I’m an Alraune, a plant monster girl.
And after being brought from the botanical garden to a room inside the Demon King’s castle, I found the red-haired man I saw earlier waiting for me there.


Barometz had gone one about how handsome he was, so I remembered his face well.
He looked human, but since he had two horns growing from his head, he was probably a demon.
Besides, I doubt any ordinary humans would be living in the Demon King’s castle in the first place.


The room was enormous by human standards.
Including my bulb, I’m around three meters tall, and with the flowerpot I’m planted in, I’m even taller than that.
Yet my head still didn’t come close to the ceiling.
And yet my head still doesn’t reach the ceiling, which means this room was probably built with demons in mind.

Even the one-horned minotaur, who was around four or five meters tall, didn’t look cramped here.


The decorations inside the room were impressive as well.
Just looking at them, it was obvious that whoever lived here held a position of considerable status.
So, who exactly is that red-haired man?
Though, to be honest, I think I already know the answer…


The red-haired man was seated on a long couch at the far end of the room.
Uncle Teddy approached him, bowing respectfully on the spot.


“Lord Grüsch, I have brought the Alraune you requested.”


C-Could that “Lord Grüsch” be short for “Lord Grüschwanz”…?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!
It really is him! This guy really is Fire Dragon-sama! Lord Grüschwanz!!


Wait, wait—is this Fire Dragon-sama’s human form or something?
He can turn into a human?
I’ve never heard of a dragon that could do that!


Well, I suppose going about daily life would be inconvenient as a giant monster-sized dragon.
He’d probably crush the Demon King’s castle just from his own weight.
So I can understand why he’d choose to live in a human form if he can, but seeing the terrifying Fire Dragon-sama looking like an ordinary human still feels incredibly strange.


“Good work,” Fire Dragon-sama said to Uncle Teddy and the minotaur.


Then our eyes met.


──S-Scary!

W-What do I do?!
Fire Dragon-sama is after my life

What if he realizes I’m the Alraune from that forest?
As revenge for his subordinate, the eyepatch minotaur, he might burn me all over again.

I was already burned once by Fire Dragon-sama’s blue flames, so he likely assumes I’m dead.
Even so, since my appearance is the same as when we last met, he might have already figured out that I’m the same Alraune.


I’m a plant, but I felt like I was about to break out in a sweat.
I was so terrified that I unconsciously let a little moisture escape through the stomata on the undersides of my leaves. For a plant, transpiration is basically sweating.


“Bring the Alraune here.”


With that, Fire Dragon-sama instructed the minotaur to place me near the couch.
Set down on the floor by the minotaur, I found myself directly facing Fire Dragon-sama. This is way too scary! My eyes are darting all over the place!


While I was trembling with fear, Fire Dragon-sama spoke to the one-horned minotaur.


“Dickkopf, you’ve gone to a lot of trouble.”


Huh? That name sounds familiar.
Wasn’t that the name of the eyepatch minotaur I ate back in the forest…?


“It’s been several months since you inherited the name of the minotaur clan chief. How is it? Now that you’re the one leading the clan, do you think you can handle it?”

“You personally avenged my predecessor, Lord Grüsch. I will certainly prove myself worthy of your expectations.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“Yes, my lord!”


After giving one final bow, the one-horned minotaur left the room.
Fire Dragon-sama then began speaking slowly, as though addressing me directly.


“He took over the position of his predecessor who died in the line of duty earlier this spring. In the process, he inherited his predecessor’s name as well.”


Uh… is he talking to me?
He was staring straight at me like he was waiting for an answer.
If I stayed silent, he might get angry, so I guess I’d better respond…


“I-Is that… so?”

“The previous chief was a minotaur who wore an eyepatch.”

“R-Really…”

“His name was Dickkopf. Does that name sound familiar to you?”

“…No.”


W-What am I supposed to do?
Fire Dragon-sama won’t take his eyes off me.

He’s not even subtle about it. He’s definitely suspicious of me, isn’t he?
I don’t want to get burned alive againnnnnn!


“The one who killed his predecessor was a plant monster living in a certain forest. By a strange coincidence, it was an Alraune just like yourself.”

“What… a coincidence…”

“I hear you’re only three months old. Interestingly enough, I encountered that Alraune around the same time ago.”

“What… a coincidence…”

“That Alraune even went so far as to eat Dickkopf. Naturally, I burned it with my magic flames to avenge my subordinate, but…”


After a brief pause, Fire Dragon-sama asked me.


“Have you ever eaten a minotaur?”


Eeeeeek!
I’m being interrogated!


“No… I haven’t…”

“Then all is well. Though, it’s still strange how you and that Alraune are the spitting image of one another.”

“Th-That kind of coincidence… happens… doesn’t it…?”

“But that is not the only coincidence. I happened to taste a drop of that Alraune’s nectar.”


Oh, I remember that.

I didn’t want Fire Dragon-sama to burn me, so I tried to beg for my life by letting him taste my nectar. I was this close to securing a position as both his breakfast dessert and ornamental houseplant, but then he found out I’d lied about not eating his minotaur subordinate, so I ended up getting burned anyway.


“I simply couldn’t forget the taste of that nectar. However, I personally confirmed that the Alraune burned to ashes. And so, I felt a tinge of regret, knowing I would never again taste that exquisite nectar.”


So he actually came back to check whether my old body had completely burned up.
That was close… I’m really glad he never ran into me when I had just sprouted as a little girl.


“Nowhere within the Demon King’s realm could I find nectar comparable to that of the Alraune’s. Therefore, I ordered rare plants from across the continent to be gathered and had nectar collected from their flowers instead.”


So that’s why Uncle Teddy was gathering plants.
They were all being collected for Fire Dragon-sama. So that’s why it wasn’t a botanical garden run by the Demon King’s army. It was actually his private botanical garden.


“Then, while sampling the nectar collected from the garden, I was astonished. There was one whose nectar tasted exactly the same.”


So he’d been searching for me.
Well, more accurately, he’d been searching for a flower that could produce the same nectar as me.


“When I learned that the flower in question was an Alraune—and that she even looked identical—I could not hide my surprise.”


I don’t know why, but this is reminding me of a story I heard back when I was a high school girl in my previous life.

It’s the story of Cinderella, the heroine who rode to the prince’s ball in a pumpkin carriage and met the prince.
When midnight struck and the magic began to fade, she panicked and lost her glass slipper while fleeing down the stairs. Using that slipper as a clue, the prince then searched for her.

Unlike the fairy tale, it wasn’t a glass slipper. Instead, the taste of my nectar was used to track down the plant that produced it, and I ended up being brought to the Demon King’s castle.

What is this? I’m basically Cinderella!


“Do not bother hiding it. You are that Alraune from back then, aren’t you?”


What am I supposed to do?
Cinderella’s identity is about to be exposed.

***

Author’s Note:

In his human form, Fire Dragon-sama is only a little taller than an adult human male, so the protagonist, being an Alraune, is actually taller than he is. This means she was looking down at him from above the whole time.

Next Time: Cinderella’s Identity Is in Danger