The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 34

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

Chapter 34
A massive gust of wind wrapped around Clover’s body, and Lucky jolted awake in alarm.
[What are you doing?!]
Yet the wind did not harm her. It did not strike her down or knock her over—instead, it swirled gently around her frame.
The dust and dirt caked across Clover’s body were mostly swept away.
“Ah, that feels nice.”
The stubborn mud that had clung to her remained untouched, but the finer dust had been scoured clean by that sweeping gust.
The Storm Bird fluttered its wings a few times in midair, then, catching sight of Clover, drooped its head in apparent despair and settled onto the ground.
‘What’s wrong?’
Clover was just beginning to pick herself up when—
“This girl……”
A somewhat shaken voice came from above her head.
‘Hm?’
Clover looked up.
“So this is really my sister.”
An unfamiliar voice.
An unfamiliar face.
Yet not entirely unfamiliar—a power she recognized.
“So you’re Clover.”
Sone looked down at her, expression slightly bewildered, her voice low and measured.
Clover tilted her head.
‘Who is this?’
Who has the same power as Father and her brothers?
Just then, the Storm Bird—which had drooped its head dejectedly moments before—fluttered away and alighted softly upon Sone’s shoulder.
A ribbon of wind passed gently across the back of Clover’s hand.
Clover’s eyes widened at the sight.
‘The same power as Father.’
And a Summoned Beast like a cat!
Which means……
“Family!”
[Yes, your family.]
Clover’s mouth fell open in wonder as she gazed up at Sone.
Family! An older sister!
A joyful reunion between sisters!
At that fervent gaze, Sone flinched backward.
Their eyes met.
But the thoughts passing between them could not have been more different.
‘Another family member, and such an impressive one!’
Sone’s brow furrowed as she looked at Clover sitting on the ground, covered head to toe in mud.
‘Why is she so filthy?’
The child looked far more like a stone plucked from a roadside than a youngest noblewoman of a great house.
Or perhaps a potato, freshly dug from the earth, still caked with unbroken soil.
Why had she been left in such a state? It was beyond Sone’s comprehension.
Only then did Sone understand why her Summoned Beast had used its power.
Clover was so hopelessly filthy and grimy that the creature had attempted to brush the dirt from the child’s body using its strength.
But having failed, it now seemed deflated. Sone absently reached out and patted her Summoned Beast.
‘You did well. This isn’t your fault.’
Cleaning this child would require not wind, but soap, warm water, and perhaps five servants. Her Summoned Beast’s power was simply insufficient.
“Are you family?”
Clover reached out and crawled forward on her hands. When Sone glimpsed those mud-caked hands, she started and hastily retreated.
“?”
“……”
Creep.
Dash back.
Creep.
Dash back.
“?”
Confusion bloomed across Clover’s face.
After this cycle of pursuit and retreat repeated about three times, Clover finally sat down with a soft sound and licked her lips.
Now that she thought of it, she felt as though she had experienced something like this before.
When she had met Demian and Arwin.
But that had been because Clover was ill then.
‘I’m not sick now.’
Did her sister not know that?
Clover clasped her small hands together and fidgeted, drawing her brows down as she looked up at Sone.
“Sister.”
……
“I’m not sick anymore. You can come close to me…….”
Sone flinched at Clover’s words.
“If you weren’t coming near because you were worried Clover would get hurt——”
Clover whimpered, her spirits flagging as she watched Sone’s expression.
“Then you can come close to me……”
That wasn’t what she’d been thinking at all.
She’d learned long ago through letters that Clover no longer suffered wounds from Storm Power.
The reason Sone couldn’t draw near was…….
The dirt wedged between the small fingers of those tiny palms, and the state of her—looking as though she’d rolled around in the soil at least ten times.
And.
‘Sone!!’
‘Yes, Mother.’
A certain memory that had long tormented Sone Claudian.
A tremor ran through Sone’s fingers.
“My sister is so small,” she murmured.
Sone turned away, her gaze fixed elsewhere.
“And filthy.”
“……What?”
With those words, Sone turned on her heel and left.
The joyful reunion of the sisters ended there.
……
[……What was that?]
Clover stood alone where Sone had been, blinking.
“Filthy……?”
Clover glanced down at her own hands. Now that she looked at them, they did seem rather grubby.
Was that why sister had left?
Because she was filthy?
Clover rubbed both hands against the shorts she was wearing, scrubbing hard.
It seemed her hands became just slightly cleaner.
“……Or maybe not?”
The shorts, however, had become noticeably dirtier than before.
Clover’s shoulders sagged. She pushed out her lower lip in disappointment.
“Young lady……!”
Just then, Belze, who had been watching from a distance without daring to interrupt the conversation between Sone and Clover, hurried over.
“Young lady, I’m terribly sorry for being late. Had I known Miss Sone was coming today, I would have helped you bathe earlier……!”
“Belze, is Clover filthy?”
Clover asked glumly.
“Ah, well……”
Belze couldn’t answer at once and covered her mouth.
She knew this was the moment to answer ‘Of course not! You’re not filthy at all!’
But.
‘How can I say such a thing……’
Facts are facts.
Clover was so caked in dirt that one could believe she’d been buried in the earth and then dug back up.
As someone with Cleanliness Obsession, Sone probably hadn’t wanted to go anywhere near her.
Belze couldn’t give Clover the answer she wanted, so instead she turned to look at Harriet, the gardener who had been with Clover all this time, with eyes that asked ‘How could you not stop her from doing this?’
“……I see.”
Gloomy.
Clover nodded, her face darkening.
So I am filthy…….
“No, no, young lady! I’ll wash you clean right away. Then Miss Sone will embrace you warmly, I promise. Please trust me.”
Belze lifted the dirt-covered Clover into her arms. Clover gazed up at Belze from her embrace, her eyes full of hope.
“Really?”
“Of course! I’m the young lady’s one and only older sister.”
Belze answered cheerfully, snatched up the Seedling Spade that Clover had been playing with moments before, and hurried into the Claudian Mansion.
Clover watched Harriet with a somewhat downcast expression, hugging Belze’s neck tightly.
“Miss, farewell!”
Harriet pointed to the seedling that Clover had been watching just before, then patted his chest firmly—a gesture that seemed to say: trust only me.
Clover wasn’t particularly pleased, but she didn’t want to dismiss Harriet’s kindness, so she raised her thumb in acknowledgment.
***
“Father, I’m here.”
Sone stepped into Kalid’s Study and spoke.
Kalid appeared deeply absorbed in something.
‘Is he working?’
Just as she turned to leave, not wanting to disturb him—
“Sone, you’ve come without so much as a word.”
Kalid set down the Documents he’d been holding and looked at Sone. Her gaze drifted toward the papers he’d just laid aside.
“Please don’t mind me, Father. You can finish your work. I’ve only come to pay my respects.”
“No, I’d just finished, actually.”
At his words, Sone stepped closer and caught a glimpse of Kalid’s Documents.
‘A children’s toy shop acquisition notice?’
What’s this? Has the Claudian entered the children’s toy business?
But her puzzlement was brief. Kalid tucked the papers away and looked at Sone.
“You said the Academy schedule had kept you away.”
“Still, I had to come. I need to see my little sister’s face.”
“Then shall we share a meal and see each other’s faces properly?”
“I’ve already seen it.”
Sone replied flatly.
“That grimy little pea of a thing rolling about the Garden as though it owned the place—from a distance I couldn’t tell if it was a child, a shrub, or a pea itself, but up close I realized it was my sister.”
“?”
Kalid raised an eyebrow.

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