Chapter ~ 08
That can’t be.
Daddy had looked really sorry about what happened to me.
He’s going to send me away again?
Lucky couldn’t say a word this time either. He merely broke out in a cold sweat.
Clover stared at Lucky for a moment before clenching both of her little fists.
“I wanna check if Daddy really gonna send me away…”
[What? How are you going to check?]
“I have a way.”
Clover dashed off, dragging a chair as big as she was over to the window. Then she hopped onto it and stretched both arms out, grabbing the flowerpot sitting on the windowsill.
[Baby, you—]
“Sorry.”
After apologizing to the flowerpot, Clover plucked off one tiny leaf.
Then she quietly closed her eyes.
At once, a faint sound traveled through the leaf and reached Clover’s mind.
Clover’s power wasn’t limited to making plants sprout.
As long as it was through a plant, Clover could also hear sounds from far away.
Of course, she couldn’t use this ability very often.
Okay. Got it.
“Lucky, follow me.”
Hop.
Thump.
Clover lightly jumped down from the chair and immediately dashed off somewhere else.
When she pushed open the door, she found Belze and the head butler of the Cloudian household just about to enter the room.
The butler’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw her.
This was the first time Clover had ever seen him. Startled by the appearance of an unfamiliar man, she froze for a moment.
“Oh my, young lady. Where are you going?”
“Mm-hm, to Belze. Belze, hold Clover, pwease.”
Clover stretched out her short little arms, and Belze broke into a bright smile as she scooped Clover up into her arms.
“My lady, are you feeling better now?”
“Mm-hm.”
Belze seemed to think that Clover had cheered up after eating the cake.
She hadn’t cheered up at all.
“By the way, who is that mister?”
Nestled comfortably in Belze’s arms, Clover asked in a voice full of curiosity.
The man let out a hearty laugh.
“Ho ho ho. I am Cerenio, the head butler who manages the Cloudian estate. I have served the Cloudians since your father’s generation. It is an honor to meet you, young lady.”
“Head butler?”
Clover thought there might have been a man with a similar role in Demper’s household.
And he had always been stuck right beside Count Demper every day.
Sparkle!
Clover’s eyes lit up.
Perfect. I’ve found my eavesdropping target!
Clover held out the leaf she had been carefully clutching and said,
“Take this.”
“What is this, my lady?”
“A present. Don’t throw it away. Keep it with you, and good luck will come.”
Clover pointed at Lucky, her four-leaf clover summoned beast, as she spoke.
Lucky immediately began spewing out golden light, playing along with Clover.
Cerenio laughed heartily.
“Ho ho ho. Thank you, young lady. I will treasure it.”
“Keep it with you, okay? Good luck, Head Butwer. Good lucky boi.”
“Our young lady already knows the word ‘luck.’ How clever you are. I will make sure to keep it safe so I don’t lose it. Thank you.”
When Clover saw Cerenio tuck the leaf into his breast pocket, she smiled broadly.
That’s the perfect place for eavesdropping.
But then she noticed that Belze was looking at her with a slightly hurt expression.
Clover broke into a nervous sweat and desperately avoided Belze’s gaze.
She had only prepared one leaf, so she couldn’t give one to Belze.
Besides, she hadn’t given this one with entirely ‘good intentions.’
So I’ll give one to Belze next time.
But still…
My heart hurts…
Nestled in Belze’s arms, Clover quietly turned her head away.
“How is the child? Is she still very downcast?”
“She seemed fine just now. According to her personal maid, she ate the cake that was brought to her quite well—and quite a lot of it, too. I believe the cake may have lifted her spirits.”
“I see. That’s a relief.”
“But what are you looking at so intently?”
“I am looking into a way to retrieve the branch of the World Tree from the Demper estate and raise her separately at one of our villas, where we could hire a nanny for her. And…”
Khalid ran his fingertips over an old piece of parchment.
“I’ve also been looking for a way to raise the child here at the Cloudian estate without having to resort to such measures.”
“…You are still searching for the Cloudian treasure.”
Khalid nodded.
The Cloudian treasure.
The grand title referred to a single ring.
A ring with a blue sapphire set in its center and diamonds encrusted all around it.
It was a family treasure that had been passed down through the direct descendants of the Cloudian family since ancient times.
The reason the ring was considered a treasure was not simply because the sapphire at its center was extremely rare and expensive.
It wasn’t merely because of that.
The ring possessed the power to nullify the Cloudians’ abilities.
Long ago, the husband of Theana Cloudian, the first head of the Cloudian family, had been physically too weak to withstand her power.
For her husband, Theana Cloudian had created a ring imbued with the Storm’s blessing.
Under the protection of the Storm, Theana’s husband was able to remain healthy.
For a time, the ring was therefore passed down from generation to generation as an heirloom worn by the head’s spouse.
But…
It was gone now.
More precisely, it had been removed from the Cloudian family.
The reason was simple.
If a ring capable of rendering their powers useless ever fell outside the family, the consequences would be enormous.
In fact, other families who had discovered the secret of the ring had repeatedly targeted the spouses of the Cloudian heads.
After such incidents happened again and again, the Cloudians had decided to eliminate the ring altogether.
So that no one could ever covet it again.
Damn it… Is it really gone?
But Khalid Cloudian had been searching for that ring like a madman for the past four years.
He had piled up countless ancient Cloudian books and was painstakingly going through them, searching for any clue as to the ring’s whereabouts.
“Your Grace, you have searched for it all this time, so you already know this, but…”
“I know, Cerenio. But the records don’t say how the ring was destroyed. And the Storm’s blessing isn’t something that would disappear so easily.”
Which meant there was a possibility that it hadn’t disappeared at all.
Khalid had been clinging to that possibility for four years.
Then Clover could be raised here in Cloudian.
He wouldn’t have to worry about holding her and accidentally hurting her.
He wouldn’t have to leave his beloved daughter all alone somewhere far away.
That alone made the search worth continuing.
Khalid flipped through another ancient book as he spoke.
“If I cannot find it, I intend to research whether there is a way to recreate the ‘treasure.’ The first head created it using her power, after all. If I can discover how she did it, I should be able to do the same.”
Indeed, Khalid Cloudian was considered the man with the strongest power the Cloudian family had seen since its first head.
It wasn’t impossible.
Cerenio, who had been quietly listening to Khalid, looked at him and asked,
“Then, my lord, if you really do find the treasure, will Miss Clover be able to stay here at Cloudian?”
“Yes. I hear that the ring possesses the power to ignore supernatural abilities.”
Cerenio thought of the tiny girl he had seen moments ago.
A little child with light green hair, round black eyes like seeds, and rosy cheeks.
‘Keep it with you, okay? Good luck, Head Butwer. Good lucky boi.’
A natural smile spread across Cerenio’s face as he thought of Clover.
The thought that they might be able to raise that little young lady here at the estate from now on made it impossible for him to hide his smile.
Until now, Cerenio had always urged Khalid not to devote himself to something that was ‘impossible.’
But after seeing Clover with his own eyes, he could no longer bring himself to say such a thing.
Cerenio nodded.
“I will help as well. If there is anything you need me to do, please tell me. I truly hope that we can… take care of the young lady here at Cloudian.”
“Yes.”
Khalid nodded and was about to lower his gaze back to the ancient book when he suddenly noticed something.
His eyebrows rose.
“By the way, Cerenio. What is that in your pocket?”
“Pardon?”
At Khalid’s words, Cerenio absentmindedly touched his pocket.
His fingers immediately found the little leaf Clover had given him.
“Ah!”
He chuckled and carefully tucked the leaf back into his pocket.
“It is a gift from Miss Clover. She told me that if I kept it with me, good luck would come my way. It is a precious little gift, just like the young lady herself.”
“…Clover gave you that?”
“Yes.”
“I envy you.”
Khalid stared at the leaf and murmured under his breath.
Just as Cerenio had said, the tiny leaf, so much like Clover herself, looked as though merely carrying it would bring good luck.
Meanwhile, Clover had been listening to the entire conversation.
“Gasp. He really was gonna send me away…”
