~Chapter 6~
Kalid’s office.
“How’s the child?”
Kalid Claudian asked the doctor the second he entered.
He’d been so anxious waiting that he couldn’t hold back even until the man closed the door.
The doctor, who had just finished checking Clover, pushed his glasses up and gave the words Kalid wanted to hear.
“She’s fine.”
“…Thank goodness.”
“She fainted only because her body was shocked by strong power. If she rests, she’ll wake up soon. Aside from that, I found no serious problems.”
Kalid finally relaxed a little. He’d worried Clover might have been underfed or neglected at the Demper household, since her body was so much smaller than other children her age.
“But, Your Grace.”
The doctor, who had been listing Clover’s condition, suddenly paused and looked straight at Kalid.
That serious gaze made Kalid tense again.
Was there something else wrong with his daughter?
“…What is it.”
“You know, don’t you? At this rate, she’ll faint again soon.”
“…”
“Her body isn’t strong enough to handle the Claudian power.”
The meaning was clear.
Right now, he had no choice but to bring her to the Claudian mansion. But sooner or later, he’d have to find her another place to live.
Kalid had thought one parent–child separation in a lifetime was more than enough.
Now it seemed another was inevitable. He rubbed his chin with a heavy expression.
“…I know.”
“You’ll need to retrieve the World Tree branch from Demper as soon as possible. For the young lady’s health.”
“…Yes.”
“And for now, it would be best if you didn’t go near her. She hasn’t recovered yet. If she’s exposed to your power again, she may faint once more.”
“!”
Kalid’s brows shot up.
Stay away from her? For now?
Since bringing Clover to the Claudian mansion, he hadn’t even seen her once.
When she fainted in his arms, he had hurriedly passed her to someone without power, and hadn’t even been able to hold her properly.
“…Can I at least see her, even for just a moment?”
“You cannot.”
“I just brought her home.”
“I understand.”
“She thinks I abandoned her…”
“That is unfortunate. But it would be better to clear that misunderstanding in other ways.”
The doctor was firm.
“Your Grace, Miss Clover is like a tender sprout that hasn’t even taken root yet. A sprout has no defense against a storm—it will simply be torn out of the ground.”
“…”
“As painful as it is, this is all for the young lady’s health. You understand, don’t you?”
“…I do.”
Kalid reluctantly nodded. The doctor wasn’t wrong. Everything was for Clover’s sake.
He couldn’t make her suffer again just because of his selfish desire.
“Why did you only find Clover now?”
“Didn’t you want to see Clover?”
“Did Daddy abandon Clover?”
…He couldn’t let her think that.
“Because Clover’s useless…?”
…No. Never.
“Damn it.”
Kalid raked his fingers through his hair, messing up what had been neatly styled.
The disheveled look matched his torn-up feelings.
He had longed to bring his daughter home, only to find he couldn’t even hold her close.
Then—
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked. Both Kalid and the doctor turned toward the door.
“Come in.”
At his command, the door opened and a maid hurried in.
She bowed deeply, then straightened.
“My lord, Miss Clover has woken up.”
Then she blinked and added,
“She’s asking for you. What should I do?”
“…”
Kalid let out a long sigh. His eyes met the doctor’s.
Doctor Sina shook his head firmly.
***
“Please wait here just a little longer, Miss Clover.”
“Yeshh.”
Belze helped Clover settle onto a soft sofa. Clover answered politely and fidgeted with the clothes she wore.
They smell so nice.
And they were so soft. The hood even had big bunny ears attached.
Compared to what she used to wear at her aunt’s house, it was like heaven and earth.
Clover touched the fabric and remembered those old clothes.
Sometimes they’d even given her boy’s clothes—hand-me-downs from Louis when he was little.
Do I not have to wear those anymore?
She hoped so.
“Hey, Peanut, wearing my old clothes again, huh?”
“Ugh, this one’s ripped. Just give it to her.”
Out of all the clothes, she hated wearing Louis’s the most. Even a four-year-old had pride.
“…”
Clover glanced at Belze, who was busy fixing the bed and pillows.
She wanted to talk but didn’t dare interrupt.
I’m bored…
When would her dad come?
Belze had said if she waited here quietly, her dad would come soon. But to a four-year-old, “soon” felt like forever.
No, I should wait. I have to.
She couldn’t get branded as a disobedient child already, not when she had only just met her dad.
Besides, waiting was something Clover was very good at.
She’d waited patiently for her mom and dad for four whole years, in her aunt’s house.
Thinking of that aunt, Clover rubbed her chin seriously.
Hmm… she must be really mad now.
Of course she would be.
Dad had shown up and destroyed the whole house.
Boom! The walls had come crashing down. It was the coolest thing Clover had ever seen.
So that was the “power of Dad” her aunt always talked about.
The power Clover never had… the reason her aunt scolded her for not awakening it.
Now she understood a little.
Anyway, the wall had collapsed, so of course her aunt would be furious.
But it wasn’t me, it was Dad…
Still, if they met again, her aunt might try to drag her away.
At the thought, Clover’s little shoulders hunched. Just thinking of her aunt made her want to hide.
Her mood dropped quickly, and she shook her head hard.
Nope, nope. Think about something else.
Lucky had said: “Bad thoughts only hurt you.”
Clover hopped off the sofa and ran to the window.
She stood on tiptoe and clung to the sill, peering out.
The vast Claudian garden stretched before her, framed by glass.
“Wowww…”
The garden here was nothing like the one at the Demper mansion—it was far bigger, with so many statues.
Even to little Clover, it looked amazing.
But still, it seemed… empty.
She squinted and focused.
Then she realized—
Why does everything look so withered?
The grass was all dried up, and she could see trees dying here and there.
Surely a house this big had gardeners. So why was it like this?
Don’t tell me… here too?
Maybe this place didn’t have a “seed” either.
The decision seed.
Lucky had told her: wherever plants grew in groups, there was always a seed nearby.
It spread strength to the plants around it.
If something happened to the seed, then grass and trees would wither and die like this.
So there really isn’t one here…
If that was the case, then Clover could help.
Maybe—maybe she could actually do something here.
The thought made her a little excited.
I want to find out.
She looked around.
If she asked Lucky, she’d know for sure.
But—
Where’s Lucky?
Lucky, who had never left her side once since they’d met, was nowhere to be seen.
That was strange.
As Clover searched for her friend—
“Oh my, young miss! That’s dangerous, don’t climb up like that.”
“Ahh… sorry…”
Belze spotted her dangling from the window and quickly scooped her up.
She carried her back and sat her on the sofa again.
“Just wait a little longer. The duke will be here soon.”
“O-okayyy.”
So hanging from windows was dangerous.
Come to think of it, Lucky had said something like that before too. No other adult had ever bothered to.
Hmm.
Clover curled up on the sofa, hugging her knees and resting her cheek against them.
“…I wanna see Daddy soon…”
