The day after the nectar collection.


A demon I had never seen before appeared in the botanical garden.
From the looks of it, he had come to observe the garden.

The visitor walked along the paths one by one and eventually made his way over to us.


He was a demon whose appearance was almost human, with red hair.
What stood out most were the two horns growing from his head.
After glancing at Barometz, the red-haired man turned his gaze towards me.

Then, while staring at me, he muttered.


“The Spirit Princess spoke of you. From what I heard, only three months have passed since your birth.”


The Spirit Princess… he means the fallen Dryad, right?
Wait, does that mean she could tell my age just by feeling my body?
I had no idea she possessed such a talent. As expected of a spirit.

Still, why does this man know about it? And it’s strange that he’d suddenly tell me that out of nowhere.


“Mm. As I thought, you really do have a pleasant scent…”


With that, the red-haired man continued deeper down the path.
What a strange guy.


Once there was no one left on the pathway, Barometz turned to me in surprise.


“Eh…? Alraune, you’re still zero years old!?”

“That’s… right.”


It’s been over a year since I became an Alraune, but this body itself has only existed for about three months. So physically speaking, calling me zero years old wasn’t wrong.


“I had no idea you were that young… You’re practically a baby.”


Barometz-san gently patted my head with her cotton hand.


“Oh goodness… I feel as though I’m about to awaken the thing they call maternal instincts.”


──Not this again.
Whether it’s the little witch or Barometz, why does everyone keep going into big-sister mode around me? It’s not like I’m actually a baby.


“By the way, Alraune, did you see that gentleman just now? He had such a handsome face～”


She certainly wasn’t wrong. He was remarkably good-looking.
His expression was sharp and dignified, giving off the feeling that he was the strong-willed type. Calling him handsome would definitely be fair.


“If a gentleman like that were in the Imperial Palace, all the young ladies would be in an uproar.”


It seemed Barometz was influenced by the noble ladies in the palace, judging by her clear weakness for handsome men.

I can understand the feeling, though.
If I were still a saint rather than an Alraune, maybe my heart would have fluttered a little too.

But perhaps because I’ve become a plant, I wasn’t nearly as interested in that sort of thing as I used to be. I’m not even an animal anymore, let alone a human. I’m just a lump of plant cells.
So while he was easy on the eyes, I don’t feel the urge to pursue anything beyond that.


“I’ve also been curious about this for a while, but you have such a wonderful scent, don’t you? Even that gentleman couldn’t help but turn to look at you.”

“R-Really?”

“Indeed. And it’s not just the gentleman who turns around. I even sometimes find myself drawn in by your scent. It’s such a lovely fragrance. Sweet and delicious, if I may say so…”


Ugh, Barometz’s gaze is killing me.
I have a feeling she’s asking for my nectar without actually saying it.
But Barometz is my dear friend. I don’t want her to learn what my nectar tastes like. If she became another nectar addict, there would be no saving her.


While I guarded my nectar by crossing my vines into an X shape, the caretaker came over.
Uncle Teddy was behind him as well.


I managed to stop Barometz from taking my nectar, but now Uncle Teddy might end up taking it instead.
Just as I braced myself for that possibility, the caretaker said something completely unexpected.


“Alraune, you’re being relocated.”


────Huh? I’m being relocated?
Did I do something wrong…?


“To… where?”

“To our lord’s residence. Everything else has been entrusted to this butler, so don’t make any trouble and cooperate.”


If the caretaker and Uncle Teddy serve the same lord, then that would make him the owner of this botanical garden, right?
But why am I the only one being transferred to see him?
As I protested, unable to accept this, the one-horned minotaur came walking down from the far end of the pathway.
He was carrying a giant flowerpot and a large shovel.

Looks like I really am being moved.


“Alraune…”


Barometz looked at me worriedly.
Her eyes were watery. She was on the verge of tears.


“Don’t… worry.”


I stretched out a vine and held Barometz’s cotton hand.

While the minotaur dug up my roots, the two of us kept our eyes fixed on each other.
She seemed to understand that plants rooted in the botanical garden had no choice but to submit to fate.
Once the minotaur replanted me into the flowerpot, Barometz called out to me through her tears.


“I never imagined we’d have to part this soon.”


Neither did I.
I had been secretly looking for a chance to escape the botanical garden, but I never expected to be moved for the demons’ own reasons.


“I wished we could have spent more time together, Alraune.”

“Me… too.”

“We’ll see each other again, won’t we?”

“Don’t worry… I’m sure we… will.”


The minotaur lifted my flowerpot.
My vine slipped away from Barometz’s hand.


“I’m not going to say goodbye.”

“…Yeah. See you… later.”

“I’ll be right here, always, waiting for you, Alraune.”


Until I finally left the path where we’d been planted together, I kept looking back at Barometz.


Once she disappeared from view, it wasn’t long before we reached the exit of the botanical garden.

She was the first friend I made who was also a plant monster, so it was sad having to say goodbye.
But I’m sure we’ll definitely meet.
I don’t know whether I’ll ever be able to come back to this botanical garden, but I’ll never forget Barometz. After all, I promised I would show her the forest.


And so, for the first time in over ten days, I was taken outside of the botanical garden.
As the outside air touched my body again after so long, I turned back and looked.
My eyes widened in shock as I saw the sign standing there at the entrance to the garden.


“Grüschwanz Botanical Garden”


That was the name of the botanical garden where I had spent the past ten days or so.

It was a name I knew very well.
Just as I suspected, the owner of this botanical garden was Fire Dragon-sama.



Uncle Teddy and the minotaur carrying me continued towards the enormous castle.
It was the same castle that Fire Dragon-sama had entered the other day, wasn’t it?
Curious, I decided to ask Uncle Teddy a question.


“Where… are we… going?”

“To the Demon King’s castle. It will be your new home.”


──No way.
So that castle really was the Demon King’s castle after all.


Though, if he’s calling it my new home, then it doesn’t sound like they’re planning to dispose of me. Just knowing that is relieving.


And so, I was carried right into the Demon King’s castle.
The final destination of the Hero’s party I once belonged to as a saint.


To my surprise, the castle’s interior was incredibly spacious and luxurious.
Since demons are generally larger than humans, the hallways and rooms seemed to have been built on a larger scale to accommodate their size.


As expected of the castle of the Demon King, who stood opposed to mankind on the continent, it was magnificent in every sense of the word.
I have to admit, it even surpasses the royal castle of the Kingdom of Gardenia.
I’m amazed that the demons possessed technology advanced enough to build something like this.
Perhaps demons were a far more intelligent race than I thought.


As we moved through the castle, we passed all kinds of demons in the hallways and on the staircases.
Everyone seemed busy with something, with each appearing to have their own duties to attend to.
So demons really do possess a civilization and operate in an organized manner, just like humans.
I was always taught that demons were barbaric creatures, but it seemed that wasn’t true.

After that, we continued climbing an absurdly long staircase.
Eventually, we reached a floor so high that I lost track of how many stories up we were.


Uncle Teddy and the minotaur stopped in front of a large, sturdy-looking door.
It was more extravagant than the entrance to any room I’d seen in the castle so far.

After Uncle Teddy announced himself, a voice answered from inside.
That voice sounded familiar. In fact, I think I heard it quite recently.


The door opened.
The moment I saw inside the room, I realized who the owner of the voice was.


Inside stood the red-haired man who had appeared in the botanical garden earlier that day.

***

Author’s Note:

We’ve finally arrived at the Demon King’s castle. And yet, strangely, our former saint protagonist still hasn’t walked a single step herself.

Next Time: My First Time in the Demon King’s Castle