The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family
Chapter 21
Realizing Clover was having another conversation with her summon, Khalid decided to wait quietly until she was finished.
Every time she opened her mouth, her tiny, round, pea-like head bobbed slightly. It was the most adorable sight Khalid had ever witnessed in his life.
‘How cute….’
He raised a hand to shield her from the sunlight beating down on her.
A gentle breeze fluttered past.
“……Huh?”
Clover blinked blankly at Lucky, then looked down at the seed in her hand.
Then at Lucky again.
Then at the seed again.
Then at Lucky once more……
“Wucky, what did you say?”
[That’s no ordinary seed! It’s a ‘Seed of Heart,’ Clover! Your Authority has grown even stronger!]
“Heart seed?”
[Yeah! You just made a ‘seed’ out of your dad’s feelings! Ahaha! Baby! Munchkin! My little bean! Look how much you’ve grown!]
Clover found it a little hard to understand what Lucky meant.
Feelings were invisible, so how could anyone make a seed out of them?
Seeing that she still did not quite grasp what she had accomplished, Lucky fluttered down onto Clover’s lap and began to explain at eye level.
[How did you feel when you first met your dad?]
“Clover… was happy…….”
The little girl beamed.
[Right, you were happy! Then how do you think your dad felt?]
“Daddy… Daddy felt……”
Glance.
Clover tilted her head up to look at Khalid.
Khalid was gazing down at Clover with an expression that made her heart tickle.
Still, her dad’s feelings belonged to her dad.
It was not something Clover could know for sure. Clover answered with a question mark in her voice:
“Was Daddy happy too……?”
At that, Lucky nodded vigorously.
[Exactly! I bet he was definitely happy. But listen, kiddo. When people feel something, a kind of ‘smoke’ comes out of their heart. Whether they’re sad or happy, it’s all the same.]
At that moment.
Clover’s eyes widened.
“Wait, smoke?”
Clover had seen smoke!
Just yesterday, and today too.
She had seen it coming from her dad. Blue smoke drifting up, and floating closer to her.
Then could that have come from his heart?
[That smoke was drawn into your hand to make the seed, so…….]
Clover stared intently at the seed in her hand. The seed formed from her dad’s blue smoke was rolling around in her palm.
[In other words, you just made a seed out of a person’s heart, Clover.]
Lucky stated decisively. Then he fluttered down again, settling beside the seed Clover had just created.
[And this is that very ‘heart.’]
Lucky said.
Things like feelings were invisible.
Unlike Clover’s heart pounding thud-thud inside her chest, it was something you could not touch or see.
And yet.
“Then… did I touch it?”
Did Clover touch Daddy’s heart?
[You did, and you’re touching it right now.]
Clover’s face brightened completely. To think what was in her hand was her daddy’s heart!
To think Clover had made it from her dad’s feelings! Her little heart began to race furiously again.
‘Gasp, I’m a total genius.’
Then if she planted this seed, would a sprout grow?
Honestly, making seeds was not very difficult for Clover.
While this was her first time making one from a person’s heart, she had made ordinary seeds several times before.
None of those seeds had ever grown into anything, though.
‘Could this one be different?’
Because it was her dad’s heart. It might be different.
“Heh, hehe, hehehe.”
Clutching the seed tightly and preciously, Clover smiled brightly.
Thinking that she had achieved something incredible, she could not stop grinning.
After returning from the picnic, Clover fell straight asleep, perhaps worn out from the day.
By the time they arrived, she had been so drowsy she could barely keep her eyes open—looking every bit a child her age.
Even then, the way she refused to let go of the seed she had created was deeply endearing.
After laying Clover down in bed and confirming she was asleep, Khalid headed straight for his office.
There was business he had left unattended while spending the day with Clover. He needed to deal with that first.
“What about the matter I asked for?”
“Right here, Your Grace.”
Teniron, Khalid’s adjutant, presented a neatly organized file of documents. Khalid took it and flipped through the pages.
Inside was a detailed record of where Count Demper had embezzled the child support funds. Khalid let out a scoff.
“Dabbling in ridiculous ventures, I see.”
From the looks of it, Count Demper’s husband had gotten involved in an illegal business, and she seemed to have gone to great lengths behind the scenes to clean up the mess.
Naturally siphoning off the child support along the way.
In the beginning, it appeared the funds were spent on Clover, but after her husband caused a massive disaster, the investigation showed that every coin went straight toward covering it.
Flipping through the list, Khalid asked Teniron,
“How much fortune does Demper have left?”
“All liquid assets appear to be gone, and most of their land is heavily encumbered with debt, so there are no immediate sources of funds. However, the diamond mine continues to yield revenue, which seems to be what sustains their livelihood.”
That diamond mine was what Khalid had given to the late Count Demper as a dowry when he married Elysia.
“Then I’ll have to take it back.”
Khalid set the papers down with a firm tap.
“It was given as compensation for raising Elysia. Since they failed to properly raise her daughter, Clover, they must cough it back up. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“You are entirely correct.”
“By neglecting Clover, Count Demper insulted Claudian and tarnished our prestige. I cannot let this slide. First, investigate this illicit venture. Lock them away if you can.”
“Yes, Your Grace. I will carry it out as commanded.”
Teniron gathered the documents. With this, Count Demper’s affairs would be settled.
She would have to spit out double the child support she had pocketed from Claudian. In the process, the Demper family would be ruined.
Until now, he had treated her leniently considering she was Elysia’s sister, but he had no intention of doing so any longer.
If she thought she could get away without paying the price, she was sorely mistaken.
‘In any case, my wife never seemed particularly attached to her family.’
There was no harm in taking care of it himself.
Elysia Demper.
The only reason she had asked him to entrust Clover to the Demper family was because of the Branch of the World Tree buried and absorbed into the Demper estate grounds.
Therefore, whatever became of the Demper family was none of his concern.
‘I should look into a way to retrieve the Branch of the World Tree as well…….’
Reaching out, Khalid opened a drawer and pulled out a framed portrait of Elysia.
In the painting, Elysia was smiling with the brightest expression in the world.
Like the happiest woman alive.
He stroked Elysia’s face, even though doing so would never let him actually touch his wife.
“…….”
After gazing at Elysia’s face for a long time, Khalid looked toward Teniron, who was still sorting the documents, and asked,
“How is the White Forest lately? Any unusual occurrences?”
“No, Your Grace. The knights are guarding the perimeter heavily in three shifts, so all remains peaceful.”
“Good.”
“Are you planning to visit the forest?”
Asked Teniron, one of the few who knew Elysia’s true identity.
Gently placing the frame back down onto the desk, Khalid spoke.
“I must.”
Elysia was in the White Forest.
“Because Clover has returned.”
Born there as a Tree Spirit, Elysia Demper was asleep within the forest to recover her strength.
“I want to show our child to Elysia.”
Elysia had said that when Tree Spirits exhaust their power and can no longer sustain their human forms, they return to the trees to rest.
So there was no need to worry too much, and she would be back soon.
Yet four years had already passed since Elysia left. What was worse, his heartless wife would not even appear in his dreams.
So there was no other choice. He would just have to take Clover there to see her.
After thinking of Elysia for a moment, Khalid spoke slowly.
“The child misses her mother. And my wife must miss Clover as well.”
“Then I shall make arrangements so that you may visit the White Forest soon.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
Teniron bowed respectfully and exited the room.
