The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 64

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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 64
Pluto faltered.
“Huh?”
“I know, but… this is the first time I’ve ever seen Mother, so…”
Clover gently released Pluto, whom she’d been holding tightly, and stepped back, her eyes half-closed as she fumbled for words.
“The villain aunt said that because of me, it’s as if Mother died.”
“…?”
“So this is the first time I’m seeing her, even though I’ve wanted to see her every single day.”
Clover folded down four fingers as she spoke.
“Every single day for four years, I’ve wanted to see her.”
Clover was four years old.
Four years—that’s practically a lifetime at her age, Pluto thought quietly before opening his mouth.
“I…”
“Mm?”
“I don’t want to see her.”
“…?”
At the unexpected answer, Clover flinched.
Regardless, Pluto continued speaking steadily.
“Mother passed away because of me.”
“!”
“So I don’t want to see her.”
Pluto’s Mother had died giving birth to him.
Because the child possessed a terrible Authority—the Power of Death.
The newborn had manifested that Authority in the womb, consuming every last trace of his mother’s life force.
The people of the Imperial Palace always said the same thing: Mother would never have died if not for Pluto.
She would have spent her whole life as the Emperor’s favored concubine, living happily—and she wouldn’t have fallen from the Emperor’s grace at the end of her days by protecting a worthless son.
So Pluto could not wish to see his mother.
He was a criminal, after all.
Which is why he could not speak his longing aloud, no matter how much he felt it.
When Pluto refused so firmly,
“Ah, um…”
Clover blinked her wide eyes, startled by his unexpected response.
She hadn’t thought he would say such a thing.
‘And I don’t know how to comfort him.’
In her four years of life, she’d never faced such a difficult moment. Clover fidgeted with her blanket in her small hands.
“That’s…”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not a feeling—it’s a reason.”
Clover’s eyes rolled toward Pluto.
“A reason and a feeling are different. I know that too.”
“What…”
“So do you truly not want to see her? Really?”
“…”
“Hmm.”
Clover pondered for a moment, then recalled what Belze had told her earlier.
‘It’s a method we use in our town. On a night when the moon hangs very high, you fill a shallow vessel with water and gaze into it.’
‘A vessel…?’
‘Yes, and then the face of the person you wish to see appears reflected in the water.’
“Like Your Highness, I also made Mother suffer because of me…”
Clover hesitated.
“So when I heard that it was as if Mother died because of me… I wanted to see her.”
“…”
“But it’s strange that you don’t want to see her…”
At Clover’s words, Pluto stiffened.
“There’s a way to see the person you want to see.”
Clover, who had nearly stopped using formal speech, gazed at Pluto with sparkling eyes.
“…What?”
“I’m going to try it later—I want to see Mother.”
“…”
“If Your Highness wants to see her too, just tell me.”
Clover bounced out of bed and looked at Pluto as she spoke.
“It doesn’t matter if I don’t try it—I was just saying it anyway.”
Lucky fluttered over and perched on Clover’s shoulder.
“And I don’t really know much about it.”
“……Yes.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Clover gestured toward Lucky.
“Lucky says so—that it’s not my fault our mother is ill, either.”
“…….”
“So your fault isn’t your fault either.”
Clover finished speaking and bounded toward the door, turning to leave.
And just as she was about to step outside—
“……How!”
Pluto cried out toward her retreating back.
“How am I supposed to see?”
“…….”
“How can I even look?”
Behind the boy’s desperate voice came a moment of utter silence.
Then Clover slowly turned around, and their eyes met.
Like wind brushing across leaves, the two children’s gazes crossed in that fleeting instant.
***
Upon returning from the White Forest, Kalid took charge of the Second Prince’s lessons at once.
Of course, Kalid had his own schedule, so he could not teach every single day.
Thus he decided to instruct Pluto three times a week, as per Emperor Wairon’s command to drill him industriously and make him “serviceable.”
Yet.
“……Your Highness.”
Kalid, wooden sword in hand, watched Pluto keep lifting his head to check the time, and spoke.
“Has something come up today?”
After changing into proper training clothes, Pluto had come to the Training Ground and had been checking the time repeatedly as the minutes passed.
He looked rather like a restless puppy, or as though something were bothering him. Sensing the oddness, Kalid asked in a non-threatening manner.
“Or perhaps the lesson is tedious?”
Kalid’s tone was less one of reproach toward the young prince and more one of genuine curiosity.
In truth, he was not questioning Pluto to scold him, but rather to see if something was amiss or if the lesson bored him—and if so, he was considering whether to change his teaching approach.
However, the young prince, thinking that Kalid’s words were a rebuke, flinched and shook his head firmly.
“No, that’s not it.”
“Then why do you keep checking the time?”
“It’s just…….”
Pluto’s gaze flicked toward something for a moment.
It seemed an unconscious gesture, for his eyes quickly returned to his feet, but Kalid did not miss it.
Having noted where Pluto had glanced, Kalid let out a light laugh as understanding dawned.
“…….”
A pale green head of hair was visible in the distance. He had forbidden her entry to the Training Ground for safety reasons, but it seemed she had found her way to peek inside anyway.
‘Now that I think about it, they said His Highness and Clover have grown quite close.’
Kalid recalled the words of Belze, the chambermaid dedicated to Clover’s care, and glanced at Pluto.
Given the prince’s nature, it was unlikely he was merely checking the time because he wanted to play with Clover.
He must have either made some promise with the girl, or her watching from beyond was somehow making him uncomfortable.
After taking in the situation by observing the two children for just a moment, Kalid set down the thick wooden sword and spoke.
“I have matters to attend to today as well, so shall we call it here?”
“……!”
“But Your Highness—does Clover watching from out there bother you?”
Kalid spoke while studying Pluto’s expression.
“The girl is curious by nature, and she seems quite eager to see what happens here. Though I forbade her entry for safety, I did not tell her not to watch from a distance, and so she keeps looking on from afar like this.”
Kalid glanced toward his beloved youngest daughter and tilted his head as he continued.
“If you find it uncomfortable in any way, I shall speak to her about it, for within the Training Ground, the student receiving instruction must always take priority.”
The Duke of Claudian was a man who always kept his word once spoken.
If Pluto said he was uncomfortable, it seemed he would remove his beloved youngest daughter far from the Training Ground altogether.
Pluto quickly shook his head at the question.
“It’s not that.”
“I see.”
“Rather, I made a promise with her…….”
“So that’s why the child has been gazing at you with such eager eyes.”
“Yes……”
“Still, you must finish dinner before you play, Your Highness. Both of you.”
“Yes.”
“Then you may go. I’ll see you at the next lesson.”
“Yes, Duke.”
Pluto set down his wooden sword and answered obediently, then hesitated before moving slowly toward where Clover waited.
Kalid stood motionless in the Training Ground, dust swirling around him, watching the two children.
The moment Clover spotted Pluto approaching, she burst from the grass and rushed toward him.
A maidservant hurried after them, wiping the sweat from Pluto’s face and brushing leaves from Clover’s hair.
The scene looked peaceful—so peaceful that it was hard to believe the boy walking away possessed the Power of Death.
‘He may be a danger to your daughter too, so it’s best you keep them apart as much as possible.’
‘If something were to happen to that adorable, precious child because of his Authority, that would be a problem.’
That was what Wairon had said, but Kalid had no intention of forcibly separating Clover and Pluto.
For one thing, Pluto’s Authority wasn’t strong enough to harm Clover.
And Clover bore the Protection of the Storm around her, so nothing short of a truly formidable Authority could touch her.
‘I won’t tear apart a friendship.’
He had no desire to interfere with the slow, tentative bond forming between two children who had never known a friend their own age.
So he meant to leave the two children as they were—at least until the Second Prince’s Authority grew dangerously strong.

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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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