The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family
Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Long ago, when Claudian’s First Head of the Family forged a ring for her beloved husband.
She sought out the most precious and beautiful sapphire to craft the ring’s band, and gathered exquisite diamonds to encircle it like a protective wall.
And into it, she infused a portion of Claudian’s Authority.
From all that comprised a mighty storm, she took the gentlest wisp of wind, the tiniest droplet of water, and the faintest spark of lightning.
Thus, the power of Claudian could never harm whoever wore that ring.
For it was made of the smallest, most delicate parts of the storm.
Because it was a ring woven from tender, fragile things, born of love.
That very power of Claudian had now crossed through time and the ages to gather once more within Clover’s hands.
The summons of the direct Claudian bloodline, which had turned to water and rain to sleep within the fountain.
The gentlest of the powers held by those summons—the fragile strength meant to protect—pooled in a soft sphere within Clover’s hands.
Flash!
And from within it, a blue light burst forth like a flare.
Cradled in Khalid’s arms, Clover stared blankly down at her palms.
She couldn’t understand what was happening in her hands.
Yet the warmth spreading through her spoke with utter clarity: this power would not harm her.
We do not wish to hurt you; we wish to cherish and protect you.
“Clobuh’s never seen anyfing like dis before…….”
Clover murmured in a daze.
Yet no one could answer her, for just like Clover, none of them had ever witnessed such a sight.
Still, without words or explanation, they could tell what the power sought to do.
The water and wind gathered in Clover’s hands swirled slowly to the left, then seeped into her palms.
Slowly, but surely.
The protective power of Claudian was being absorbed into four-year-old Clover’s body.
In other words, it was the Blessing of Claudian.
The blessing that the First Head of the Family had bestowed upon her beloved husband long ago—and now, after countless years, the blessing that the Claudian ancestors, Khalid, Arwin, and Demian offered with one heart.
A glowing blue Claudian crest etched itself onto Clover’s wrist.
Glimmer.
It sparkled one last time before Clover’s eyes.
Soon, everything faded, and the sky cleared completely.
***
“This is, truly, a miracle.”
Sina, the Claudian family’s physician, said as she examined Clover’s condition.
Aside from a few scrapes from tumbling about in the wind during the initial explosion of her Authority, the little girl was entirely unharmed, without a single broken bone.
What was more, even with Khalid right beside her, she suffered no pain and no nosebleeds.
It was all thanks to the Blessing of Claudian. That power was shielding Clover.
“How could such a thing happen…….”
“So is she allowed to stay or not, Sina?”
When Arwin pressed, Sina adjusted her monocle and replied,
“She may stay here without any worry.”
It was then.
Clover, who had been tense the entire time, melted into Khalid’s arms and gave a soft smile.
“What a relief…….”
She had truly wanted to stay here.
Being sent back to the Demper family was worse than death, and being sent off to another household was just as dreadful.
Long ago, Lucky had told her: home is a place where you are protected.
And this was Clover’s home. So Clover had wanted to live here at Claudian, safe and protected. All this time.
‘And now, I can live here.’
She didn’t have to fear being sent away, didn’t have to tremble anymore. That alone made Clover overjoyed.
“Daddy, I’m so glad. Aren’t you?”
Clover asked, gazing up at Khalid.
“Yes, Clover.”
Khalid embraced the tiny body tightly. A child’s warmth, slightly higher than an adult’s, warmed him to the core.
“It truly is a relief. You did well.”
“Hehe.”
At Khalid’s praise, Clover beamed. Her little shoulders puffed up proudly once again.
“Clover, there’s something I want to ask you.”
“Yesh.”
“How did you know the ring was in there?”
In truth, he had read a record suggesting the ring had been left inside that fountain.
Khalid had thoroughly searched the fountain himself.
But there had been nothing; it had never appeared.
Though he hadn’t turned the fountain upside down, he had searched so meticulously back then that no corner had been left untouched.
Yet how had Clover found what Khalid couldn’t?
“Umm…….”
Clover fidgeted with her fingers before speaking.
“The kitty told me.”
“The kitty?”
“The kitty that smells like Daddy.”
With a flick of Khalid’s hand, the Lion of the North Wind materialized beside him in an instant.
A massive body, a fluttering mane, large and menacing claws. Appearing in its original, majestic form, the Lion of the North Wind glanced at Clover.
Then.
<……>
Swish.
Casually casting aside its imposing presence, it shifted back into the cat Clover liked and padded toward the child.
It tapped Clover’s cheek gently with its front paw, as if checking to see if she was all right.
Watching this, Demian and Arwin stared with their jaws dropped.
“What’s with the act……?”
“Father, can a summon actually play innocent like that?”
The Lion of the North Wind—a beast that flaunted its majesty by intimidating anyone who dared approach Khalid—had turned into a mere cat just to nuzzle Clover’s cheek?
For Demian and Arwin, who had spent their childhoods bursting into tears from being terrorized daily by the Lion of the North Wind, it was utterly flabbergasting.
“Is this the cat you meant?”
Unshaken by Demian and Arwin’s agitation, Khalid steadily pointed to the ‘cat’ and asked.
“Yesh, that’s him.”
Clover beamed and wrapped her arms tightly around the ‘cat’s’ neck. Far from displeased, the summon nestled right into her embrace.
Stroking the cat’s soft fur over and over, Clover continued,
“He woke me up at dawn and told me. Said he’d show me where the treasure was.”
“……He spoke to you?”
“Yesh.”
Clover answered proudly.
A momentary silence fell over the room.
“……He really, talked to you?”
“……Yesh, he did.”
Was he not supposed to talk?
Sensing the sudden solemnity in the air, Clover cautiously glanced up at Khalid, worried she might have done something wrong.
But that wasn’t why Khalid was shocked.
Arwin muttered,
“A summon talking to someone else…….”
A summon could communicate only with its master, the Authority user. And even then, not through verbal speech, but through a communion of minds.
That was only natural, as a summon was an extension of the wielder’s Authority.
Thus, speaking to another person’s summon implied an interference with that person’s Authority.
In other words, the ability to converse with summons was far more dangerous than it seemed.
Authority users outside Clover’s family would never tolerate someone interfering with their power.
“No, you did nothing wrong.”
Khalid pushed down his turmoil and stroked the head of the little girl in his arms.
“We will simply need to verify how many summons you can communicate with.”
Relieved by Khalid’s words, Clover wiggled her fingers, then held up two.
“The kitty and Lucky, just the two of dem. I haven’t talked to any other summons yet.”
“Not even at Count Demper’s estate?”
“Yesh, whenever I saw a summon there, I was too busy running away…….”
Nothing good could come from talking to bad Auntie’s summon, so she had only ever run.
“And Lucky said talking to summons is a secret.”
Clover said, looking up at the golden four-leaf clover that had been watching her silently the entire time.
Demian, suddenly curious, blurted out,
“If it’s a secret, why are you telling us?”
“Yesh.”
Clover nodded vigorously.
“Lucky told me a long time ago dat you don’t have to keep secrets at home.”
That a place where you could be at ease, without secrets or rules, was what made a home.
And now that Clover had a home of her own, she could tell them.
Clover gave a sweet, shy smile and said,
“Clobuh’s so happy to have a home…….”
