The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 16

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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 16
“Then, Clover.”
Kalid turned his gentle gaze toward Clover and opened his mouth.
“I’m curious about something regarding the cat, and I’d like to ask you just one question, if you don’t mind?”
“Yes.”
Of course, anything at all.
It wasn’t anything difficult—she could certainly grant a request of that sort.
As Clover nodded earnestly, Kalid let out a soft laugh.
“Could you ask why the cat didn’t tell me the location of that ring?”
Clover turned her head and looked toward the cat.
Upon hearing Kalid’s question, the lion of the north wind seemed to consider something for a moment, then lifted its chin and regarded its master with perfect clarity.
And then.

“Someone with the Power of Strong Gale can’t find the ring, apparently. Because it’s the weakest… the weakest force in Claudian, he says.”

“Thus?”

“People who’ve been exposed to that strong power for a long time are the same, he says.”
Clover did her best to enunciate carefully as she spoke.
“I see.”
Kalid nodded. True to the cat’s word, he seemed to grasp the general situation without needing further elaboration.
The cat rubbed its cheek gently against Clover’s in a gesture of praise. Clover broke into another bright smile.
Watching quietly, Kalid reached out and stroked Clover’s hair.
“Well done, Clover. Your help was invaluable.”
“I was helpful?”
“You were.”
“Then can Clover ask a question too?”
Clover grinned and pointed at Kalid.
“A fair trade!”
[This isn’t quite the right time to say that, but……]
Lucky murmured, though Clover paid it no mind. Kalid nodded as he sent Sina away.
“All right, let’s trade. What would you like to ask?”
“Well, um……”
Clover’s small fingers fumbled together. The words wouldn’t come easily.
There was good reason. What Clover wanted to ask was about her mother.
Mother.
‘Clover’s mother……’
Demper the Countess—her aunt, in other words—had always told Clover that her mother might as well be dead. That she would never see her again.
Clover, not quite understanding what “might as well be” meant, had simply believed her mother was dead. Because of that, she had pulled her blanket over her head and cried many times.
But thanks to Lucky explaining it to her, she had learned the truth. “Might as well be” didn’t mean actually dead, but rather a state similar to being dead.
If that were so, then her mother might still be alive.
But she hadn’t dared ask for fear she was mistaken. Since arriving here, she had heard and seen stories about her father, but never a word or sign of her mother.
So perhaps she had misunderstood.
Perhaps her mother really was dead, just as her aunt had said.
‘That would be so, so sad.’
“Hmm……”
As she hesitated, unable to find the words, Arwin settled down beside her and gently stroked her hair.
“Take your time. We’ve got nothing else to do anyway. I’ll wait here with you.”
“Mm.”
Emboldened by Arwin’s words, Clover slowly lifted her eyes and looked at Kalid.
Then she began opening and closing her fingers nervously before finally speaking.
“Mother……”
“Yes.”
“Where is Mother?”
Her aunt had always been so attentive to Lui every day. Her uncle was no different. And Clover envied it greatly.
How Lui smiled happily with both mother and father present.
“Since I came here, I haven’t seen Mother……”
Plink.
Clover’s eyes darted around the room, gauging the atmosphere. At her question, Kalid, Demian, and Arwin fell silent all at once.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.’
Clover’s spirit deflated at the expected reaction, and she let her gaze drop to her toes.
Then.
“Clover.”
Kalid lifted her up in his arms, then sat her on his knee and gently stroked her small head.
“Your mother is sleeping right now.”
Huh?
Clover’s mind worked hard to make sense of Kalid’s words.
Was this the kind of gentle phrasing adults used to spare a child’s feelings?
And the girl, realizing she’d guessed correctly, pressed trembling hands over her mouth.
“You mean she’s… really gone…….”
“No, she’s not dead — she really is sleeping.”
Kalid spoke with firm conviction. Demian and Arwin each added their own reassurance.
“That’s right, she’s alive and well.”
“Yes, she’s just not at the Mansion right now.”
“Really……?”
“Really. Why would we lie about something like that? She’s your mother, but she’s my mother too.”
Arwin pointed to himself. Clover, watching this quietly, pressed further with wariness still clouding her voice.
“So then… Mama really is… alive?”
Kalid answered as though he’d been waiting for the question.
“Yes, she’s alive. Your mother is a Tree Spirit, so she’s sleeping inside the tree.”
Clover tilted her head, confused.
Then Demian raised his hand to speak.
“Father, don’t you think it’s confusing to brush past it with vague words like ‘Mother is asleep’? Shouldn’t you explain more precisely that Mother is a Tree Spirit, her Spirit Power has been exhausted, and she’s returned to her true form—the tree—where she’s now recovering her Spirit Power?”
“If you explain it that way to a child, do you think she’ll understand?”
Arwin reached over and gently pushed Demian’s hand down, chiding him.
Clover, watching them quietly, murmured absently.
“‘As good as dead’…….”
“What?”
“Mama’s as good as dead—that’s what Auntie said. That I’d never see Mama again.”
Clover, recalling that moment, grew a little sadder as she twisted her fingers together.
“So it was a lie.”
…….
“Thank… thank goodness.”
Clover, who had seemed tense the whole time and hadn’t smiled even once since the subject of her mother came up, finally broke into a bright grin.
“I’m so glad, Father.”
I really did think Mama was dead, just like Auntie said.
I thought I’d never see Mama again…….
But now that Clover understood the truth was different, a smile bloomed across her small face—bright as sunlight breaking through after rain.
But.
…….
“……What?”
“Ah…….”
The others could not smile.
Kalid, Demian, and Arwin all heard the word “Auntie” from Clover’s lips again, and their expressions hardened rapidly.
Rumble, crack!
Power that couldn’t be properly controlled erupted uncontrolled, and a storm raged once more.
“Huh?”
Clover looked at the rain suddenly streaming down the windowpane and tilted her head in confusion.
***
“This is unacceptable! We can’t just let this pass, can’t treat her as family! She must be held accountable!”
Demian, flushed with fury, held Clover’s diaries—the ones she’d been keeping all this time—in his trembling hands. His grip on them shook with rage.
“How could she say such a thing to a small child? That woman isn’t even human.”
Demian, remembering Clover’s bright smile just moments ago, ground his teeth in anger once more.
She told a four-year-old child her mother was dead—in such a way as that?
Even if Mother really had passed away, you don’t speak to a child like that. Clover is still young. Still just a baby.
“Surely you’re not considering showing mercy just because she’s Mother’s family…….”
“Not a shred of mercy. She isn’t even truly——anyway, that’s irrelevant.”
Kalid spoke with unshakable resolve.
“Don’t worry, Demian. Demper will pay the price.”
His voice was calm but absolute, unquestionable.
“You’ll spend the rest of your life regretting that day. Even if you wrote reflections ten times the length of that diary, you’d find no forgiveness anywhere, and you’d suffocate under that weight.”
Kalid Claudian.
True to his fearsome reputation as the North’s executioner, his voice fell sharp and cold as a blade, brittle as icicle.
“I do not leave unpunished those who lay a hand on my family.”
……
“Whoever they are.”

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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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