The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family
Chapter 14
“……Did you come to get this?”
Khalid asked, trying his best to keep his voice as gentle as possible so as not to startle the child.
Clover nodded, looking up at Khalid with a tear-streaked face before burying herself completely in his embrace.
“Daddy, I’m sorry…….”
Khalid looked down at the lusterless blue sapphire. A ring that repelled the Authority of Claudian.
He did not know the exact principle behind it, but this seemed to be what had caused the recent commotion. Moreover, judging by how it had lost its luster, it appeared to have lost its function as well.
Yet his attention was not on the ring right now.
“No, it’s all right.”
Khalid said, gently caressing the tiny child he was holding in his arms for only the second time.
“It’s all right. As long as you’re safe, everything is fine.”
What did a fountain built by the First Head of the Family matter? If a fountain broke, it could simply be rebuilt.
If a fountain broke, they could rebuild it; if the mansion collapsed, they could erect it once more. Things like that did not even qualify as an accident.
Khalid carefully looked at the scratch on Clover’s cheek.
Judging by the fact that the Lion of the North Wind had been behind her, it seemed the summon’s power had shielded her, but completely protecting her amidst the pouring Authority of the Storm had proved too difficult.
Even so, it was a stroke of tremendous fortune that it ended with only this.
‘She could have died with just the slightest misstep.’
With such a powerful Authority of the Storm, she could have lost her life the very moment she was exposed to it.
A chill ran down his spine at the thought. The hairs on his body stood on end. Unable to even let out a sigh of relief, Khalid held Clover tightly and listened to the sound of her little heartbeat.
Thump.
The faint heartbeat that proved Clover was alive.
Only then did he feel the blood circulating through his entire body again. The breath that had caught in his throat finally broke free. Khalid held Clover in his embrace, unable to let go.
He knew that approaching her was like poison, since she was a child who had nearly died after being exposed to the Authority of the Storm just moments ago.
He knew this, yet he could not let the child go. He felt as though the moment he released her, this tiny sprout of a girl, this little sweet pea of a daughter, would vanish like a mirage in an instant.
Because the servants were not ignorant of Khalid’s feelings, none of them dared step forward rashly to tell him to pull away from Clover.
“Tsk.”
Just then, Arwin shook off the hands of the servants holding him back and strode toward Khalid and Clover.
He stared down at the ring in Khalid’s hand, then reached out and picked it up.
“Is this it? The thing you were always looking for, Father?”
Judging by the Claudian crest engraved upon it, there was no doubt. Demian, who had stepped up beside Arwin at some point, looked at the ring.
“Then if she wears this, will our youngest be safe?”
“Clover, give oppa your hand.”
Clover, who was trembling in Khalid’s embrace, looked up at Arwin.
Arwin held out his large, firm palm toward Clover.
“Oppa……”
“I’m not trying to scare you. I’m trying to help.”
As Arwin spoke reassuringly to Clover, she nodded and placed her tiny hand atop his palm.
Arwin slipped the ring onto her finger.
The ring was absurdly large.
And whether because the sapphire had lost its light from the previous explosion of Authority, it did not feel radiant, beautiful, or sacred—it only felt comical.
“Why can’t I feel anything?”
Arwin spoke in an annoyed voice.
“They call it the Treasure of Claudian, but what kind of treasure can’t even protect the youngest……?”
“Arwin.”
Demian gently grasped Arwin’s shoulder. No matter how anxious he was, there were things that should and should not be said in front of Clover.
Realizing his rashness, Arwin gently stroked the back of Clover’s hand.
“Oppa wasn’t mad at you, Clover.”
“Mm……”
“I was just upset.”
As Arwin finished speaking, Khalid, who had kept his head buried against Clover’s shoulder the entire time, lifted his head.
He took the ring back from Arwin and tried slipping it onto Clover’s hand once more.
Yet the ring, which had shown no effect when Arwin put it on her, did not suddenly take effect just because Khalid did.
Watching this, tears welled up and trickled down Clover’s cheeks once more.
“It was definitely glowing earlier, though…….”
Then why was it not glowing at all now?
Was what Clover found a fake?
The child’s mind became a whirlwind of confusion.
Just then, Khalid slid the absurdly large ring off Clover’s slender finger and whispered,
“Clover.”
“Yes, Daddy…….”
“You did well. You found the Treasure of Claudian.”
“B-But it’s not sparkling……?”
“It doesn’t matter. Regardless, you found the treasure. Daddy will find a way for this ring to regain its original function.”
Khalid clutched the ring tightly in his hand as he caressed Clover’s tear-stained cheek.
Clover tilted her head unconsciously and rubbed her cheek against Khalid’s palm. Khalid continued to gently, tenderly stroke Clover’s cheek.
“Daddy will find a way, I promise.”
“…….”
“Because that is a father’s role. I will find it for you.”
And then, he finally spoke the words he had wanted to say all along.
The words he had wanted to say the entire time, but couldn’t because the timing had gone awry and he hadn’t been able to approach her.
“I didn’t abandon you, Clover.”
“Daddy.”
“How could I ever abandon you? How could a parent abandon their child? I didn’t abandon you. Not a single day went by after sending you to Demper that I didn’t think of you.”
Khalid’s drenched shoulders trembled slightly. Startled, Clover reached out her hand.
“I’m sorry for making you think that.”
“D-Daddy……?”
“Daddy should have realized sooner. I’m sorry for coming to find you so late.”
Hearing those words, Clover’s eyes filled with tears once again.
The words she had wanted to hear all this time.
Having unexpectedly heard the words she had longed to hear upon meeting her father, at a moment she had never anticipated, Clover wrapped her arms tightly around Khalid.
And from within his embrace, she lifted her head to look up at Khalid Claudian’s face.
The rain had still not stopped.
Rainwater was flowing over the heads of many people,
and something was streaming down Khalid Claudian’s cheeks as well.
Unable to tell whether it was rainwater or tears, Clover tilted her head for a long moment before reaching out her hand to wipe Khalid’s tears away.
“Daddy, don’t cwy. Okay?”
“…….”
“I’m sowwy. I’m sowwy Clover made Daddy worry. Daddy, I love you. Don’t cwy.”
Clover wanted to soothe Khalid. Seeing Khalid cry made her heart ache with sharp pangs.
It was a very strange and sorrowful feeling.
Clover pushed herself fully upright and cupped Khalid’s cheeks with both hands, blurting out whatever loving words came to mind just to comfort him.
“Daddy, I love you. Okay? Daddy…….”
“My baby…….”
“So…… pwease don’t cwy because of Clover…….”
Clover whispered softly.
Everyone present held their breath. Not a single person dared to speak.
And then.
“Wait, look at this……!”
Demian pointed toward something.
Clover gazed blankly in the direction Demian was pointing.
It was where the water had spilled when the fountain shattered moments ago.
From that place, droplets of water rose into the air, sparkling like gems.
They were the exact same color as the jewel Clover had discovered in the fountain earlier.
Rising and floating gently as if blooming from the spot, the water droplets gathered around Clover one by one.
And it wasn’t just water droplets.
A gust of wind blowing from somewhere.
A stray raindrop that had fallen moments earlier.
The very components comprising the power of the storm began gathering beside the little girl, one by one, giving off a mystical glow.
And soon.
“!”
They began pooling in Clover’s hands like gathering water.
Within the well of her tiny hands, the fragments of power that made up Claudian flowed together, gathering like a pond.
Khalid, Arwin, Demian, and all the people of Claudian who had come outside watched the scene in a daze.
Hardly anyone among them failed to understand what that sight meant.
