~Chapter 12~
Khalid Claudian and Elicia Claudian had four children.
The eldest daughter, Sone Claudian.
The eldest son, Damian Claudian.
The second son, Arwin Claudian.
And lastly, Clover Claudian.
Out of the four, the only one born with the full power of the storm was Sone.
She didn’t just look like Khalid—her personality was just like his too.
People even said she might one day surpass Khalid’s younger self, that’s how strong her storm powers were.
So of course, Sone became both the Claudian heir and Khalid’s pride.
But Damian and Arwin were different.
They were still Khalid’s beloved sons, but Damian could only use wind from the storm’s power, while Arwin could only use rain.
They needed each other in order to use the storm’s full power.
For them, it was their weakness.
For Khalid, it was his soft spot—his “aching finger.”
***
“Damian, that’s—”
Seeing Khalid’s expression darken, Damian quickly cut him off.
“Father, I wasn’t trying to say it’s sad or painful.”
He added,
“I just meant, that’s why it’s okay for us to be around Clover. And we didn’t even go too close, just in case.”
Arwin chimed in, “Yeah, we kept a safe distance.”
With the two of them insisting like this, Khalid couldn’t stop them anymore.
“But your sister shouldn’t go near her.”
“Right. If Sone wants to see her, she should watch from a hundred meters away.”
The brothers exchanged a few words, and Khalid nodded slowly.
“Fine. But the baby might feel uneasy, so be careful about approaching…”
Damian jumped in again, “Actually, she didn’t act uneasy at all.”
“Yeah! It must be the pull of blood. She waddled right over, smiling, and said hi. Isn’t that right, bro?”
“Yup.”
The two boys nodded at each other. Even though they were only a year apart, they looked just like twins in moments like this.
“Anyway, just be careful.”
Khalid looked at his sons, who never seemed to listen to a word he said.
“Don’t scare your sister. Watch over her from afar. She’s a child with a lot of scars.”
That finally got Damian and Arwin to focus.
“Make sure she doesn’t feel abandoned… treat her well.”
Both boys nodded.
“By the way, Father,” Damian asked suddenly, as if he’d just thought of it.
“Does that mean you can’t go near Clover yourself?”
Khalid hesitated a moment, then answered.
“No. When morning comes, I’ll go see her for a little while.”
He murmured,
“I need to clear up the misunderstanding with my daughter too…”
***
Rustle, rustle.
Clover, dressed in cozy pajamas and sleeping in a huge bed, woke up in the middle of the night when the moon was bright.
After meeting her brothers, she had eaten dinner that Belze prepared, then collapsed into bed.
Tap, tap.
“Mmm…”
Something poked her, waking her.
Still half-asleep, Clover rubbed her eyes and looked up.
And—
“Kitty…!”
It wasn’t a person waking her—it was Khalid’s summoned beast, the cat.
A summon!
Still drowsy, Clover happily reached out and stroked its head.
“Why’re you here…?”
Her voice was thick with sleep. Her head drooped again, about to fall back asleep in ten seconds.
Noticing that, the cat nudged its head into her arms.
“Huh…? You want me to get up…?”
The nearly toppling Clover lifted her head again.
Beside her, Lucky lit up in the dark, glowing brightly.
[Hey! Why are you waking a kid up! What if she doesn’t grow tall? Sleep’s the most important thing at her age!]
But the cat ignored Lucky completely, its blue eyes glowing as it spoke clearly:
Let’s go, little one.
“Go where…?”
The words were short, but the voice was firm.
At that, Clover’s half-closed eyes flew wide open.
“Treasure!”
Lucky muttered, displeased.
[At this hour?]
Yes.
It has to be now.
The cat’s reply was so sure that Lucky couldn’t say a word.
Clover rubbed her swollen, sleepy eyes hard, trying to shake off her drowsiness.
Treasure. I need to find it.
If she did, she could stay here.
Father would be happy.
It would be the first time in her life she proved she was useful.
“Hold on. I can’t see. Too sleepy…”
The North Wind’s Lion—disguised as a cat—spoke calmly.
But Clover was impatient. She rubbed her eyes faster, then clambered down from bed.
The bed was high, so it was a little tricky, but she managed.
Once she was on the floor, the cat swished its tail with the little tuft at the end.
Follow me well, daughter of Khalid and Elicia.
“Mm, don’t worry. I’m strong.”
Clover clenched her fists and nodded.
Her round little eyes sparkled like gems in the dark.
***
The North Wind’s Lion led her secretly, avoiding the servants, to a fountain with a statue of a dog in the center.
The fountain was huge and tall, with water pouring down so strongly it felt majestic.
Clover craned her head back, staring.
“Wow… it’s so pretty…”
But what was with the dog statue in the middle? It stood on its hind legs, front paws up, smiling happily.
“What’s that?”
[It’s a dog statue.]
“I know that much.”
Clover pouted, staring at the dog statue glowing under moonlight and the water spilling down.
It’s here.
The cat leapt onto the fountain, its silhouette stretching under the moon.
Its graceful form was almost as dignified as the statue.
It licked its paw.
What you’re looking for. What Khalid is looking for.
“Here?”
Clover pointed at the tall fountain.
Here.
The water gushed down like a waterfall from beneath the statue.
But Clover had no clue where in the fountain the treasure was.
Is it in the water?
If so, she’d need to look inside. But the fountain was way too tall for her.
Maybe Father was the only one who could find it…
She was just thinking that when—
I’ll lift you.
A gentle breeze wrapped around her, lifting her up easily.
The summon’s power.
It carried Clover up onto the fountain and set her down safely, without hurting her at all.
“Whoa… amazing… storm powers are the best! No wonder Aunt was always talking about them!”
[No, your aunt was still wrong.]
Lucky, perched on Clover’s shoulder, grumbled, clearly annoyed at the cat.
He whispered,
[Kid, if you’re scared, say so. I’ll take you down right away. You don’t have to do this. Look, even being up here is too dangerous…]
Overprotective.
[What’d you say? Overprotective?!]
Lucky bristled, glowing like starlight.
Clover thought for a second, then sat on the fountain’s edge.
She plunged both hands into the water, shaking her head.
“No, I’m not scared.”
Then she grinned wide.
“I’ll find it. I’m not going back to Demper.”
