The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 36

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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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Chapter 36
Look after her, you said?
‘What do you mean……?’
Smell her hair?
Sone gazed down at Clover’s round little head, which had drawn close to her face.
‘Like a small, plump pea.’
But.
‘No matter how cute, I don’t want to bury my nose in her crown and actually smell her……!’
That was the moment Sone began to step back.
Wait.
Though Clover stood only at arm’s length, a rather pleasant scent reached her.
And mixed with that soft, downy smell peculiar to children, a fragrance Sone had never encountered before drifted past her nostrils—something genuinely lovely.
Caught off guard, Sone found her hand resting on the child’s head.
Then.
Spin.
Clover turned a full circle and looked up at Sone with a bright smile.
“Sister, Clover’s all clean now.”
“…….”
“Not yucky anymore.”
Sone flinched.
‘So she went and washed because I said she was yucky.’
The Storm Bird, perched on Sone’s shoulder, rustled its wings and flew in lazy circles around Clover.
Then, as if confirming that she was indeed clean, it descended gently onto her crown.
Gleam.
The child’s face brightened at once. The bird’s long tail covered half of Clover’s face, and yet she seemed utterly delighted.
“It’s not moving around anymore?”
When Clover asked, the Storm Bird settled itself coyly in place above her head.
The child burst into thrilled laughter.
‘…….’
Sone stood motionless before the doorway, watching quietly.
A younger sister she hadn’t seen in four years.
‘It would be normal to feel tenderness, wouldn’t it?’
Then I suppose I’m not normal.
Sone did not feel tenderness toward Clover.
‘Not at all.’
Far from it—seeing Clover made her think of past mistakes until her throat grew tight and sweat gathered in her palms.
The memory of that day when her mistake had nearly cost this small child her life.
Remembering only Clover’s frozen, pallid expression—how she had neither laughed nor wept, but seemed suspended in time itself—Sone’s chest grew hollow and her stomach twisted.
Yes, Sone admitted it to herself.
I’m afraid of Clover.
I’m afraid of that bright smile that summons the memory of that mistake, afraid of the fragile body and small hands that might suffer should she stumble once more.
Fear was an emotion Sone Claudian did not know.
From her first time on a horse to her first grip of a blade, even when an accident had caught her in an Authority’s thrall—she had never known fear. To a degree that even the family physician, Sina, had cause to worry.
But when she thought of Clover…….
‘Damn it.’
Had Tersia seen her like this, she would surely have laughed. Sone ran her hands roughly through her own hair, tangling it.
“Hmm?”
Clover, watching her, toddled over and grabbed at Sone’s legs.
“Sister, that hurts.”
“Clover.”
“You feeling sad?”
Clover looked up at Sone with wide, curious eyes. Sone’s shoulders tensed.
Sone deliberately averted her gaze from the child’s round eyes and spoke calmly.
“No.”
“Then…….”
“I’m busy right now. We can talk about it another time.”
With her white-gloved hand, Sone gently pushed the small body away.
“Okay.”
“Good.”
Pause.
Sone’s hand hovered in the air above Clover’s head, pausing as if about to stroke the child’s hair.
……
But it withdrew almost at once.
Her hovering hand found no resting place, faltering before retreating to her side.
“Go now, Clover.”
She left those words behind and fled the scene.
A soft sound.
Clover blinked, watching Sone’s retreating figure for a long moment before answering.
“Yes, sister.”
Rustle—the Storm Bird fluttered its wings, raising a gentle breeze.
But the bird, too, soon abandoned Clover.
A whisper.
Its long tail brushed softly against Clover’s cheek as it passed.
Just as the girl’s older sister, Sone, had done moments before.
***
‘Your little sister, Sone.’
‘What’s her name? Mother, what’s her name?’
‘Clover—Clover Claudian. Isn’t she precious, like a tiny seedling?’
The sleeping child in her arms was small and precious, like a doll.
It was different from when her younger brothers Demian and Arwin had been born—there was no great age gap between them.
In the moment Clover was born, Sone understood: she would come to love this small child.
She would be there for every moment of Clover’s life—when she learned to walk, to speak, to run.
That Sone had been full of joy.
She wanted her beloved sister to grow quickly, to grow strong and nestled in her embrace.
She wanted Clover to move her small lips and call her sister, to reach out her little arms and come to her.
But that dream shattered almost as soon as it began.
‘It seems she cannot endure the Storm Authority……’
The day Clover fell gravely ill.
Elishia, not long recovered from childbirth, spoke in a sorrowful voice. Kalid comforted her, promising to find a way—some method to keep the child safe in the storm.
A way for the child to survive within the storm’s reach.
But if they couldn’t find one?
‘What would happen if they couldn’t find one?’
From the moment Clover was born, Sone had lost her heart to her. The small child was her sister.
There was no way the Storm Authority could take Clover from her. That day, Sone desperately searched the Claudian library.
And she found it—information about the Storm Protection.
A protection the First Family Head had created using Storm Authority, crafted for the sake of her beloved husband. With it, even one without power could stand before the storm’s force unharmed and unscathed.
Then that was exactly what Clover needed now.
‘You can create it if you have both care in your heart and Authority.’
That’s what the book Sone had read said.
That if an Authority-wielder had a strong affection for the one they wished to protect, and sufficient Authority, they could bestow this protection.
Looking back now, it seemed like a desperately vague and hasty explanation—but why had it seemed like the perfect solution at the time?
That night, Sone crept into Clover’s bedroom.
And she held the soundly sleeping Clover close, tenderly……
‘……No, it won’t work.’
‘Ah, no, no, ahhhhh!’
‘No, Mother!’
Everything after that was a blur.
There was no way a mere child like Sone could succeed at what the First Family Head had accomplished with her overwhelming Authority.
The attempt failed, and the Authority raged.
The child was hurt. Elishia collapsed.
In the chaos that followed, Sone stood frozen, unable to move a muscle.
Among the servants rushing about faster than usual, she could say nothing.
……
Sone Claudian woke from sleep not long after an awkward dinner, clutching her throbbing head.
That familiar dream again.
A terrible dream where she endlessly repeated her mistake, her failure, confronted it again and again.
Sone Claudian stared blankly out the window, still half-asleep.
‘It seems I fell asleep far too early after all.’
Dawn was still a long way off.
Sone Claudian breathed out slowly.
***
Clover had been looking forward to dinner time a little.
Since her sister had said they’d see each other again at dinner, maybe they could have more of a real conversation then!
But.
‘This is your sister, Sone.’
‘Hello.’
‘H-hi, sis.’
‘…….’
‘…….’
That awkward meeting at dinner ended there.
Sone spoke to no one—not to Clover, not to anyone else.
After the meal, Belze told her that Sone was simply someone who didn’t talk much by nature.
“So it’s not that the young lady dislikes you. Please don’t worry too much.”
“Mm.”
Clover nodded.
If it wasn’t dislike, then she could relax.
So there was no need to worry just yet.
Clover whispered this to herself.
After Belze tucked the blanket around Clover and left, she softly called for Lucky.
“Lucky.”
[Hmm?]
“Sister didn’t seem to be in a good mood, did she?”
[Yeah, she definitely didn’t…….]
“Do you think she’ll feel better tomorrow?”
[Sure, she will, little one. So stop fretting about her and get some sleep.]
“Mm, I hope tomorrow’s better.”
Then I’ll be able to talk more with her.
Clover murmured, burying her face into the blanket with a soft thump.

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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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