The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family
Chapter 16
“Well then, Clover.”
Khalid looked gently at Clover and spoke.
“There’s something Daddy is curious about regarding the cat. Could you ask a question for me?”
“Yesh.”
Of course, as much as you want.
It wasn’t anything difficult, so she could naturally do a favor like that.
When Clover nodded enthusiastically, Khalid smiled faintly.
“Could you ask why he didn’t tell me where the ring was?”
Clover turned her head to look at the cat.
Hearing Khalid’s question, the Lion of the North Wind seemed to ponder for a moment, then lifted his chin and looked squarely at his master.
And then.
<One who possesses a strong Authority of the Storm cannot find that ring. For it is the weakest power in Claudian.>
“He says someone with a stwong Authority of the Storm can’t find the wing. Because it’s the weak… weakest? power in Claudian.”
<Those who have been exposed to a powerful Authority for a long time are the same. Thus, it would have been of no use even if I had told you. In the end, you would not have been able to find it.>
“Th-thus?”
<Just convey the gist. He’ll understand on his own.>
“He says people who’ve been ’sposed to a stwong Authority for a long time are the same too.”
Clover spoke, trying her best not to slur her words.
“I see.”
Khalid nodded. Just as the cat had said, Khalid seemed to grasp the gist of the situation without needing any further explanation.
The cat gently rubbed his cheek against hers as if in praise. Clover beamed again.
Watching them quietly, Khalid reached out and stroked Clover’s hair.
“Good job, Clover. Thanks to you, that was a great help.”
“It was a help?”
“Yes.”
“Then, can Clover ask a question too?”
Clover pointed at Khalid with a bright smile.
“A barter!”
[That’s not quite how you use that word, but…]
Lucky muttered, but Clover didn’t pay it any heed. Khalid nodded as he sent Sina out.
“All right, let’s trade. What is it you’d like to ask?”
“Umm, well…”
Clover wriggled her little fingers. The words wouldn’t come easily.
Naturally so. Because what Clover wanted to ask about was ‘Mom.’
Mom.
‘Clover’s mom…’
Count Demper, her aunt, had always told Clover that her mother was as good as dead. That she would never see her again.
Clover, who hadn’t known what the phrase ‘as good as’ meant, had simply thought her mother was dead. Because of that, she had cried under the blanket many times.
But thanks to Lucky explaining it, she had learned. ‘As good as’ didn’t mean she was truly dead, but in a state similar to being dead.
If so, Mom might still be alive.
But she hadn’t been able to ask, terrified that her hope might be wrong. Ever since coming here, all she had heard and seen was Daddy; she had never once heard or seen anything about Mom.
So, afraid that she had misunderstood.
Afraid that her mother was truly dead, just as Aunt had said.
‘Then I think I’d be so, so sad.’
“Uumm…”
As she hesitated, unable to bring herself to speak for a long while, Arwin sat down beside her with a plop and stroked her head.
“Take your time. Your oppas have nothing to do anyway. We’ll keep waiting right here for you.”
“Ung.”
Gaining a bit of courage from Arwin’s words, Clover cautiously raised her eyes to look at Khalid.
Then, fidgeting by folding and unfolding her little fingers for no reason, she quietly opened her mouth.
“Mommy…”
“Yes.”
“Where is Mommy?”
Her aunt had taken loving care of Louis every single day. Her uncle had been the same. And Clover had been so envious of that.
Envious of Louis, smiling happily between both a mom and a dad.
“Because Clover hasn’t seen Mommy even after coming here…”
Clover’s eyes darted around as she read the mood in the room. At her question, Khalid, Demian, and Arwin all fell silent at once.
‘I knew it, maybe I shouldn’t have asked.’
A bit disheartened by the reaction she had anticipated, Clover dropped her gaze and stared down at her toes.
Just then.
“Clover.”
Khalid lifted Clover up into his arms. Setting her on his lap, he gently stroked her tiny head.
“Your mother is sleeping right now.”
Huh?
Clover racked her brain, trying hard to understand Khalid’s words.
Could this be… adult-speak, sugarcoating things so a child’s feelings wouldn’t get hurt?
And having completely misunderstood, the little girl covered her mouth with trembling hands.
“I-Is she weally dead…?”
“No. She isn’t dead; she is truly sleeping.”
Khalid spoke firmly. Demian and Arwin chimed in one after another.
“That’s right, she’s completely alive.”
“Yeah. Though she isn’t in the mansion.”
“Weally…?”
“Really. Why would we lie about something like this? She’s your mom, but she’s my mom too.”
Arwin pointed at himself with conviction. Watching him closely, Clover asked again, still full of cautious hesitation.
“Then weally, Mommy is alive?”
Khalid answered without missing a beat.
“Yes, she is alive. Clover’s mother is a tree fairy, you see. That’s why she’s sleeping inside a tree.”
Clover tilted her head.
Just then, Demian raised his hand and spoke up.
“Excuse me, Father, but instead of brushing it off with confusing and vague words like ‘Mother is asleep,’ shouldn’t you be more precise and explain that Mother is a Tree Spirit, and having exhausted her spirit power, she returned to her main body, the tree, where she is recovering her spirit power?”
“Do you think a baby can understand when you talk in such complicated terms?”
Arwin chided him right after, grabbing Demian’s hand and pulling it down.
Watching them blankly, Clover muttered in a daze.
“‘As good as’…”
“Huh?”
“Mommy was as good as dead. So Auntie told me Clover wouldn’t ever get to see Mommy again…”
Feeling a bit sorrowful as she recalled that time, Clover fidgeted with her fingers and said,
“It wasn’t true. It was a lie.”
“……”
“Th-thank goodness…”
Clover, who had seemed tense and hadn’t smiled once since her mother was brought up, finally broke into a soft smile.
“It’s weally such a welief, Daddy.”
I really thought Mom was dead because of me, just like Aunt said.
And I thought I’d never get to see Mom again…
But upon realizing that wasn’t true, a smile spread across Clover’s lips. It was a smile as bright as sunlight breaking through after the rain.
But.
“……”
“…Huh?”
“Ah…”
The others could not smile.
Hearing the mention of the ‘aunt’ from Clover once more, the expressions of Khalid, Demian, and Arwin hardened instantly.
Rumble, crash!
Uncontrolled Authority burst forth at will, and a tempest raged once again.
“Ung?”
Clover tilted her head, gazing at the windowpane where rain was beginning to pour down in sheets again.
***
“This is ridiculous! We can’t just let this slide, nor can we go easy on her just because she’s a relative. She must be made to pay the price!”
Highly agitated, Demian spoke as he gripped the ‘diaries’ Clover had written up until now. The hand holding the diaries trembled violently.
“How could she say such things to that little child? Aunt isn’t even human.”
Remembering Clover softly smiling while saying what a relief it was, Demian ground his teeth in fury once more.
Telling a four-year-old child that her mother was dead in that manner?
Even if Mother had truly passed away, she shouldn’t have spoken like that. Because Clover was still young. Because she was just a baby.
“Don’t tell me you intend to go easy on her just because she’s Mother’s family—”
“I have no such intention in the slightest. She isn’t even real… anyway.”
Khalid spoke resolutely.
“Do not worry, Demian. Demper will pay the price.”
His voice was calm, yet decisive and clear.
“She will regret that day for the rest of her life. Even if she writes ten times more letters of reflection than those diaries, she will flounder with nowhere to find forgiveness.”
Khalid Claudian.
True to his notorious moniker as the Murderer of the North, he spoke in a voice as chilling as a blade, or an icicle.
“I never spare anyone who touches my family.”
“……”
“No matter who it is.”
