Rapunzel Is Raised by Her Stepmother

Chapter 6: A Stepmother Is Still a Mother

"……"

…Alright, I admit it.

I really lost my mind yesterday.

Maybe it was the thrill of being chased, the rush of adrenaline that I couldn’t control. I got so excited that I blurred the line between dreams and reality, running wild. It was definitely my fault.

The mix of thinking it was a dream and the overwhelming excitement dulled my senses a bit. Isn’t it normal to feel your heart pounding and struggle to breathe when you dream about being chased? I thought I was out of breath from running because of that.

…No, but seriously, can you blame me? Who in their right mind would wake up and immediately think, I’ve been possessed into the world of a game?! Nine out of ten people would just assume it was a ridiculous dream.

And when people think they’re dreaming, they tend to become a bit reckless, don’t they? There’s that confidence that makes you believe you can do anything, that boldness that pushes you to try things you normally wouldn’t.

…So, in a way, wasn’t what happened yesterday inevitable?

Breaking a hole in the tower to escape, running around the mansion playing tag with the servants, sliding between a maid’s skirt, feeding human snacks to the puppies…

"……"

…Yeah, even if it was inevitable, yesterday was still my fault.

I thought it was a dream, but the fact remains that I caused chaos by running all over the mansion.

I could understand why people would want to punish me, and if they did, I was willing to accept it. But still…

"…Isn’t tying me up with rope a bit much?"

Lying on the floor, I lifted my head slightly to look at the rope tightly binding my upper body.

Did they tie me up while I was asleep?

By the time I woke up, I was already bound and abandoned on the floor.

I had a pretty good idea of what the person who tied me up was trying to say: Don’t even think about escaping again. Just stay put and accept your captivity.

…Was it a mistake to say ‘next time’ to the guard yesterday?

Since the ropes were unbearably tight, I wriggled around, trying to loosen them. But the more I struggled, the more I flopped around like a fish out of water.

No, but seriously, isn’t this the kind of situation where they usually use handcuffs or shackles? Or, in some creepy cases, a collar? What am I, some kind of dangerous criminal? Why the ropes?

"Agh! They really tied this tight!"

I squirmed, wiggled, and even rubbed against the wall, but the ropes wouldn’t budge. Whoever tied them did an incredible job—no matter how much I struggled, there was no sign of them loosening.

As I rolled around on the floor in frustration, a strange feeling suddenly crept over me. Turning my head, I looked down at my hair—Rapunzel’s golden locks, cascading all the way to my toes.

"…? Why is it so long?"

Now that I thought about it, hadn’t I cut it all off yesterday?

I distinctly remembered hacking away at my hair with scissors to escape from the servants. I had cut it three times in total, short enough to reach my chin…

Was this… all grown back in less than a day?

A chill ran down my spine at the eerie realization.

Nowhere in the game did it mention that Rapunzel’s hair could grow back in a single day. Then again, the entirety of Chapter 1 didn’t even span a full day in-game.

Even the [Thorn Garden Scissors], the only tool capable of cutting Rapunzel’s hair, had a strict limit of three uses. Because of that, I had assumed that once cut, it wouldn’t regenerate.

There wasn’t even a Remnant of a Witch with hair-growing abilities in the game.

I had expected it to grow back naturally over time, but…

‘…Seeing this, I really have become Rapunzel, huh.’

I lifted my head and carefully examined myself once again.

Golden hair grown long enough to brush against my heels, strikingly red eyes reflecting in the cracked mirror, limbs so delicate they seemed almost frail.

It was identical to Rapunzel, the protagonist of [Rapunzel of the Golden Iron Cage].

Staring at my reflection, I realized I could no longer run from reality.

This wasn’t a dream—it was real.

I had truly become Rapunzel of the Golden Iron Cage.

"……Haa."

Now that I was finally confronting this as reality and not just dismissing it as a dream, all the things I had ignored before started creeping into my awareness.

The most immediate issue was… the state of my clothing.

…Or rather, the lack thereof.

I was currently wearing nothing but a worn-out adult-sized dress shirt.

Seriously, the only thing covering my body right now was this oversized, tattered shirt that barely reached mid-thigh.

…In other words.

Yesterday, I had been running all over the mansion in just an oversized dress shirt—sliding across floors, playing tag with the servants, dashing around like a lunatic, yelling at people to catch me if they could.

"Ha… shit… No, but seriously, isn’t there a basic level of dignity a person should be allowed to have? Was the developer insane…?"

If there was any silver lining, it was that everyone had been too busy chasing after me to pay close attention. My long hair and the shirt itself must have provided some coverage… right?

Yeah. It should be fine.

There’s no way anyone actually saw, right…?

I nodded my head vigorously, deciding to stick with that line of thinking. If I didn’t, the overwhelming embarrassment would make me want to die on the spot.

The fact that I had run around in front of people, dressed so shamefully while possessing an adult’s mind, was something I had to forcefully ignore. If I acknowledged it, I might actually die of humiliation.

"Uuugh, I wouldn’t have done it if I had known. I wouldn’t have done it if I had known."

As I rolled around on the floor, trying to forget my shame, I suddenly heard the distinct sound of heels clicking against the stone staircase outside the locked door. Along with the footsteps, a vaguely familiar voice reached my ears.

"…Open it."

With a metallic clink, the lock outside unlatched, and soon, the firmly shut door swung open. A maid entered first, followed by Rapunzel’s stepmother.

‘…? Why is Dorothea here?’

I blinked blankly, lifting my head to look at the woman who had entered the room—Dorothea, the final boss of Chapter 1 in [Rapunzel of the Golden Iron Cage] and the probably stepmother figure to Rapunzel.

To be honest, I didn’t know much about Dorothea.

Since the game strictly followed Rapunzel’s perspective, and Dorothea only appeared during the final escape of Chapter 1, there wasn’t much information about her.

Even calling her Rapunzel’s stepmother was just my own assumption, based on fairy tale logic.

After all, she was the one who locked Rapunzel in the tower and prevented her from escaping the mansion.

So… she had to be the stepmother, right?

With that in mind, I always called her ‘stepmother’ whenever I played the game.

Part of it was also because the idea of such a young and beautiful woman being the stepmother to a little girl felt slightly… suggestive.

It was a bit perverted, but, well… that was one of the reasons I liked Dorothea.

I mean, she was clearly the most beautiful character in the game!

That deep navy-blue hair, dark as the night sky! Those amethyst-like violet eyes! Even that occasional habit of licking her lips!

Why wasn’t a character like that a romance option? Why was she stuck as the final boss of Chapter 1?!

I wanted to argue with the developers, but remembering that this was a women’s romance simulation game, I simply shook my head in resignation.

‘…Why did I even play an otome game in the first place?’

Letting out a deep sigh, lamenting my fate, I suddenly noticed Dorothea approaching me. She knelt on one knee beside me, locking eyes with mine.

Oh? Was she about to untie the ropes?

"…Open your ears and listen carefully, Rapunzel."

As I smiled expectantly, hoping she would release me, Dorothea’s expression twisted in pure disgust.

Ah.

Guess that wasn’t it.

"…Starting today, I’ve unwillingly taken you in as my foster daughter, but don’t mistake this for kindness. Understand that I’m not sponsoring you out of affection. There’s no one in this world who would cherish a disgusting child like you."

…? Foster daughter? Sponsorship?

As I paused to process those unfamiliar words, it didn’t take long for me to recall where I had heard them before.

‘Foster sponsorship’ was a term commonly found in child-rearing romance fantasy novels or webtoons.

…As expected, my instincts were right.

Just like in fairy tales, Dorothea was playing the role of Rapunzel’s stepmother in this world!

"After all, you were abandoned despite having that cursed or blessed ‘hair,’ wasn’t that because there was something wrong with you? What kind of terrible thing must you have done—"

As Dorothea continued speaking, I only half-listened, letting her words drift in one ear and out the other. My mind had already shifted gears, racing to process a sudden, groundbreaking idea.

To be honest, I felt completely stuck in this situation.

If this world truly followed the setting of [Rapunzel of the Golden Iron Cage], then staying trapped in this tower would only lead to one thing—a bad ending where I starved to death.

Of course, I wasn’t entirely convinced that everything would unfold exactly like in the game. But either way, I couldn’t just stay here doing nothing. I wasn’t about to live out my days locked away in this place.

I wanted to escape and move on to Chapter 2, but…

‘The problem is, I cleared Chapter 1, yet I still haven’t transitioned into Chapter 2.’

For some reason, the Kidnapper Mister—the one who was supposed to take me to Chapter 2—never appeared.

In the game, as soon as I escaped the mansion, he would find me, declare, "I’m going to kidnap you," and then whisk me away to the slave market, the main setting of Chapter 2.

But here, that never happened.

That’s what made me suspicious.

The events weren’t unfolding according to the game’s script.

Even though I had cleared Chapter 1 by escaping the mansion, I hadn’t transitioned to Chapter 2. But since wandering around outside wasn’t an option, I had chosen to stay behind in Chapter 1 instead.

For now, it was the safest choice.

But was it really safe?

In the game, the only ending in this place was starving to death in captivity.

I couldn’t leave the mansion, yet I couldn’t just stay here either. I felt completely trapped.

With no clear way forward, I had decided to wait for a new event to trigger. And then…

"…What’s with that look? Are you cursing me? Well, I suppose that’s all you can do from here. Fine. I’ll be generous enough to overlook it."

"…I see."

It had appeared.

A new situation.

"So, if I’m your foster daughter, that means… from today onward, you’re my mother, right?"

"What…? What exactly did you hear from everything I just said?"

"I heard you loud and clear. So, according to what Mom just said, that means I’m your daughter starting today, right?"

The moment Dorothea mentioned adopting me as her foster daughter, a lightning-fast thought struck me.

A way to avoid starving to death in this place.

A way to not only survive but also be protected by Dorothea.

And that was…

"…This actually works out. Since I can’t move on to Chapter 2 anyway… maybe getting closer to my stepmother is the best strategy."

I just had to become real family with Dorothea.

Make her dote on me and raise me properly.

I was going to turn this survival thriller disguised as a romance simulation into a child-rearing story!

"What did you just mutter—"

Honestly speaking, I was confident I could make her like me.

Rapunzel’s appearance was both adorable and pitiful—a perfect combination to tug at someone’s heartstrings. Yep, undeniably cute and tragic.

On top of that, I had read my fair share of romance fantasy webtoons, including child-rearing stories, so I knew how this worked.

And according to that knowledge, the first thing I needed to do was…

"I said I’m so happy to have a family! Since you adopted me, that means we’re family from today onward, right? It’s my first time having a family, so I’m really happy!"

I had to trigger Dorothea’s sympathy.

Making the future parent feel sympathy for the child was basic child-rearing story logic.

The moment they start thinking, Oh, this poor thing…, it’s game over.

It was like when parents got angry at their kids for bringing home a stray puppy, only to end up loving the dog even more than the child later.

"Mom, the fact that you’re explaining all this to me proves you care about me, right? If you really didn’t care, you wouldn’t have said anything at all. What should I do? I’m just so happy!"

"A-ah, no, I—"

"Mom, can you untie these ropes for me? They’ve been tight for a while, and my arms really hurt. Please? Mom, hmm?"

Dorothea, who had been as cold as ice just moments ago, suddenly looked completely flustered.

Seeing the opportunity, I wiggled across the floor, inching closer to her.

I had to look as pathetic as possible, make her pity me.

Did it work?

Dorothea’s usual poker face was starting to crack.

If I just got a little closer and put on an even more longing expression—

"Ugh…!"

—She suddenly turned on her heel and bolted.

…Wait.

What?

"Mom? Where are you going? Untie me first! Mom! Mom!!"

The moment she stepped out, she immediately locked the door again.

Realizing I was about to be re-imprisoned, I panicked and started banging my head against the door, calling out.

"Mom?! Mom?! No, wait—!!"

Instead of the usual calm click-clack of heels, I heard frantic, hurried footsteps racing down the tower stairs.

As the sound of her retreating steps grew fainter, a cold chill spread through me.

And when the sound disappeared entirely, I slumped to the floor in defeat, staring blankly at the locked door.

…Dorothea ran away.

Why?

"…My plan was perfect."