Translator: Nox

The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family

Chapter 28

“Oppa!”

“Have a safe trip, okay? You have to be careful! If anything happens, go straight to the Lion of the North Wind!”

Arwin pressed a loud smack of a kiss to Clover’s cheek, worrying over her again and again. Clover looked at the Lion of the North Wind standing in the distance—or rather, the giant cat—and nodded.

“Uh-huh!”

“If any bad person tries to take you away, kick and scream that you don’t want to!”

“That won’t happen, Arwin.”

Demian pushed Arwin aside with a dignified air. He likewise kissed the cheek of his youngest sister, who was stepping outside the family estate for the very first time, and met her eyes.

“Have a safe trip, Clover.”

“Yesh!”

“Go see lots of fun things at the Imperial Palace. And you have to tell oppa all about it when you get back. Promise?”

“Promise.”

Clover hooked her pinky around Demian’s finger. Only then did Demian take a step back from her.

“Are you boys finished with your goodbyes?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Dad! Take good care of Clover!”

“I will.”

Khalid exchanged a brief fist bump with Demian and Arwin by way of farewell.

Then, holding Clover in his arms, he boarded the carriage. Just then, Belze hurried over and spoke to Khalid.

“My Lord, where should I load this?”

In Belze’s hands was a flowerpot—the “gift” Clover had specially prepared.

Khalid had already heard early on that Clover had been pattering all over the mansion, eager to give a present to the Empress Dowager.

Thus, he was well aware of what the pot was and why Clover had prepared it. But having no idea that Khalid already knew, Clover flinched and reached out her arms.

“That, give it—”

“Load it with the other gifts. Take extra care so it doesn’t shake or get damaged.”

“Yes, right away, My Lord.”

While Clover blinked in surprise, Belze scurried off with the flowerpot.

Clover quietly watched her leave before turning to look up at Khalid.

“Daddy, you not gonna ask?”

“Ask what?”

“The pot. The pwesent.”

Aren’t you going to ask why I brought it?

As Clover tilted her head, Khalid gently tapped her soft cheek.

“You don’t have to tell Daddy everything.”

“Oung, okay.”

“Besides, I already know why you prepared it.”

“Okay… Huh?”

How did he know?

I didn’t tell anyone!

Clover whipped her head around to look at Lucky. Lucky stared back at her with a baffled expression.

[Do you really think I told him?]

Well, that was true too.

Clover was the only one who could talk to Lucky. So there was no way Lucky could have spilled the secret.

Then how on earth did Daddy know? Clover gazed at Khalid with a puzzled look, but Khalid never explained how he had found out.

Instead, he merely reached out and patted her head.

Sitting inside the rattling carriage, Clover squirmed a little, inching over until she was nestled right up against Khalid’s side.

---

“Duke Claudian has arrived.”

At the maid’s announcement, Empress Dowager Anernia beamed with delight and set down her teacup. A soft smile touched her lips.

“Is it already that time?”

“Shall I show him in?”

“We cannot keep a pillar of the Empire waiting for long. Show him in.”

At Anernia’s command, the maid bowed her head and stepped outside.

Before receiving her guest, Anernia glanced into the mirror another maid held up for her.

Reflected within was an elderly woman whose hair was streaked with silver, yet whose beauty remained undeniable.

The Emperor’s mother.

Empress Dowager Anernia Sorren Rosiperon of the Rosiperon Empire.

Though she had grown very old, her two blue eyes still shone with sharp intelligence. It was a clarity of gaze almost unbelievable for someone her age.

Even so, the passage of time could not be entirely concealed. Before the relentless flow of years, an Emperor and the Empress Dowager who bore him were equal to all others.

‘So much time has passed.’

It had already been four years since the Duchess of Claudian, Elysia, had fallen asleep.

To Anernia, who felt the fleeting nature of every single day, four years was an undeniably long time. Her life had grown terribly dull during the years Elysia had been asleep.

Yet perhaps that would no longer be the case. For Clover had returned.

‘They say she looks so much like Elysia.’

Clover Claudian—the frail child who had been sent away to her maternal family instead of growing up in the Claudian mansion.

The fact that she had not grown up in her parents’ embrace somewhat reminded Anernia of her own grandson, Pluto.

Pluto had also grown up alone in a detached palace, separated from his parents. Had it not been for Anernia’s care, there was no telling what might have become of him long ago.

So if there was one way Clover’s situation was better than Pluto’s, it was that Clover’s parents at least truly loved their child.

As Anernia recalled, the girl was the only one among Elysia’s four children who took after her mother.

When Elysia had given birth to the three older boys one after another, every single one of them had taken completely after Duke Claudian, making Anernia wonder just how overwhelmingly strong the Claudian bloodline truly was.

Then, at last, a youngest child resembling Elysia had been born. Anernia had rejoiced upon hearing the news.

‘Elysia.’

Anernia smiled softly as she thought of Elysia. It brought back memories of the first time they had met.

‘Sorren? I’ve heard of that name.’

When Anernia first met Elysia, she was a young lady in her twenties.

A person so breathtakingly beautiful and full of vibrant life that anyone would turn their head to look at her.

Naturally, Anernia too had been captivated. It was impossible not to give one’s eyes and heart to someone as lively and spirited as Elysia.

It was not long after that Anernia realized Elysia was not a human being.

After the two became the dearest of friends, Elysia took her to the seashore, saying she had a secret to share.

Then, standing on the white sandy beach where it seemed trees could never take root, Elysia turned back to look at Anernia.

‘You know, Anernia.’

‘Why are you hesitating so much? What is it you want to say?’

‘The truth is, I’m a spirit.’

‘What?’

Anernia had thought it was a joke. She assumed the commoner girl was spinning a tall tale just to tease Anernia, the treasured only daughter of the Sorren Marquisate.

Yet as Anernia married the Crown Prince to become the Crown Princess, gave birth to a child, and watched that child grow…

Elysia remained a woman in her twenties.

A young lady so radiant and beautiful that she turned heads wherever she went.

Having dropped such a bombshell on the beloved lady of the Sorren Marquisate, Elysia never aged a single day after that, as if to prove the truth of her words.

So Anernia had no choice but to believe. Elysia truly was not human!

‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘Because out of all the people I’ve met, you’re the one I can trust the most.’

Had Elysia been smiling when she said that? So much time had passed that the memory was faint now.

What followed was an ordinary enough story. It was the tale of a spirit’s earnest efforts to blend into human society.

It was Anernia herself who helped Elysia, who had been living under changing identities, become registered into a noble family.

And just as Elysia had believed, Anernia never betrayed her trust. Even to this day, she had never divulged Elysia’s true identity to anyone.

Not to her husband, not to her son, nor to her daughter.

Because Anernia had never revealed Elysia’s secret to a single soul.

Anernia helped her hide her nature and gain entry into high nobility, and when Elysia confessed she had fallen in love with a man, Anernia helped her marry him.

All the while, Anernia grew steadily older, while Elysia did not age or wither in the slightest.

There were times when Anernia had felt envious of that, and times when it had frightened her.

Of course.

‘All of that is ancient history now…’

Perhaps because of her advanced age, memories from those days no longer came easily. Even when she tried to recall them, they surfaced only as faint traces.

Yet the shock and awe of that time, along with Elysia’s vivid smile, still remained as fond memories in Anernia’s mind.

Besides, she didn’t need to look back so far into the past to remember Elysia. Up until just four years ago, Elysia had regularly visited the Imperial Palace to share tea face-to-face.

‘I wonder when you will finally awaken.’

Anernia lifted the cooled teacup to her lips and tilted it. The fragrant black tea flowed into her mouth.

Just then.

“Your Majesty, Duke Claudian and his daughter have arrived.”

“Show them in.”

Anernia set down her cup. Her gaze settled upon the grand doors, waiting for the one who would step through them.

How much did she resemble Elysia? When she was a newborn baby, the resemblance hadn’t seemed all that striking, but would it be different now?

All kinds of thoughts blossomed and faded in Anernia’s mind. Then.

The doors opened, and Khalid Claudian walked into the room. Her friend’s husband, whom she had seen countless times, bowed courteously before Anernia.

“Khalid Claudian greets Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Dowager.”

“Yes, Duke Claudian. It has been quite some time.”

…Wait, where is the child?

He was not the one Anernia had been waiting for with bated breath. Still unable to tear her eyes away from the entrance, Anernia waited for the one she had truly longed to see.

And moments later.

Pop.

A tuft of pale, soft-green hair peeked out from behind the door. Two tiny hands gripped the edge of the doorframe tightly.

Then, the child, cautiously peering inside to take in the room, spotted Anernia and widened her eyes into perfect circles.

“H-Hello…”

It was the youngest daughter who looked just like Elysia, whom Anernia had awaited for so long.

It was the first entrance of Clover Claudian.