They say that when people face death, their life flashes before their eyes—and it turns out, that’s actually true.

Right before dying, I relived my life… except for some reason, there were memories mixed in that I didn’t recognize.
That really threw me off.

Apparently, in my past life, I was a Japanese high school girl.

***

It happened in the middle of our journey to defeat the Demon King.
While traveling through the forest it suddenly happened.

My allies betrayed me.

In exchange for being suddenly attacked from behind and losing my left arm, I remembered that I was someone who had been reincarnated.
Honestly, you could call it divine providence. Even in a crisis like this, maybe the gods hadn’t forsaken me.

So of course I hoped, maybe my cheat powers would awaken and I’d miraculously escape!
But that moment of hope didn’t last long. Nothing happened.

No mysterious power awakened, no divine message came from a goddess.
I was still just me.
The only “change” was that a stranger’s memories had flowed into me and altered my way of thinking a little.
To realize I was a reincarnated person and not get any perks, how cruel is that?
Come on, I’m literally on the brink of death.
A little blessing wouldn’t hurt, right?

After all, the brave hero I’d traveled with—and the apprentice saint, my junior—suddenly branded me a traitor and attacked.

They even cut off my arm, so they were clearly out to kill me.
I hadn’t betrayed them, nor did I have any idea why they’d see me as an enemy.
Still, I wasn’t just some helpless girl. Even without a cheat ability, I wasn’t going down easily.

I was a saint.
someone whose main role in battle was to heal wounds.

As I’ve always done, I regenerated my severed left arm using high-speed recovery magic.
Among the kingdom’s saints, I was the only one who could instantly restore lost limbs.

But my opponent was more skilled.
Just as my arm regenerated, I lost my balance.
Seeings my legs severed by the traitors, I was hit with an intense shock of pain at the same time.

“Even the greatest saint of our time can’t regenerate one arm and both legs all at once, can she?”

My junior sneered, showing no concern for my screams.

Then she swung her wind blade and sliced off my right arm.
Ah… blood gushed out.
If only this were just a dream, how happy I’d be.

What did I do wrong?
Since childhood, I supported the kingdom as its saint, protecting my companions on this journey to defeat the Demon King.
And yet, in the end, I was betrayed and killed by those very companions.

The hero—my fiancé, the second prince of the Kingdom of Gardenia—looked down at me with disgust.
The warm smile he once gave me as my betrothed was gone.

Why…? How could it come to this?
Please… say something.
Help me.

But, as if to deny such a wish, the apprentice saint pressed her foot against my head.

“Serves you right, Iris-senpai. But the real show’s about to begin.”

At the sound of my name, something coiled around my newly regenerated arm.

A vine.

A thick plant vine wrapped around my body and started dragging me away.

“How fitting, isn’t it? For a woman who deceived the hero and the kingdom, being eaten by that thing means not even your bones will remain.”

At the end of the vine waited a monstrous flower.
It looked like a gigantic carnivorous plant, opening its grotesque mouth wide to swallow me whole.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of the hero from now on. He was so passionate last night, after all.”

Ah. I was not only betrayed, but cuckolded by my own junior too.
What a joke.
What a miserable end.

“So please, senpai, just go ahead and die here quietly, okay?”

A tear slid down my cheek.
I couldn’t stop crying.

What did I ever do?
I didn’t betray anyone. I didn’t betray the hero or the kingdom.
I’m being falsely accused.

“He…lp… me…”

I reached out, struggling against the vine, only to find my right arm gone, severed.

Dragged away, I was swallowed whole by the monstrous flower.

***

Inside its narrow body, slick digestive fluids enveloped me.
My clothes dissolved, and my skin began to burn.
Yep, definitely stomach acid.
At least I wasn’t being chewed up… but being digested alive wasn’t much better.

I poured all my remaining magic into continuous healing, trying to keep my body intact.
If I could just regenerate my right arm and blast my way out—ah… no, I couldn’t move.
Even if I keep healing, I’m fighting a losing battle against the digestive fluid.
At this rate, I’d eventually run out of magic, melt down to my bones, and become plant food.

Even after remembering my past life in Japan, nothing miraculous happened.
No divine gift, no cheat skill.
What was the point of remembering, then?

If I had a past life, it means I’ve already died once.
And dying again… I was terrified.

I didn’t want to die.
I wanted to live, to survive and finally have a peaceful life.
One without betrayal or early death.
A life of peace…

I can’t give up yet!

I forced out the last of my magic, unleashing my healing spell.
My cells split at a frantic rate, my body reconstructing itself in ways I couldn’t comprehend.
Something foreign mixed into me, and then, suddenly, the pain was gone.
But I couldn’t open my eyes. I couldn’t move my arms or legs.
I couldn’t hear or smell anything.

All I could feel was that my body was curled up tight, gently wrapped in something thin and soft.

***

How much time had passed?

It happened abruptly.

Without feeling my legs, my body rose on its own.
Whatever had been enveloping me unfurled like petals opening.

I opened my eyes, and saw deep green trees all around.

That’s right.
I’d been attacked by those two in the forest.
Yet somehow, I’d survived.

I was alive!
Still breathing!
As expected of the kingdom’s greatest saint!

But this wasn’t the time to celebrate.
I had to get out of here, except… my legs wouldn’t move.

When I looked down, I could see my chest.
Wait… I was naked.
Well, my clothes had melted, so I guess that made sense, but still, embarrassing.

Then I noticed something strange, something that blew away that embarrassment entirely.

I was standing inside a giant flower large enough to hold a person.
Or rather… I was growing out of it.

From the waist up, I was a human woman.
From the waist down, a massive flower.

Like one of those plant monsters in the bestiary—an Alraune.

Wait… this feeling…

I brushed my hand along the red petals.
And not only did I feel the flower beneath my fingers, I could feel my fingers through the petals too.

I understood.
I didn’t want to, but I had to.
This flower was now a part of my body.

Which meant, of course—

After betrayal, dismemberment, lost memories, heartbreak, and being devoured by a monster…
my human life had finally come to an end.

Apparently, I had become…
a plant monster.

***

Author’s Note:
A new series begins! I plan to update daily. Thank you for reading!