The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family
Chapter 2
Click.
Just then, someone swung Clover's bedroom door open without permission.
Clover quickly scrambled onto the bed and pulled the blanket over herself.
Then she whipped her head around to look at the person who had walked in.
“Whatcha doing?”
The one who had barged in was her mean cousin, Louis.
He was Count Demper’s only son, and he loved bullying Clover.
Besides Louis, no one else ever flung Clover’s door open like that.
Sigh…
Letting out a tiny sigh, Clover pulled the blanket completely over her head and spoke.
“I'm westing.”
“Resting, my foot! You were just doing something a second ago, I heard you rustling around!”
…He had ridiculously sharp ears.
Clover flinched, but clutched the blanket tight so as not to show it.
Thud.
Meanwhile, she could feel Louis striding closer to the bed where she lay.
His footsteps grew louder and louder.
“Hey.”
And that unpleasant voice did, too.
Flinch.
The closer Louis came, the more Clover squirmed under the covers to pull away from him.
Clover hated Louis.
Because Louis bullied her every single day.
He had definitely come to pick on her today, too, so she didn't want to deal with him.
Just then, however.
“Huh, what's this?”
She heard Louis rustling after discovering something.
When Louis’s attention shifted from her to something else, Clover let out a quiet sigh of relief, but…
Rustle.
Rustle?
Realizing that there was only one thing in this room capable of making that rustling sound, Clover shot right up.
“Louis!”
Clover cried out and spun around to face him.
Sure enough, Louis was pulling the diary Clover had written out from beneath the bed.
“What's this grubby paper? What did you write on this?”
“No! Give it!”
Having her diary snatched away by Louis, Clover reached out her hands.
She couldn't let him take that.
She needed that so she could ask someone to scold Louis and Auntie!
Mean Louis!
“Did you write 'you dummy'? Your handwriting is so messy I can't even read it.”
Fortunately, Louis couldn't really make out Clover’s handwriting.
“Tch, at least write so people can read it.”
Unable to decipher Clover's crooked scrawl, Louis sneered.
That was a relief.
Still, now that the diary was in Louis's hands, she couldn't let her guard down.
“Give it back, it's mine!”
“Don't wanna. Why should I?”
“Meanie! Why are you taking it?”
“Why can't I?”
He grinned slyly.
“Everything in this mansion belongs to me anyway.”
“…….”
“The clothes you're wearing, this paper—all of it is mine. Mother said everything in this mansion belongs to me since I'm going to inherit the family.”
Louis is so obnoxious…
Clover covertly glared at Louis as he strutted around. Luckily, Louis didn't notice and walked over toward the window.
Then, realizing what Louis intended to do by the window, Clover’s eyes went wide.
“Louis!”
“So I can take it if I want.”
With a malicious smirk, Louis threw Clover's diary right out the small window.
Flutter.
Countless sheets of parchment drifted and flew out the window.
“And I can do this, too.”
“…!”
Clover's diary.
That diary she had painstakingly collected scattered in all directions like autumn leaves swept up by the wind.
Having half of the diary she had worked so hard to write stolen away, Clover slumped to the floor.
“No…”
It was a precious diary that must never be taken.
On top of that, getting caught was a whole other disaster.
In that diary, Clover had also written down how Count Demper had been embezzling her child support all this time.
Of course, 'Lucky' had been the one to tell her.
After hearing from Lucky that pocketing child support was just as wicked as snatching away a cupcake given as a snack, Clover had immediately written that down in her diary as well.
But what if Count Demper read it?
Clover's face turned pale.
No one liked a piece of paper filled with insults about them.
And no one would like the person who wrote those insults either.
Given Count Demper's nasty and foul temper, she would certainly fly into an uncontrollable rage if she found Clover's 'diary.'
[That rotten brat!]
The four-leaf clover threw a fit, fuming with rage.
However, Clover had no time to be angry at Louis.
I have to pick them up quickly!
She had to gather them all and come back before the villain Auntie saw them and went berserk!
Leaving Louis behind in the room, Clover threw the door open and bolted out.
Patter, patter!
She dashed down the spiral staircase and quickly arrived in the garden.
It was the garden visible from Clover's bedroom window.
So the diary pages Louis had thrown were bound to be scattered around here somewhere.
“Quickly, gotta find them quickly…”
If Auntie caught sight of them, she was doomed!
Clover hunched over, roaming through the garden to find the diary pages one by one.
Found one!
Here too!
It felt just like a treasure hunt.
Even if she found them all, there was no prize money, but…
I won't get scolded.
That alone was more than enough.
One page.
And another page.
A passing gardener even picked up a page for her.
“Are you looking for this?”
“Yeah, sank you…”
Clover nodded in gratitude, clutching the parchment tightly to her chest.
Clover gathered the diary pages faster than expected.
Had she collected them all?
Since she hadn't counted them while writing, she had no way of knowing if she had found every single one.
It was just as Clover was scurrying all over the garden looking for the 'diary.'
“Ah!”
A page of the diary was caught up in a tree!
What should she do?
Clover can't climb up there.
This tree was so tall and big that even Louis had trouble climbing it.
There was no way Clover, who was far smaller and shorter than Louis, could possibly climb it.
Clover stamped her feet beneath the tree in frustration.
“Clover! Where on earth did that brat go again?”
From somewhere, she heard her aunt’s furiously angry voice.
[Ack, the villain appeared!]
Lucky cried out.
Eep!
Startled, Clover pressed herself flush against the base of the tree.
She had to get up there somehow and bring it down!
Otherwise, she was sure to get scolded terribly by her terrifying aunt once again.
Just then.
Swish.
“…Huh? A kitty?”
A blue cat appeared out of nowhere.
A large cat with long, fluffy fur was looking at Clover.
[Hm?]
The cat quietly watched the struggling Clover, then lightly leaped up into the tree.
It then took the parchment Clover had been searching for into its mouth and brought it down to her.
“Is that for me…?”
As if in confirmation, the cat stared long and intently at Clover.
Flustered, Clover threw her arms tightly around the cat's neck.
“Sank you!”
Watching the scene quietly, Lucky muttered.
[No matter how I look at it, this seems to be a summon—]
Before Lucky could finish speaking, however.
“Clover!”
Eep.
The voices of her mean aunt and Louis rang out once more.
Clover hurriedly let go of the cat’s neck and spoke.
“I, I have to go now.”
“…….”
“Sank you for helping me.”
Then she rolled up the parchment tightly to hide what was written on it.
“Clover… so this is where you were!”
“Eep, Auntie!”
Just as Clover rolled up the parchment, Count Demper appeared right on cue.
“You little brat! Didn't I tell you not to go outside?!”
She lifted Clover up with effortless ease.
Clover dangled helplessly in Count Demper’s grip.
“You are grounded!”
“I didn't come out because I wanted to…”
“Do not talk back to me!”
“Yesh…”
Seething with anger, the count strode away while carrying Clover.
Held in Count Demper's grasp, Clover looked back toward the spot where the 'cat' had been just moments ago.
However, the cat that had helped Clover had already vanished without a trace.
Had it been a guardian angel sent to help her?
Thank you, kitty.
Sending a silent word of thanks to the cat in her heart, Clover once again firmly hugged the bundle of rolled-up parchment to her chest.
***
August 2nd, weather sunny.
Auntie got mad again.
Told me not to tell Daddy.
Those were the contents written on the parchment the summon had carried down from the tree in its mouth.
There was no need to question whether the contents were true.
Because Clover, the owner of the diary, had been scampering all over the place with a deathly pale face just to gather those pages.
Which meant that this had truly happened.
As had the teardrops scattered across the parchment.
Ruminating on the little child who had been picking up the diary and the tearstains remaining in the corner of the parchment, Duke Claudian spoke.
“…I must go to the Demper estate.”
Fitting for the one renowned as the Murderer of the North, his voice was chilling and grim.
