This is from the perspective of First Prince Leonhardt.
My name is Leonhart von Gardenia.
I am the First Prince of this country.
While heading toward Edelweiss doing a shoulder carry with my partner Kyle, we were ambushed by the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire.
And that was where we encountered Alraune.
Suddenly emerging from the ground, she looked exactly like my younger brother's former fiancée—Saint Iris.
A mysterious Alraune, identical to Iris.
When Alraune and Kyle started fighting for some reason, I genuinely feared for my life.
I was still being carried on Kyle's shoulders, you know?
Yet right below me, the two of them were locked in an inhuman battle.
Honestly, it wouldn't have been surprising if I'd been caught in the crossfire and killed at any moment.
And Kyle was being Kyle, too.
He lost to Alraune before, so I understood his desire for a rematch.
But if that was the case, he could have at least put me down on the ground first. It made no sense to me.
But perhaps it was thanks to being able to watch up close.
I ended up noticing the secret of this Alraune.
"Her eyes are red!"
That's right—the Alraune I met in the Dryades Forest had Nectar-colored eyes, similar to Iris's.
But this Alraune's eyes were red.
They were the same color as the clones that filled the Alraune forest.
My words triggered the end of the battle.
With her true identity exposed, the Child Alraune looked deflated and said, hanging her head:
"......My name is Mei Edelweiss. I am Mama's daughter."
Amazing, isn't it?
This Alraune, despite being a clone, apparently had a name.
Moreover, for some reason, she went by the name Edelweiss.
Speaking of Edelweiss, that was the Ducal House that our Kingdom of Gardenia took pride in.
It was also Saint Iris's family home, and they were relatives of the royal family.
So why would this Child Alraune bear the Edelweiss family name?
To find the answer, we decided to set foot into the city of Edelweiss.
"Is this... Edelweiss?"
"Hey, look at this, Leonhardt! The city looks like a forest!"
While Kyle's excitement was rising for some reason, I was dumbfounded.
I suppose this is what they mean when they say your jaw drops in astonishment.
"Why does Edelweiss look like a forest.........?"
Edelweiss was supposed to be a historic city with stone buildings arranged in an orderly fashion.
Yet, spreading out before me was a massive forest covered by a canopy of green trees.
Could I still be... half-asleep?
We were supposed to depart from the Alraune forest toward the Royal Capital, but ending up back in a forest? It had to be some kind of mistake.
"Or perhaps there was some kind of Cataclysm? Or maybe an attack by the Empire or the Demon King Army... No, we must have mistaken the city for another. That must be it."
"Hey, Leonhardt. I tried asking the townsfolk, and it turns out this really is Edelweiss, no mistake about it."
"Ah, I see..."
Strangely enough, the residents of the city seemed to love this green-covered town.
What would have to happen for someone to proudly talk about their own city, which had giant trees sprouting everywhere?
Normally, you'd think about cutting them down.
"Not only are they not cutting down the trees, but there are even people praying to them. What in the world is going on?"
The residents of the city were engaging in inexplicable behavior.
Kneeling before the trees, they chanted, "Thank you, Saint," as they offered their prayers.
This Edelweiss was the city where Saint Iris was born.
So I knew about the custom of praying to the Saint, but that had nothing to do with these giant trees, right?
If they were praying to Iris, I'd think it would normally be done at a Church or in front of her portrait......
"That Alraune—Mei, was it? If she were with us, I could have asked her about all sorts of things."
We parted with Mei and arrived at Edelweiss.
She remained at that location to hand over the captured Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire to the Edelweiss Knight Order, who would arrive later.
She said she would return to the Duke's Mansion using some sort of Teleportation once that was done, so we should be able to reunite with her later.
"But maybe I can figure it out even without asking. This... was probably her doing, right?"
"Yeah, I'm sure of it. The only one capable of pulling off something like that is Alraune's little miss."
Turning a city into a forest.
The only existence I knew of that could pull off such an incomprehensible feat was Alraune.
"Alraune really is amazing. Though Kyle, who managed to beat the child of that Alraune, is amazing too."
"Nah, you shouldn't underestimate that little miss named Mei."
Kyle, walking beside me, had a serious expression.
Come to think of it, because we had been doing the shoulder carry for the past few days, it had been a while since I moved alongside Kyle like this.
"You don't have to be modest. After all, Kyle, you managed to beat that Alraune's child, didn't you?"
"No, I don't think I won. If we had kept fighting seriously, I couldn't say who would have come out on top."
"You're joking, right...?"
"If anything, the longer the battle dragged on, the higher the chances of me losing would've been."
That Alraune's child was that strong?
I thought Kyle had the upper hand, and that was just a child with that level of strength.
Then, just how powerful was the original Alraune...?
"Anyway, let's head to the Duke's Mansion. It seems we need to hear the details from Duke's Proxy Tulpe, who is there."
Kyle and I made our way through the city.
The deeper into the city we went, the more the number of trees covering our surroundings increased.
No, that wasn't all.
Besides the trees, for some reason, the number of times we heard Alraune's name also increased.
"New product, the Alraune Cookie is now on sale! Twenty percent off for a limited time!"
"Care for a wooden statue of Lady Alraune? It's carved directly from the branches of the sacred tree where Lady Alraune descended, so its divine blessings are immense!"
"It's the Alraune Doll that's all the rage in the Royal Capital right now! In Edelweiss, you can only buy it at our shop, so first come, first served!"
"Alraune Brand honey shop grand opening! For those of you who can't forget the taste of Saint Nectar, just drink some honey and bear with it for now!"
"This isn't just a leaf. It's a leaf from the sacred tree of Saint Alraune, inscribed with the holy seal of Lady Saint Iris. How about one as an Edelweiss souvenir?"
The city was overflowing with energy.
Everyone praised Alraune's name, sometimes exalting it alongside Iris's name.
Alraune-themed souvenirs adorned the shopping district, and street hawkers pulled me in.
"You're a new face, young man. How about some freshly baked Alraune Bread?"
Drawn in by a baker, I was ushered into the shop.
Next to the Iris Bread of Saint Iris, a large loaf baked in the shape of Alraune caught my eye.
"Hey, Baker, tell me. Since when did Edelweiss become a city that pushes Alraune so hard?"
"You must be a tourist, so you probably don't know about Edelweiss's savior."
"Alraune is the savior...?"
"Saint Iris... no, Saint Alraune, saved this city!"
Saying that, the baker began to recount what had happened.
A few days ago, Edelweiss was attacked by the Demon King Army.
Alraune, appearing in a flash, saved Edelweiss, which had fallen into massive panic.
"But Alraune is the one who turned the city into a forest, right?"
"The fact that the city looks like a forest now was all to protect it. Lady Alraune moved the city and healed all the wounded residents, saving everyone's lives!"
The baker himself had apparently been on the verge of death when he was saved by Alraune.
Between his sentences, I noticed him licking some Alraune Brand honey, but I was able to grasp the general idea.
"I see... So Alraune saved the city and turned it into a forest."
Alraune was heading to the Royal Capital.
It was to confront the Demon King Army, who sought to invade the Royal Capital, as well as the scheming Witches and Zelma.
If Alraune wiped them all out... the Royal Capital might end up turning into a forest too.
"Haha......... I wonder what we'll do if the Royal Capital's landscape ends up like Edelweiss."
Well, surely it wouldn't come to that.
After all, the Royal Capital was bigger than Edelweiss.
And no matter what, I didn't think Alraune would do the same thing in the Royal Capital, so it should be fine.
I bought some Alraune Bread and left the shop.
When I took a bite of the freshly baked bread, it had a sweet honey flavor.
"Chomp chomp... This is delicious."
A few years ago, the idea of me, a prince, buying food on the street and eating it would have been unthinkable.
Nowadays, doing the same things as a commoner had become second nature to me.
If anything, there was no one in this city who still thought of me as Royalty.
After all, Edelweiss was completely dyed in Alraune's colors.
In the plaza, an elderly woman was recounting the time she was saved by Alraune, and a large crowd was listening intently.
Beside the woman was a little girl. Her granddaughter, perhaps.
"As you all know, this city was saved by Lady Alraune. In order to repay that debt, it is our duty as the people of Edelweiss to enshrine and worship Lady Alraune!"
When the woman spoke those words, the crowd raised their voices in agreement. "That's right, that's right!"
In their hands, they clutched Alraune-shaped wooden statues and dolls, and for some reason, red flowers.
Among that crowd, I spotted a familiar back.
"Ah, so you were here."
Kyle, too, seemed to have been one of the audience members listening to the talk.
As I pushed through the crowd to move forward, the woman's voice reached my ears.
"I, as well as my granddaughter here with me, was saved by Lady Alraune. Moreover, that noble person has not only been active in Edelweiss, but in other cities as well. Another granddaughter of mine, who is in the Royal Capital, was also saved by Lady Alraune and awoke to faith. She wrote to me saying she is working day and night to gather more followers."
Following the woman's words, the crowd's voices grew even louder.
Everyone in this plaza was passionate about the existence called Alraune.
──It somehow reminded me of Saint Iris's popularity.
That was just how tremendous Saint Iris's popularity was.
Back then, it was no exaggeration to say that Iris was more beloved by the people than we, the Royalty.
It was precisely by riding the coattails of that popularity that my younger brother, her fiancé, obtained the right to become the next King.
"Finally made it. Kyle, I've been looking for you."
Slipping through the gaps between people, I finally reached my partner.
And the moment I slapped Kyle's back──.
The elderly woman giving the speech in the plaza said something unbelievable.
"Saint Iris has been resurrected as Lady Alraune. As the people of Edelweiss, let us support the new Saint!"
"""OOOOOH!"""
The biggest cheer of the day echoed through the plaza.
"Iris-sama became Alraune and saved the city!"
"I still can't forget the sorrow of losing Saint Iris, the city's hero, to this day."
"I never want to go through that again."
"So this time, we're going to be the ones to help her!"
"She denied it herself, but with a face that identical, there's no doubt about it!"
"The fact that Iris-sama's dress came falling from the sky is proof that it's really her!"
The crowd in the plaza was in a festive uproar.
Caught in the crush of people, I barely managed to crawl my way out of the plaza.
As I lay face down on the ground, Kyle called out to me.
"Leonhardt, you alright?"
"I'm fine... More importantly, what they said earlier won't leave my head."
Alraune was Iris resurrected?
What in the world was going on??
"It seems... the quickest way would be to confirm it directly with Iris's family."
I turned my gaze toward the mansion on the hill of Edelweiss.
At that Duke's Mansion was Iris's older sister.
If it was her, she would surely know all about Iris and Alraune.
There, I might be able to learn the truth.
Next time: The First Prince and Chara-o's Visit to the Duke's Mansion.