stood on end. Kalid, unable even to exhale a sigh of relief, held Clover close and listened to the faint beating of her small heart.
Thump.
That fragile rhythm that proved Clover was alive.
Only then did blood seem to flow through his entire body again. The breath caught in his throat came loose. Kalid could not bring himself to let go of Clover.
He knew that after being exposed to the Storm Authority mere moments ago, the girl should not be held—that his proximity was poison to her.
And yet he could not let her go. The instant he released her, this small sprout of a girl, his pea-pod of a daughter, would vanish like a mirage, and so he could not let go.
The servants understood Kalid’s heart well enough that none of them dared step forward and tell him to release Clover.
“Ugh.”
Just then, shaking off the servant’s restraining grip, Arwin strode toward Kalid and Clover.
He stared at the ring in Kalid’s hand, then reached out and took it.
“Is this it? The thing Father’s been looking for all this time?”
The Claudian family crest was carved into it, so there was no doubt. Demian, who had approached Arwin’s side without notice, regarded the ring.
“So if you put this on, the youngest is safe?”
“Clover, give your hand to your brother.”
Clover, trembling in Kalid’s arms, lifted her head and looked at Arwin.
Arwin extended his large, solid palm toward her.
“Brother.”
“Don’t be frightened. I’m trying to help.”
As Arwin spoke to reassure her, Clover nodded and placed her small hand on his palm.
Arwin slipped the ring onto her finger.
The ring was absurdly oversized.
And whether because the sapphire had lost its light in the power surge moments before, it appeared not brilliant or beautiful or sacred, but merely ridiculous.
“Why do I feel nothing at all?”
Arwin’s voice carried a note of irritation.
“It’s supposed to be Claudian’s Treasure, but it couldn’t even protect the youngest? What kind of treasure is that…….”
“Arwin.”
Demian gently gripped Arwin’s shoulder. There were things that could be said before Clover and things that could not, no matter how urgent his feelings.
Arwin, recognizing his own rashness, gently stroked the back of Clover’s hand.
“I wasn’t reproaching you, Clover.”
“Mmm…….”
“I was frustrated.”
As Arwin finished speaking, Kalid, who had kept his head buried against Clover’s shoulder, lifted it.
He took the ring from Arwin and tried fitting it on Clover’s finger once more.
But the ring that had shown no effect when Arwin placed it on her produced no different result when Kalid did.
Tears began to stream down Clover’s cheeks as she watched.
“Just before, it was definitely glowing…….”
But why isn’t it glowing at all now?
Was what Clover had found a fake?
The child’s mind grew tangled with confusion.
Then Kalid slipped the oversized ring from Clover’s slender finger and spoke softly.
“Clover.”
“Yes, Father…….”
“Well done. You found Claudian’s Treasure.”
“But… but it’s not shining…?”
“No matter. Either way, you found it. I’ll find a way to restore this ring to its original function.”
Kalid held the ring firmly in his palm and stroked Clover’s tear-stained cheek.
Clover unconsciously tilted her head and pressed her cheek against his hand. Kalid continued to caress her cheek, his touch gentle and unhurried.
“I’ll find a way for you. This ring.”
“……”
“That’s what a father does. I’ll find a way.”
And then he spoke the words he had wanted to say all along.
Words he had wanted to say all this time, but the timing had never aligned, and the moment had never come.
“I didn’t abandon you, Clover.”
“Father.”
“How could I abandon you? How could a parent abandon their child? I never sent you away to Demper and forgot about you for a single day.”
Kalid’s damp shoulders trembled slightly. Clover gasped and reached out her hands.
“I’m sorry for letting you think that way.”
“F-Father…?”
“I should have realized sooner. I’m sorry for coming to you so late.”
Fresh tears welled up in Clover’s eyes as she heard those words.
Words she had longed to hear all this time.
Words she had desperately wanted to hear from her father—and now, at an unexpected moment, she heard them. Clover pulled him close in a tight embrace.
Then she lifted her head in his arms and looked up at Kalid Claudian’s face.
The rain still had not ceased.
Water continued to stream down the heads of those gathered there,
and something also flowed down Kalid Claudian’s cheeks.
Clover could not tell whether it was rainwater or tears, so she stared up at him for a long moment before reaching out to wipe away what fell from his eyes.
“Father, don’t cry, all right?”
“……”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for worrying you, Father. I love you. Please don’t cry.”
Clover wanted to comfort Kalid. Seeing him weep, her heart ached with a sharp, piercing pain.
It was a strange and sorrowful feeling.
Clover sat up straight, cupped Kalid’s cheeks in both her hands, and spoke the words she loved most, desperately seeking to soothe him.
“Father, I love you. All right? Father……”
“My little one……”
“So please… don’t cry because of Clover……”
Clover whispered the words.
Everyone present held their breath. No one dared to speak.
And then.
“Wait—look at this…!”
Demian pointed at something.
Clover stared blankly at what Demian was indicating.
It was where the water from the shattered fountain moments before still lay.
From that place, droplets of water glimmered like jewels, floating up into the air.
They were the exact same color as the gems Clover had discovered in the fountain just moments earlier.
Droplets of water rose from that place like blossoms opening, drifting one by one toward Clover.
It was not only the water.
A gust of wind from somewhere.
A single raindrop that had fallen before.
One by one, the elements that formed the Storm Authority gathered around the girl, each shimmering with a mysterious light.
And soon.
“!”
Water began to pool in Clover’s hands.
Within the small bowl formed by her palms, fragments of Claudian’s power gathered like a pond, flowing and accumulating.
Kalid, Arwin, Demian, and all the Claudian people who had come outside watched the spectacle unfold in stunned silence.
Almost none of them failed to understand what that sight meant.

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