~Chapter 9~
[Yeah.]
“But he also said maybe I don’t have to go, Lucky, you heard that too, right?”
[Yeah, I heard it too.]
The leaf Clover gave to Cherenio didn’t actually bring him good luck.
Instead, it let Clover secretly listen in on conversations far away.
And since Lucky was connected to Clover’s mind, he could hear it too.
Hearing Khalid and Cherenio’s talk through the faint power left in the leaf, Clover covered her flushed cheeks with both hands.
“Wow… maybe I really won’t have to leave….”
Of course, she’d already forgotten the part about “hiring a nanny and raising her at the villa.” Clover just giggled to herself.
“Alright, let’s go, Lucky.”
[Uh? Go where?]
“Where else?”
Clover put her hands on her hips proudly.
“To find the treasure!”
***
If she found the treasure, she could live here.
So if she found the treasure, everything would be fine.
The thoughts of a four-year-old were simple.
But really, they weren’t wrong.
Except—
“…But where do I even look?”
While the servants weren’t paying attention, Clover snuck out and plopped down in the middle of the lawn.
Thud.
Her knees and palms got covered in grass. She picked at them one by one, mumbling—
“My legs hurt….”
[That’s why I told you to just wait quietly in your room…]
“But I don’t wanna just sit and wait.”
What if she just waited and Daddy couldn’t find it?
Then she’d have to go back to Demper again.
“I already waited so long….”
And now she had to wait again? For an uncertain answer and a blurry future?
‘No way.’
Clover was the kind of kid who did everything on her own.
Just sitting there like a baby waiting to be spoon-fed pudding—her pride wouldn’t allow that.
But… her legs did hurt. That had nothing to do with pride.
“I’ll rest a bit.”
She could rest, then start searching again.
Clover turned to look at a bush with green leaves sprouting.
And then she spotted something.
“Huh? Nobody picked this flower yet.”
There, a black, ugly-looking flower was blooming.
It gave off a faint bad smell. Just one wasn’t so bad, but if a bunch grew together, the stink would be awful.
[Yeah, I see it.]
The leaves and grass were always green and pretty, but every flower that bloomed turned out dirty-looking and smelly.
Not just a few types—on this continent, all flowers were like that.
That’s why in the Empire, giving flowers was considered a huge insult. And noble families made sure gardeners removed every single bloom so no flowers ever grew in their gardens.
Of course, out in the fields or mountains, you could still find wildflowers.
But in a noble estate? Pretty much impossible. This one must’ve slipped by because of a gardener’s mistake.
It’d probably be cut down soon.
“But I like flowers.”
Clover couldn’t really smell the bad odor.
And ugly flowers didn’t look ugly to her—they looked kind of cool.
She didn’t get why people hated them so much.
[Trust only what you see with your own eyes. You don’t need to believe what others say.]
Lucky always said that was her special ability—the power to “see the inside behind the outside.”
Hmm.
‘If I have all these powers, why did Auntie hate me so much?’
Thinking of that made Clover remember Count Demper, and she quickly shook her head.
She promised herself not to think about him anymore.
‘Seriously, no more. For real this time.’
She even smacked her cheeks with her little hands.
They turned pink, and she rubbed them while glancing around.
Where should she search next?
Don’t you usually need a treasure map to find treasure? She didn’t have a map, or even a shovel to dig with.
And if she messed up the whole estate looking for it, people might start hating her again.
She didn’t want that.
As she sat there massaging her legs, she suddenly heard—
Meowww—
A strange cry from nearby.
Then—
Whoosh.
A big shape appeared in front of her—white, blue, and kind of huge.
“Gasp, a cat!”
It was the same cat that brought her diary back when she was with the Demper family.
And the same cat that had followed Khalid that day.
Happy to see it again, Clover reached out her arms.
“Kitty, how have you been?”
“Meow.”
Clover jumped up and hugged it tight.
It was about twice as big as a normal cat, but it rubbed its cheek against her neck affectionately.
‘Wow… it smells so fresh.’
The cat’s fur carried the scent of cool wind.
Hugging it made her feel sleepy, like a soft breeze was wrapping around her.
Come to think of it, Daddy smelled like this too.
‘The smell of wind….’
No wonder—it was Khalid’s summon.
And since summons were made from parts of their master’s power, its presence didn’t hurt Clover’s body.
[So this level of power is safe for you, huh.]
Lucky muttered.
Hearing that, Clover fidgeted, hugging the cat tighter.
‘If only Daddy’s power was just this strong. Then he could hold me without it hurting….’
‘No, no. Don’t think like that.’
Just because she wanted to live with Daddy didn’t mean she could wish for him to be weaker.
She shook the thought away and petted the cat. Then suddenly, she remembered—
“Lucky, do you think this kitty knows?”
[Knows what, the treasure’s hiding place?]
“Yeah.”
[Hmm… if it did, don’t you think your dad would’ve found it already?]
True. That made sense.
If the cat knew, Khalid would’ve learned from it by now.
Then Clover wouldn’t be struggling like this.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
If the cat really knew, she wouldn’t have to be out here searching herself.
Just as Clover was about to give up, still petting its fur—
A strange voice slipped into her head.
It wasn’t Lucky’s voice.
It wasn’t her own voice.
And there was no one else around.
That meant…
“Wait—you… you can talk?”
Clover’s eyes went wide.
The elegant cat calmly licked its paw and looked at her.
Khalid will never find it. He’s protected by the Storm.
Even as it licked its paw, the voice kept flowing endlessly into Clover’s mind.
“!”
If you want it, I’ll tell you where it is.>
***
Meanwhile.
“So, where are they sending her?”
Damian Clawdean, the eldest son, leaned against the window, watching.
Through the spotless glass, a tiny green dot of a girl was scurrying around.
She was so small, like a little sprout, that if you blurred your eyes even slightly, you’d lose sight of her.
Damian tapped the glass with his finger.
“Not sure yet. Father’s still thinking.”
Next to him, Arwin Clawdean, the second son, crossed his arms and leaned beside him.
“Wherever it is, it won’t be anywhere near the Demper family.”
He muttered bitterly, staring at that tiny green dot.
Clover Clawdean.
The youngest, their only little sister—their precious baby sister.
They’d only ever seen her once. Wrapped in a cradle, being carried into a carriage when she left.
That was the last time.
Damian and Arwin never even got to properly greet her before she was taken away.
‘Ah… little sister….’
They remembered her giggling with her eyes barely open.
Back then Damian and Arwin had been just seven and six years old. But that moment when Clover left the Clawdean estate was still carved clearly in their memories.
