The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 74

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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 74
“Clover!”
Alarmed, Pluto and Kalid rushed toward her at the same time.
“Mm?”
“You—you, you’re bleeding from your nose…!”
Bleeding?
Clover tilted her head, then wiped her nose with her sleeve.
When she pulled her hand away, blood smeared across the fabric. Her eyes widened.
“Blood…!”
This was the first time she’d ever bled.
Startled, Clover covered her nose with both hands, and her Spirits began circling frantically around her.
Kalid quickly stepped forward, produced a handkerchief, and gently pressed it to her nose while encouraging her to lower her head.
“Father……”
“You used too much Authority. Don’t overexert yourself. Just stay still—it’ll stop.”
“Mm……”
“Bow your head a bit more.”
He pressed gently against her nose. Clover nodded.
Pluto, watching Clover fidget unhappily with her head bowed, lifted his own gaze toward the garden.
The garden that had been reduced to ruins by Pluto’s Authority.
Fresh green shoots were now sprouting across it.
“How……”
How was something like this even possible?
He’d heard of Clover’s Authority before, of course.
But he’d never heard of an Authority that could be wielded across such a vast area.
And besides.
‘Those things….’
Pluto stared at the green “masses” circling around Clover.
He could feel her power emanating from them, yet they didn’t seem to be Summoned Creatures either.
As he quietly observed these mysterious entities orbiting her, his eyes met Clover’s.
Clover called to him in a nasal, pinched voice.
“Your Highness!”
“…Huh?”
“Is it okay now? The Emperor won’t say anything to me anymore, will he?”
“…!”
Pluto flinched at Clover’s question.
“Did you… use your Authority because of me?”
“Of course.”
Still holding her head bowed, Clover answered spiritedly, her lime-green hair bobbing slightly.
“You don’t have to thank me or anything.”
“……”
“Friends help each other. That’s just how it is.”
Just then, Clover’s nosebleed stopped.
Kalid removed his hand from where it had been covering her nose, and Clover promptly lifted her head with a bright motion.
Then she turned to look at Pluto.
Pluto and Clover.
The two children’s eyes met.
Clover broke into a smile.
***
“So… this is a Spirit,” Clover said.
She confessed to Kalid the true nature of the “incomplete Spirit” she’d been hiding all this time.
Lucky had told her it needed to stay secret, but once it was already revealed, there was no point in keeping it hidden anymore.
Kalid asked back.
“A Spirit…?”
“Yes, Lucky says so. It’s a Spirit.”
[It looks incomplete, that’s all.]
But it’s definitely a Spirit.
Lucky added a note of reassurance.
[They all start out looking like that at first. Don’t be discouraged.]
“I’m not discouraged.”
Clover answered spiritedly.
The garden, which had died for a moment and then come back to life, was not as lush and beautiful as before, but it had reached a state that could reasonably be attributed to a gardener’s mistake of cutting the grass too severely.
At least now it was no longer a ruin. Kalid couldn’t quite decide whether to be pleased about this or how to feel.
“Papa.”
“Yes?”
“So now Your Highness is okay, right?”
“It should be.”
Kalid stroked Clover’s head. Her bangs, pressed down by his hand, brushed lightly against her eyes, and the child squinted slightly.
“Your Authority has grown quite a lot, Clover.”
“Praise……?”
“Yes, that’s praise. I’m proud of you, my daughter.”
Kalid drew Clover into his arms as he spoke. Supple as a cat, Clover nestled against him and broke into a smile.
But Kalid’s thoughts were turbulent.
‘A Spirit.’
He had never even heard of a being capable of creating Spirits.
Weren’t Spirits born from nature in the first place—creatures that arose from the World Tree itself?
And someone could create such things?
Yet Clover was not a child who would lie. Young children weren’t even capable of weaving such elaborate falsehoods.
Which meant that what Clover said was true…….
‘The Summoned Creature told her to keep it secret.’
He could understand why Clover’s Summoned Creature had insisted on silence.
If this ability were revealed, it would send shockwaves through the Empire, whether anyone wanted it or not.
Restoring the Ancient Flower didn’t truly threaten others.
But if it were discovered that she could create Spirits?
Kalid settled Clover gently on his lap and gazed into her round eyes.
“Clover, let’s make a promise with Papa.”
“Mm, yes.”
“Your Spirit’s identity should remain a secret just as it has been, and it will stay a secret going forward.”
“A secret……!”
“Yes, a secret.”
“But Papa already knows, and Your Highness already knows too—what should we do?”
“His Highness won’t tell anyone else, and neither will I, so it’s fine. From now on, we keep it secret, Clover.”
Kalid tapped Clover’s soft cheek gently.
“You can do that, can’t you?”
“Yeah, Clover is good at things like this.”
Clover nodded and repeated Kalid’s words back to him once more.
“I’ll keep it secret that she made the Spirit, and that the Spirit became four!”
***
“Good heavens…….”
So the youngest princess’s Authority wasn’t simply sprouting a few seeds?
A maid who had witnessed the garden burst back to vibrant life after dying in an instant covered her mouth in shock.
She had been coming to the Annex Building to speak with Ella when she happened to catch sight of the entire spectacle from a distance.
‘I only came to the Annex to talk with Ella……!’
Since she had been moving about during her break, it seemed no one realized she had seen everything from near the Annex.
Orders came down to keep today’s events secret, and the servants who had been present were called aside and given stern warnings, but her name was not among them.
“This is…… extraordinary.”
The prince’s Authority, and the youngest princess’s Authority that had neutralized it in a single stroke.
It was not something that could be dismissed lightly in any way.
That night, before sleep claimed her, she thought of the tremendous waves of Authority that Pluto and Clover had displayed.
***
After settling matters, Kalid sent a letter to the Imperial Palace.
The letter contained an account of how Daibyon had coerced Clover and had no choice but to imprison her in the underground dungeon, along with the statement that Pluto’s Authority had grown ‘somewhat’.
Kalid had a duty to report every detail of what transpired to Pluto, so he could not completely conceal the fact that his Authority had grown.
But he could dampen it ‘a little’.
Along with the letter, Kalid had the two Dead Potted Plants that Daibyon had brought given to the Imperial Palace soldiers who had escorted him.
And Oeuron showed no anger whatsoever upon hearing that Daibyon had been imprisoned in the Claudian dungeons.
“The Duke must be quite displeased.”
He merely let it pass. All who heard the Emperor’s words sensed Daibyon’s death.
Perhaps it had been a test all along—sending a subordinate in the Emperor’s carriage to see what would happen.
The fact that Daibyon had come to Claudian was not recorded in the Imperial Palace scribe’s ledger.
Moreover, though he didn’t know it, the Emperor’s envoy always carried a Pendant to prove his status as the Emperor’s messenger.
But Daibyon had never received such a commission, and thus was not officially an imperial messenger either.
Which meant it was no concern of the Emperor’s whether the Duke of Claudian starved him to death or tore him apart in an underground dungeon—nor would Oeuron press the matter.
When Oeuron picked at the dead potted plant, his secretary and aide spoke to him.
“Your Majesty, why did you send him to Claudian?”
“Hmm…….”
Oeuron’s fingers scraped away the soil from the pot, which had long since withered.
“A test.”
“A test, Your Majesty?”
“I was curious to see how carefully the Duke of Claudian would nurture the wretch.”
Crack.
When he tightened his grip, the pot crumpled and shattered in an instant.
“I cannot waste precious resources on such trifles, now can I?”
“Are you sufficiently satisfied?”
“Yes.”
Oeuron issued his command.
“Tell them to dispose of him as they see fit. As for Pluto, keep him hidden from sight during the Foundation Festival.”
“Understood.”
“Claudian’s Authority is truly useful, you know…….”
Oeuron reclined slowly against the imperial throne.
“Wind is such an ambiguous thing.”
…….
“You cannot predict where it comes from or where it will go.”

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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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