The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family
Chapter 4
Dark bluish-black hair.
Golden eyes flashing with the cold ferocity of lightning.
The head of Claudian—the family branded throughout the empire as villains—and the Murderer of the North: Khalid Claudian.
‘H-How is that bastard here already?!’
He stood towering at the far end of the hallway in the Demper estate.
“Your Grace…!”
Behind him, the servants of the count’s household cowered with their heads bowed low, completely at a loss.
They had clearly tried to stop the duke from marching up here, only to fail miserably.
Count Demper stared at Khalid in sheer panic.
“I have come to see my daughter.”
Clover’s father, appearing for the first time in four years.
Khalid Claudian spoke slowly, his voice laced with killing intent.
“Where is my daughter?”
Cold sweat soaked the back of Count Demper’s neck.
How could she possibly tell him?
That his daughter was currently shoved away in a cramped room, and having been caught writing an ‘expose,’ was in the middle of having all her diaries confiscated?
Without realizing it, Count Demper’s gaze drifted toward Clover’s room.
Gulp.
The sound of her swallowing dryly echoed distinctly down the silent corridor.
‘…This won’t do.’
Count Demper took a step forward to smooth over the situation.
“Your Grace, why did you not wait in the drawing room, coming all the way up here…”
“Am I obligated to wait for you?”
Khalid’s voice sounded like an outright snarl.
Count Demper stiffened slightly under the oppressive weight of his tone.
“Tsk.”
Clicking his tongue, Khalid reached out his hand.
“I will find her myself.”
With those words, a gathering of wind coalesced at his fingertips.
It was the power of the storm.
A power that only the direct bloodline of Claudian could wield.
‘What in the—!’
This was the Demper estate.
Unleashing an Authority here was nothing short of an open challenge to Count Demper.
Yet Khalid Claudian wielded his Authority without a shred of concern for such propriety.
‘No, not right now—!’
Before Count Demper could even attempt to stop him—
Whoosh.
The wind gathered at Khalid’s fingertips was instantly drawn toward Clover’s room.
It flowed naturally, as if returning straight to its master.
Watching this, Khalid spoke in a dry, clipped tone.
“Found her.”
Then, the closed door to Clover’s room burst wide open.
“Ah-oo…?”
Beyond the flung-open door, a tiny toddler with light green hair came into view.
The very reason Khalid had rushed all the way to Demper without stopping for breath.
It was Clover Claudian.
***
The reason Duke Claudian had entrusted his child to the Demper family was simple.
‘Darling, please… you must leave Clover with Demper…’
Because his beloved wife had begged him to.
Duchess of Claudian, Elysia Demper.
She was the last remaining spirit in this land.
A tree spirit who had now lost nearly all her power.
And Clover, taking after her mother, was born with a faint trace of the Power of Wood.
In contrast, the Authority of Claudian was equal to—if not stronger than—the power of the imperial family.
A colossal force that commanded raging tempests.
Claudian was the master of a tremendous power that crushed and overwhelmed all other Authority wielders through sheer force.
And Clover was…
‘Wah, waaah!’
An absurdly frail ‘Authority wielder.’
The power Clover possessed was the power of a sprout.
A tender sprout could never endure before a violent tempest.
Because of that, the moment Clover was born, she had been on the verge of death.
All due to the Authorities possessed by her father, her older sister, and her older brothers.
And due to the well-meaning intentions of her older sister, who had only tried to save her.
It would have been far better if she had not been an Authority wielder at all.
Then they would never have had to worry about her being crushed by Claudian’s power.
In that desperate, critical moment when Clover seemed poised to die at any second—
‘In Demper… I buried a Branch of the World Tree in the Demper courtyard. A very long time ago…’
Elysia, drifting off toward sleep, had spoken with great difficulty.
‘So if she grows up in Demper, she will be safe. If she is protected there…’
The Branch of the World Tree.
Just as it had protected Elysia until now, it would protect Clover as well.
Because the child’s Authority was so similar to Elysia’s.
Khalid Claudian had not wanted to part with his newborn daughter.
Yet he had no choice.
Only two paths lay before him.
Watch his daughter suffer and perish under the crushing weight of his own power.
Or send her to Demper, protected by the Branch of the World Tree, to be raised until she was safe.
No sane man would ever choose the former.
‘I will do as you say, Elysia.’
Thus, Khalid Claudian was forced to send Clover to her maternal family.
Hoping that Clover, who had inherited an Authority resembling her mother’s, would grow up safe and sheltered within the power Elysia had left behind.
At the same time, however, he had not explicitly explained or revealed the true reason for sending her, fearing the greedy Demper family might use Clover as a political tool.
Claudian had many enemies, branded as they were as a family of villains. Though the Emperor lurked behind that reputation, few were aware of the truth.
So instead, to make it known that Claudian was keeping a close eye on the child, he sent more than enough child-support funds every single month.
And yet.
“I had no idea you were too foolish to even grasp the meaning of that…”
Khalid spoke as his gaze slowly swept over his impossibly tiny daughter.
“W-Who are you?”
His daughter, Clover.
Seeing her properly for the first time, Clover was tiny.
Had she not been fed properly?
Or was she simply small by nature?
Given that Clover’s older sister and brothers were all tall and well-built, the former seemed far more likely.
Her cheeks were smudged with grime.
The corners of her eyes were still wet, as though she had been crying just moments before.
The state of the child was far more wretched than anything Khalid had braced himself for when sending her here.
‘Tank you for hewping.’
The sight of the child he had witnessed through his summon flashed before Khalid’s eyes.
Normally, peering into the estate of another noble house like Demper was strictly forbidden.
Yet Khalid had broken the rules and secretly looked inside Demper through his summon.
Because today was his daughter Clover’s birthday.
The day Clover turned four years old.
Even if he could not be with her on that day, Khalid had wanted to at least see his child celebrate her birthday.
And yet.
‘You are forbidden from going outside!’
Far from celebrating her birthday happily in the Demper household, his precious daughter was—
‘Wahhh…’
Being dragged along by her aunt’s hand.
The moment Khalid saw that, he had rushed to the Demper estate without stopping for breath.
Having seen the way his child was treated, there was no way he could just sit idly by.
Khalid slowly scanned the interior of Clover’s room.
The maids, who had been pulling armfuls of worn parchment from under the bed, stood frozen with the sheets clutched in their hands.
It appeared to be the rest of the ‘diary’ that his summon had retrieved from the tree.
“Hand it over.”
“Y-Your Grace!”
“I said, hand it over.”
At Khalid’s threatening voice, the maid trembled and offered ‘it’ up.
Khalid practically snatched Clover’s diary from the maid’s hands.
Then he read down the crooked, messy handwriting.
I mis daddy.
Auntie scowlded me again.
She yelled that I eet too much. I didnt even eet that much…
Though difficult to decipher, Khalid could read it nonetheless.
After reading down a few lines, Khalid bent his knees and knelt before the tiny child.
Her eyes were rimmed with red, as though she had been rubbing them furiously just moments ago.
The little girl looked at Khalid with a face full of confusion.
Watching her with a heavy, complicated heart, Khalid spoke.
“Clover. Daddy is here.”
Clover repeated Khalid’s words.
“…Daddy?”
He answered steadily.
“Yes.”
Khalid carefully lifted his daughter into his arms.
Then he whispered in a low voice.
“I’m sorry I’m late. Let’s go home now.”
Rumble, crash!
Behind Khalid’s back, beyond the tiny window, a massive bolt of lightning struck down.
It was a terrifying, eerie, colossal strike of lightning—a mirror of his raging fury.
The faces of everyone in the Demper estate drained of color in pure terror.
***
Daddy? Is he really Clover’s daddy?
Held in Khalid’s arms, Clover rubbed hard at her eyes.
At that moment, Clover’s summon, Lucky, sparkled and spoke up.
[Yes! It really seems like this person is your daddy! Your wavelength is an exact match!]
‘Reawwy?’
[I’m telling you, it is!]
Stopping mid-cry, Clover lifted her head to look at the man’s face.
He was tall and very handsome.
His hands were large enough to lift Clover easily with just one, and his eyes gleamed like precious jewels.
And he was holding Clover with such gentle, warm care.
In that moment.
Clover remembered the words Lucky had always told her.
[It’s okay, Clover. When you grow up just a little bit, your very cool and wonderful daddy will come to get you!]
“A cool and wonnerful person…”
Quietly mulling over Lucky’s words, Clover parted her lips.
This man was cool and wonderful.
And he said he was Clover’s ‘Daddy.’
Which meant…
[That’s right! Kiddo! It really is the daddy you’ve been waiting for your entire four years of life!]
At Lucky’s words, Clover’s big eyes welled up with tears.
Clutching Khalid’s chest tightly, Clover blinked, and tears welled up and spilled over in big drops.
Startled by her reaction, Khalid pressed a soft kiss to Clover’s forehead.
“Clover.”
“D-Daddy? Weawwy Daddy?”
“Yes, I am really your daddy.”
Hearing Khalid’s words, Clover broke down, weeping sorrowfully.
Why…
“Why did you come so wate…? *Sniffle…*”
