I’m an Alraune, a plant monster girl.
And the day after I spotted Fire Dragon-sama from the botanical garden, something unusual happened.



Walking alongside the garden’s caretaker, the hydra, was a teddy bear wearing a top hat.


It’s Uncle Teddy!
The self-proclaimed butler who had brought me to this botanical garden.

Uncle Teddy stopped in front of one of the flowers growing in the garden. As he touched the flower, he seemed to be doing something.


Now, Uncle Teddy?
Isn’t your behavior a little inappropriate?

The Alraune you kidnapped is right here, you know.
And yet you’re busy flirting with the other flowers, and not even sparing me a glance. I don’t think that’s acceptable.
It’s not that I actually want to flirt with Uncle Teddy or anything, but I couldn’t help but feel a little sulky.


Meanwhile, Uncle Teddy continued his little rendezvous tour of the garden, visiting the flowers one after another until he finally made his way to me.


“You seem to be doing well, Alraune. Still blooming as vibrantly as ever, I see.”


Ahh, that voice gets me every time!
Hearing that deep, suave voice of a distinguished gentleman come out of an adorable teddy bear is enough to overwhelm both my eyes and ears.

Wait, this isn’t the time for that!
This is my chance to ask the question that has been bothering me all this time!


“Why… did you… bring me… here?”

“Because it is one of my duties. I simply gather rare plants and flowers for my master’s botanical garden.”


Just as I thought, Uncle Teddy had been carrying out his master’s orders.
The real question is who that master is, and why they’re collecting plants in the first place.


“Enough idle chatter. Let us begin our work. It’s time to produce it”

“…Produce what?”

“Your nectar, of course. You may be an Alraune, but you’re still a flower. Producing a little nectar shouldn’t be a problem, should it?”


Huh, he wants my nectar?

Taking a closer look, I noticed Uncle Teddy was carrying several containers already filled with nectar.
So he hadn’t been fooling around with the flowers, but rather collecting nectar from them.


“Why… do you need… nectar?”

“An Alraune living in a botanical garden has no need to know. Now then, hand it over. Otherwise, I shall extract it by force.”


Uncle Teddy’s hand reached towards me.
Since I didn’t want my nectar forcibly squeezed out of me, I decided to cooperate.

I let nectar dribble from my mouth.
After filling a small bottle with it, Uncle Teddy seemed satisfied and moved on to the next flower.


What was that all about?
I don’t get it.


Incidentally, Barometz was skipped during the nectar collection.
Well, she can produce cotton, but she doesn’t produce nectar, so that makes sense.

Instead, the one-horned minotaur who often helps out at the garden came by and harvested some of Barometz’s golden cotton.


Handing over parts of our bodies directly to people who aren’t family…
Moments like these reminded me that I’m no longer human. I’ve become a plant being kept by others.


I wonder if this is how cows on a farm feel when they’re milked.

Actually, cows get milked from their udders, don’t they? That’s way too embarrassing.
Not that I’m really in any position to say that, considering I produce nectar from my mouth.
But if someone ever told me to produce nectar the way cows produce milk… I don’t think I’d have the confidence to get married after that.


But it’s okay.
I can have children all by myself!
I’ll raise lots of little Alraunes and build a huge family.



As I secretly made that resolution, Barometz tilted her head and asked me a question.


“Alraune, you seemed awfully used to producing nectar. Did you make a lot of it back in the forest?”

“In the forest… there were lots of humans… and monsters… who liked nectar.”


After all, I used to give nectar to the little witch and the female knights every day.
By giving away nectar, I was protected.
As a fragile little flower, I survived by forming symbiotic relationships with different creatures through the nectar I provided.


“The forest is dangerous… but if you make friends… it’s easier… to live there.”

“Is that so… The forest truly does sound wonderful…”


Barometz gazed up at the sky as if looking at something far away.
There was a faint loneliness about her expression.
Because of that, I found myself asking her.


“Are you… curious about the… forest?”

“…Yes. The forest is a place I’ve always longed to see.”


After slowly closing her eyes for a moment, Barometz turned back to face me.


“To tell the truth, I’ve always been jealous of you.”

“Me?”

“I’ve been in the Imperial Palace my entire life. Even though I’m a plant monster, I’ve never known the forest.”


That’s right. She did say she’d been growing in the Imperial Palace since the day she was born.


“Someone once told me that the forest is the true home of trees, flowers, and all plants. That’s why I, too, wish to return to the cradle where we belong…”


Seeing the sorrow in Barometz’s expression, I felt as though my heart was being squeezed by a ball of cotton.

──So that’s it.
Even though she’s a plant monster, she’s spent her entire life in the human world. She still doesn’t know what a forest is like.


The palace was never a place for creatures like us.
Barometz said she was constantly on display for everyone to see. With her wool harvested from her body, she felt humiliated day after day.
It must have been horrible.


Even for Barometz, who was half beastfolk and half plant, the forest represented the ideal world she dreamed of.


As for me, perhaps I was actually fortunate to have been born as an Alraune in the forest.
Humans attacked me, sure. But that was all.
I was never kept and managed by humans like some kind of sideshow attraction.

Life in the forest had been harsh. But now, looking back, I think living in the forest was better than spending my life among humans. In the forest, at least, I had my freedom.


So, summoning up my courage, I spoke to my friend, one of my own.


“If we’re ever… free… I’ll take you… to the forest.”

“…Really?”

“The forest is… my home. So you won’t have… to worry about… how to live.”

“Living in a forest has always been my dream. It sounds absolutely wonderful.”


Barometz’s cotton hand and my vine intertwined.
At some point, swinging our joined hands and vines back and forth together had become our signature gesture.


I wanted to help Barometz, who seemed to have suffered hardships similar to my own.
And if possible, I’d like us to spend our days quietly photosynthesizing together.
Not in a botanical garden, but in the forest where we could be free.


“Someday… I’ll show you… the forest… I’m sure of it.”

“That would make me very happy.”


But deep down, I understood it could never happen.
Because we were both plants rooted in this botanical garden.
Barometz understood that too.

Even so, the two of us kept smiling at each other.
As long as we’re dreaming, we can forget reality.

I wish this moment could last forever.



But reality is cruel.

Because partings always arrive without warning.

***

Author’s Note:

Barometz has golden cotton harvested from her once every day as part of her routine. So when the Alraune’s nectar was collected, I figured she might end up being harvested every day as well.

Next Time: Crying Farewell in the Center of the Botanical Garden