This is Newbie Saint Nina’s POV.
I am the newbie Saint, Nina.
When I was ordered to go on a mission to subjugate the Crimson Flower Princess Alraune—who turned out to be Lady Iris—I worried about how things would turn out. Fortunately, the matter was settled without further conflict.
In the end, not a single person lost their life. I suppose you could call that a peaceful resolution.
Even so, so many unbelievable things happened. Lord Diesel’s pet white cat turned out to be the Witch Queen; we were surrounded by a Witch Army disguised as animals; and a massive storm hit the forest, leaving everything covered in salt.
Yet, Lady Iris was about to reveal a secret to me that far surpassed any of those shocks.
"Do you... not want... to know... how I... became... an Alraune?"
To be honest, that was something I had wondered about for a long time.
After all, Lady Iris was supposed to be dead. I couldn't stop wondering why she had turned into an Alraune!
But I was just so happy she was alive that I hadn't wanted to pry.
Lady Iris herself seemed to find the subject difficult to discuss.
However, it appeared she had finally made up her mind to tell me the truth.
"I was... betrayed... by... those two."
The news that the Hero and Saint Zelma were traitors was staggering.
Yet, at the same time, things finally clicked into place.
Lady Iris had asked me to investigate those two earlier, and this was clearly the reason why.
"Lured into... the forest... I was... attacked from... behind... and Zelma... cut off... my left arm."
Lady Iris pressed her right hand against her left arm, her expression twisting with bitterness.
Then, while stroking the petals of her lower body with a vine, she continued quietly.
"While I was... recovering... my left hand... she then... cut off... both of... my legs."
As I listened, a white-hot rage toward the two traitors welled up inside me.
The Hero is a prince.
It should be unthinkable for the prince of a nation to launch a sneak attack on a Saint who was both a Duke's Daughter and his own fiancée. Actually, it would be unthinkable even if he weren't a prince.
In my memory, Lady Iris and the Hero always seemed to be on such good terms.
To think he found another woman and decided to murder his fiancée just because she was no longer needed... it was beyond belief.
I was completely disillusioned with the Hero, but more than that, I felt terrible for Lady Iris.
Just imagining her feelings at the moment of that betrayal made my heart feel like it was tearing in two.
"After Zelma... cut off... my limbs... I was... swallowed whole... by a... plant monster... just like that."
Lady Zelma was even more horrific than I had imagined.
In public, she called Lady Iris her master; she had even sobbed at the funeral, claiming she loved her like a real sister. And yet, this was the truth.
Far from mourning Lady Iris’s death, she was the very person who had murdered her!
I never dreamed she was such a black-hearted woman.
I honestly don't know if I can keep my composure the next time I see Lady Zelma.
Lord Wolfgang, who was listening alongside me, spoke up. "There is one thing that bothers me," he said.
"It’s hard to credit. Given Iris was such a master of Light Magic, she should have been able to regenerate in an instant even if her limbs were severed."
He was right.
Saint Iris was a legend of Light Recovery Magic. It was rumored that as long as she was with you, you couldn't die, no matter how fatal the wound.
In fact, there was a famous anecdote from the Battle Against the Four Heavenly Kings. To protect the Hero, Lady Iris had reportedly acted as a shield and suffered injuries so severe her body was nearly torn apart, yet she had regenerated instantly.
I’d assumed that was just an exaggeration, but was it actually the truth?
"Even during the Battle Against the Four Heavenly Kings, you regenerated fatal wounds in the blink of an eye, didn't you, Iris?"
Judging by Lord Wolfgang's question, the rumors were true.
The ability to regenerate missing limbs is something only a tiny fraction of Saints can achieve.
I certainly can't do it, and Lady Zelma—who is supposedly poor at Light Recovery Magic—wouldn't be able to do it easily either.
As expected of Lady Iris, the woman said to possess the greatest power of any Saint in history!
I truly respected her for being able to do things I could never hope to achieve in my entire life.
"At that time... I was... in shock... from the betrayal... and I... could not... use my magic... well..."
"They likely planned it that way, creating a situation where Iris couldn't focus on recovery," Wolfgang added. "They would have had to do at least that much, otherwise killing the Iris of that era wouldn't have been easy."
"Please... do not... talk about... me as if... I were... an immortal monster."
"At the very least, I’m sure the Demon King's Army thought of you that way. They called you the 'Immortal Hero's Party,' after all."
Lord Wolfgang gave a small chuckle, and Lady Iris returned to her story.
"Eaten by... the plant monster... I kept... casting recovery magic... so that I... would not... be dissolved. When I... did that... I ended up... like this."
Lady Iris spread her hands and vines wide, showing us her form.
Her upper body was human, but her lower half was entirely a plant.
No matter how one looked at her, she was no longer human.
"I had... merged with... the plant... and became... an Alraune."
She explained that while her severed arms had grown back, her missing lower half had fused with the plant.
If Lady Iris weren't standing right in front of me, I would never have believed such a bizarre story.
But the living witness was right here.
I had no choice but to believe.
She explained that when one masters Light Recovery Magic, they can regenerate parts of their body.
Lady Iris mentioned that because she had run out of mana before the regeneration was complete, her magic might have used the monster's body as a substitute.
There had surely never been a case in history where a master of her caliber used Light Recovery Magic from inside a monster’s stomach.
That was likely why no one had ever known such a thing was even possible.
"After I... became... an Alraune... I lived... alone... in the forest."
Lady Iris smiled as she described her life in the forest.
She talked about being attacked by a giant Laobubear, making friends with insects that tried to pollinate her, nearly withering during droughts, being buried in snow during the winter, and being set on fire during an attack by a dragon...
"Hey Nina... are you... crying... again?"
"Because... I didn't know... you had gone through... such a hard time..."
As I listened to how Lady Iris was murdered by her fiancé and her disciple only to begin a grueling life in the forest, my chest grew tight and the tears began to fall.
I know I had just cried earlier when she patted my head and entrusted the Kingdom of Gardenia to me, but I couldn't help it.
Lady Iris spoke as if it were a series of funny stories, but there was no way such experiences weren't agonizing.
To be betrayed and butchered by the people she trusted most, only to be eaten by a monster...
Not only that, she was reborn as a monster herself and forced to live in solitude in the forest, unable to move a single step.
There wasn't anything funny about it.
Yet, Lady Iris wore a bright expression.
She spoke as if none of it had been sad at all.
"Nina... please... do not cry... It was... hard at first... but after... I met Rufe... it was... truly fun."
Rufe was the name of that White-haired Witch's child.
I felt like I knew her reasonably well, since we’d been friendly since the days she sold nectar in the city.
Lady Iris mentioned that she hadn't told Rufe that she had been a Saint before becoming an Alraune.
She seemed to be struggling with whether or not to tell the girl she had once been human.
"After that... as you... know... I defeated... the Four Heavenly Kings... and made... the Demon King's Army's... Golem... my ally."
Wait a minute.
I had noticed a wooden Golem in the forest that I didn't recognize, but I never imagined Lady Iris was the one controlling it!
Golems were legendary, said to be a Goddess's Holy Relic.
Almost no one in this age had ever seen one.
According to history, about nine hundred years ago, the "Shrine Maiden of the Goddess" used a Golem granted by the Goddess herself to build the Goddess's Tower in the Holy Capital.
Legends said its size was matched only by its incredible combat power.
There were even stories of a single Golem defending the Holy Capital from a whole swarm of dragons in the distant past.
Why was a Golem like that with Lady Iris, and why was it obeying her?
I suppose nothing should surprise me when it comes to Lady Iris, but commanding a Golem from mythology was just absurd.
She was so incredible that I couldn't even process it anymore.
Beyond the news of her amazing feats, her story was one of nothing but hardship.
"Nina... please... do not make... such a... sad face."
Lady Iris reached out and squeezed my hand with a vine.
—I could feel the texture of the plant.
Because the current Lady Iris grew from a massive bulb, she was much taller than a human.
Because of the distance between us, we couldn't hold hands like two normal girls.
She would never be able to hand me a handkerchief with her own hand like she did when I was ten years old.
She could only interact with me using these plant appendages...
"Lady Iris, it’s just so unfair..."
Griping the vine made me realize all over again that she really wasn't human anymore.
Why did she have to suffer like this?
It was wrong. It was so wrong.
And it was all the fault of those two.
However, as an Alraune, Lady Iris couldn't move freely.
That meant I would have to be the one to take revenge in her stead.
Lady Iris’s enemies are my enemies!
"Oh... Nina. Please take... this... as a gift."
"Fresh Saint Nectar?! Is it really okay for me to have this much?"
"It is... strictly for... emergencies... for recovery. You must... not drink it... without a... good reason."
"Of course, Lady Iris!"
—Gulp, gulp.
Phaaa.
I knew it! The taste of fresh Saint Nectar is on a whole different level!
I think my body has already reached the point where I can't live without it.
"Right after... I told you... Nina... you really are... a naughty girl... aren't you?"
Lady Iris gave me a playful glare, but even that made me happy.
Despite becoming an Alraune, Lady Iris was alive.
I was so lucky to be able to talk with the woman I admired like this.
"Lady Iris, would you listen to my story now? I’ve worked really hard since the day you gave me that handkerchief!"
"Of course... I would... love to... hear more... about you... Nina."
For a short while, I lost myself in the joy of the interaction I had dreamed of since childhood—an exchange that had never been possible during Lady Iris’s former life.
So, that was Nina’s POV.
With this, Iris finally has an ally who knows the truth.
Next time: Dragon’s Summer Vacation.