The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 30

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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 30
Life was never meant to be easy.
Though Clover had lived only four years, she knew all too well that life wasn’t easy—she’d learned it through countless experiences in that brief span.
But.
‘Why now, of all times.’
Why fail now? In the end, she’d become nothing but a small child unable to give a gift, sniffling with a runny nose.
Clover sat on Anernia’s lap, clutching her handkerchief tightly, and looked up at her.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you a proper gift…….”
“Your presence alone is a gift to me. Besides, this flowerpot is quite beautiful. If we plant something else in it, it will grow nicely. Let me think—what would be good to plant…….”
“Something else?”
“Yes, we’ll plant something different. And when you come next time, I’ll show you what we’ve grown.”
At Anernia’s warm voice, Clover’s disappointment melted away like ice, and she sniffled softly.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Yes.”
“Good. How does this little one even know to bring a gift?”
“I heard Father talking about it.”
“I see.”
Anernia brought a chocolate chip cookie near Clover’s mouth, and the girl’s eyes brightened as she munched it eagerly.
Khalid, watching her, thought to himself.
‘It should be all right to step away for a moment now.’
Khalid rose quietly from his seat and spoke.
“Then I shall attend to some matters and return. I’ll see you again shortly, Your Majesty.”
“Go ahead, and leave the child with me.”
“Clover, Father will be back soon.”
Though Clover had already adapted perfectly to Anernia’s embrace, the thought of being parted from her father made her a little uneasy, and she wriggled even as she ate her cookie.
“Father’s leaving?”
“Yes, I’ll be back. Can you stay with Her Majesty?”
“Mmhm, mmhm. But…….”
Clover glanced about uncertainly. Being alone in a strange place frightened her a little.
Sensing her anxiety, Khalid snapped his fingers, and his Summoned Spirit emerged smoothly into view.
The North Wind Lion, with its blue mane, transformed into the shape of a cat and leaped nimbly onto a chair beside Clover.
Clover’s eyes came alive at the sight.
“A kitty!”
If there was a cat, she’d be fine.
The cat was connected to Father, so being with Khalid’s Summoned Spirit was like being with Khalid himself.
Clover broke into a smile, and Khalid gestured toward the spirit.
“Can you stay well with the cat?”
“Yes.”
“Good, I’ll see you later.”
Contrary to Khalid’s worries, the brief parting between father and daughter was quickly resolved by the North Wind Lion’s appearance.
After Khalid left, Anernia began to fidget with Clover’s hair, which the servants had tied up skillfully.
Though her hair still had little volume for her young age, the capable servants had bound it so prettily that it didn’t come loose even as Anernia played with it.
She called out to her attendant.
“Lije.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“She greatly resembles Elishia, doesn’t she?”
“Indeed, truly so. When I first saw her, I was truly startled at how alike they are.”
Hearing the conversation between Lije and Anernia, Clover looked up, and the Golden Four-Leaf Clover hovered gently beside her face.
Anernia gazed at it quietly for a moment, then asked Clover.
“Child, what is this?”
“Lucky…….”
“Lucky?”
“Lucky is Clover’s Summoned Spirit.”
When Clover opened her small hand, Lucky alighted upon it gently.
Then, as if to flaunt its presence, it radiated golden light in all directions.
“Friend.”
“A Summoned Spirit. I have one too.”
“Your Majesty has a Summoned Spirit?”
All Authority Users have Summoned Spirits. But she’d never heard that the Dowager Empress was an Authority User!
“Yes.”
Anernia waved her hand, and a rabbit materialized before them.
The creature, woven from dense gray mist, bounded toward Clover, following the motion of Anernia’s fingers with each hop.
“A rabbit!”
Clover broke into a grin, and Anernia lifted the rabbit, placing it gently within reach of the child’s hands.
“This is my Summoned Spirit. A bit larger than yours, I’d say.”
“Wow, wow…”
Clover reached out and tapped the rabbit. It was soft and fluffy as a cloud, but the moment the child’s finger made contact, that portion scattered and dissolved away.
Oh no—it vanished.
‘Did I hurt the rabbit?’
Startled, Clover clapped a hand over her mouth and watched Anernia’s face anxiously.
Anernia smiled warmly and took the child’s hand in her own.
“My Authority is mist, you see. So my Summoned Spirit is made of mist as well.”
With her guiding hand, she showed Clover how to touch the rabbit gently.
“It scatters like this, but it comes back together again. That’s the nature of mist.”
“Oh…”
Under Anernia’s patient guidance, as Clover’s fingers brushed the downy rabbit, her face bloomed with delight.
“Wonderful, isn’t it?”
“Mmm-hmm!”
Khalid, by then long departed from her thoughts, sat nestled against Anernia’s knees, engaged in cheerful conversation.
***
“Duke Clodian.”
Weron Peroi Roseipheron—Emperor of the Roseipheron Empire—fixed his gaze upon Khalid Clodian.
“Your Majesty.”
“Your youngest daughter has returned, I hear. You must be overjoyed.”
“I am grateful.”
“How old is she now? Four, wasn’t it?”
Weron’s tone was cordial, almost familiar. Khalid suppressed the creeping unease and answered.
“Yes, four years old, Your Majesty.”
“A delightful age, isn’t it? Surely you agree?”
“Indeed.”
“But I understand she lacks the Storm Authority?”
Weron’s words carried a hint of mockery, yet Khalid remained unruffled and replied evenly.
“My youngest resembles her mother greatly.”
“Ah! So even the storied Clodian name has acquired a flaw at last, has it not?”
“Your Majesty, such matters are—”
“No, no. I understand you well enough. We have such a case within our own exalted Roseipheron Imperial Family, after all.”
Khalid immediately understood whom the Emperor meant.
A bastard prince of the Roseipheron Imperial Family—a son Weron had fathered upon a commoner.
Every Legitimate Lineage prince of the Roseipheron Imperial Family was born wielding an immense solar Authority that scorched the earth itself.
Yet this illegitimate prince—whether because Weron had sired him outside the palace, or for some other reason—
“That boy has become quite the headache, I assure you.”
The prince had manifested not the Imperial Authority, but something far more sinister.
Death itself.
A mere touch withered grass; an embrace killed a tree. Even fragile beasts succumbed to it.
When the royal court learned of the prince’s Death Authority, the palace erupted into turmoil.
The Legitimate Lineage’s eldest prince—the heir to the throne—still lived, yet now his younger brother had manifested an Authority so terrible it threatened him? Weron had wanted the boy dead.
He was stayed only because the young prince’s birth mother, who yet lived at that time, held the Emperor’s favor, and
because Empress Anernia Soren Roseipheron had opposed it with unwavering resolve.
The second prince, whose very existence had been forfeit the moment Death’s power awakened within him, owed his life to these two women.
Yet even they could not spare him confinement to the Separate Palace. All agreed his Authority posed too dire a threat to the entire Imperial Family.
As Khalid listened to Weron speak, his thoughts ran deep.
‘How much longer can that pitiable young prince survive?’
From what he had heard, the Authority had not yet manifested strongly. At present, it extended only to withering plants and grass.
But should that power grow, Emperor Weron would have no choice but to see the prince executed.
In Khalid’s judgment, the young prince’s Authority was already perilously dangerous. Should it strengthen, there was no telling what calamity might befall the realm.
For now, the prince survived only because he was still young and because Anernia cherished him.
A situation similar to Clover’s, yet entirely different.
And a similar age.
Khalid’s mouth tightened as he listened. For a father, such talk of killing or sparing a child was brutal to bear.
Hearing these words, Khalid resolved to be vigilant—Clover must never find herself face to face with Weron.

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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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