The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 84

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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 84
What Pesson’s Summoned Creature had said was a little too difficult for four-year-old Clover to fully understand.

But Clover understood what “die” meant well enough.
Dying meant never seeing the people you loved again.
‘So Nenia doesn’t like big brother?’
‘That’s not it. He’s family.’
‘Just a little bit bothersome, then?’
‘Well…….’
‘I see.’
Clover recalled Nenia’s gloomy reply.
If Nenia heard that Pesson was in pain, she would be sad. And if she heard he was going to die? How much worse would that be?
Clover didn’t want to see her pretty friend Nenia suffer.
So she had to prevent Pesson from dying.
But to do that, she’d have to reveal that she ‘could talk to Summoned Creatures.’
What should she do?
Could she tell him?
Could she not tell him?
Part of her wanted to spill everything, but she had no sense of whether she’d be going against Father’s wishes.
Just as the silence stretched on, Pesson finally spoke.
“Little one.”
“Clover…….”
“……Yes, Clover.”
She’d pestered him to show her his Summoned Creature, and when he finally did, she’d been sitting there with a dejected expression ever since. Pesson scratched the back of his head in bewilderment.
She’d seemed so cheerful when he’d picked her up, but the moment he showed her his Summoned Creature, her mood had plummeted.
‘Then why did she ask to see it in the first place!?’
Children’s hearts at this age were simply impossible to read. Just as Pesson was about to say something to Clover—
“……!”
A sharp, stabbing pain suddenly pierced Pesson’s chest. Caught off guard by the sudden ache, he doubled over.
“……A-are you okay?”
Startled by Pesson’s sudden grip on his own chest, Clover bounced off the sofa and hurried toward him.
“……I’m fine.”
Pesson, beaded with cold sweat, gently pushed the tiny Clover away.
“Breathe…… Really, I’m fine. Just sit there for a moment.”
The chest pain was familiar to Pesson.
It had plagued him ever since two years ago, when Manela had taken him in and raised him.
More precisely, since the moment Manela had made him ‘consume’ something.
‘Damn…….’
Pesson had been raised in Manela’s care.
Manela loved him sincerely and cherished him dearly.
Pesson had truly adored her for it.
‘You must become strong, Master. An Authority Bearer who is not strong is worthless.’
Even when Manela subtly pressured him—
‘That way, when the World Tree returns to this land, you can become a worthy servant of the World Tree.’
Even when she sometimes spoke words he couldn’t quite understand—
Manela was the one who had raised him, and Pesson held affection for her as deep as a mother’s.
So he tried to do whatever she asked of him.
If becoming strong was necessary to be of use, as Manela said, then he would become strong no matter what.
‘This is a secret between just you and me…….’
Even when Manela had given him something to consume, he had endured it without complaint.
Because Manela loved him so dearly—she could never do anything wrong.
And yet…….
‘The more I use my Authority, the stronger the pain becomes.’
The pain only grew more intense the more he endured it.
Moreover, strange scars had begun to appear on his body. Manela had told him they were proof that he was growing stronger.
……But was that really true?
In the midst of his agony, Pesson found himself wondering.
Seeing Pesson in distress, Clover spoke urgently.
“Older sister is here! Should I call her!?”
Just as alarmed Clover was about to bolt from the room, Pesson suddenly grabbed hold of her dress.
“Ugh.”
“Just… sit still.”
“But!”
“Why won’t you listen to me?”
Pesson spoke in an exasperated tone.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t listening.
She’d only tried to help because Pesson looked like he was hurting.
Clover stamped her feet as she looked between Pesson and his Summoned Creature.
Both of them looked to be in bad shape.
‘I need to tell someone right away!’
When you were hurt, you went to a doctor.
Pesson was twice her age, so why didn’t he know something so simple?
Clover squirmed in Pesson’s grip, determined to fetch someone.
“If only I could get Doctor Siru—or at least my sister…”
“Sone… I don’t… want her to see me… like this…”
What? Why?
Sone was so composed and capable; surely she’d be able to help with Pesson’s pain.
Faced with Pesson’s stubborn refusal to show himself to Sone, Clover held him close with a bewildered expression.
Since she couldn’t call for a doctor or give him medicine right then, the best she could do was hold him warm.
“…What are you doing?”
“This makes it hurt less.”
Since he refused to see a doctor no matter what, this was the only way.
And that way was simply holding him tight.
It seemed like nothing, but it worked surprisingly well.
Clover had felt it herself, after all—when you were hurting and someone held you, it felt a little better. She drew Pesson closer.
“Don’t hurt. You’ll be okay.”
Then she sighed softly and murmured to herself.
“Pesson’s twice my age, and yet…”
“…”
“He won’t go to the doctor, and he’s just so stubborn…”
“…Who taught you to talk like that?”
“…”
Clover thrust out her lower lip and pressed her mouth shut.
When the child said nothing more, Pesson didn’t press her further.
But could what this small child did—simply holding him—really have made such a difference?
‘It really does hurt less.’
The pain in his chest gradually subsided. Pesson’s labored breathing, his gasping that had continued moments before, slowly found its rhythm again.
Only after several minutes did Pesson draw himself out of Clover’s embrace. The small child waited until he’d straightened his back, then quietly withdrew.
“Better?”
Clover tilted her head. Pesson looked down at her with a troubled expression and nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then should we go to the doctor…”
“I don’t hurt anymore, so I don’t need to.”
At Pesson’s words, Clover’s eyes rolled skeptically.
“Hmm? That doesn’t seem right…”
“What would you know?”
He couldn’t tell anyone else.
If he did, he wouldn’t be able to keep his secret with Manela.
Which meant he couldn’t go to a doctor either.
“You’re not that little…”
Clover kept countering, glancing up at Pesson.
He did look considerably better than before. His chest rose and fell at a normal pace, and his breathing was steady.
And yet.
‘Something’s off.’
Why did she feel this way?
Clover peeked up at Pesson repeatedly. For some reason, there was something unsettling about him now, after his pain had subsided.
Just moments ago, she’d felt nothing of the sort—so what had changed?
She saw no malice in Pesson’s form.
But she felt the same unease as when she’d faced people who harbored ill intent toward her—so strong that she wanted nothing more than to leave the room right then.
And yet.
‘I can’t do that.’
Pesson’s Summoned Creature had a request for Clover.
And Clover was the only one who could converse with another person’s Summoned Creature.
So this was a request only Clover could grant.
“I understand, brother.”
“Yeah.”
“Is your pain because you used too much Authority listening to what Manela said?”
“……What?”
Startled by Pesson’s sharp tone, Clover shuffled backward away from him, speaking hesitantly.
“When Clover uses too much Authority, her nose bleeds too. Anyone who tells someone to use a lot of Authority is a bad person.”
The Summoned Creature had said the problem was that Pesson was expending his Authority excessively while listening to Manela’s instructions.
For reasons unknown, each time Pesson used his Authority, that power was gradually attacking or gnawing away at Pesson’s body.
But she couldn’t convey this directly.
Talking to a Summoned Creature had to remain secret.
Clover sweated profusely, doing her best to speak in roundabout terms.
“She said that if your nose bleeds, you have to go to a doctor.”
“…….”
“So brother also has to go to a doctor, and stop listening to what your nanny says…….”
Clover subtly urged that he ought to show himself to a doctor.
Once he went to a doctor, the doctor would handle it on their own. They’d notice something was wrong with Pesson’s condition and report it to the Aube Duchy.
From there, it would be the adults’ responsibility. Not something a four-year-old Clover should handle.
She glanced at her hands.
Surely he’d agree to see a doctor by now?
But.
“That’s not it.”
Growl.
“……What does a little kid know? Get out.”
Pesson utterly dismissed the four-year-old’s words, his face contorting as he spoke, dashing all of Clover’s hopes.
At Pesson’s attitude, Clover’s complexion darkened rapidly.
‘It didn’t work at all!’
More than that—Pesson was approaching her as if he meant to pick her up and throw her out!

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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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