Rapunzel Is Raised by Her Stepmother

Chapter 4: Rapunzel the Prison Breaker (3)

“Hey, hey! She's heading that way! Catch her! I said catch her!”

“Why is she so quick?! She’s like a mouse or something...!”

“Hah, huff...! Chasing her is impossible! Form a blockade! Create a blockade!!”

“Eheheh! Ohoho!”

Dorothea could hardly believe the scene unfolding before her eyes. Wasn’t that child’s name Rapunzel? The child her father had brought back, the living "Remnant of a Witch."

Until just yesterday, Rapunzel had been barely conscious, looking as if she were on the verge of death. Not only had she escaped from the tower she was confined in, but she had suddenly appeared before them and started running away as if daring them to catch her.

“You’re slow, even at chasing.”

“That, that, that little brat...!”

To make matters worse, she was even taunting the servants chasing after her.

Enraged by the teasing, the servants ran after her with all their might, but Rapunzel dodged their grasp with a cheerful laugh, slipping past them by a hair’s breadth.

“Arrrgh!! I’m going to lose my mind!!”

“Calm down!! If we tighten the blockade, we’ll definitely catch her!!”

At the butler’s shout, Dorothea nodded. Yes, it was only a matter of time before the child was caught. After all the commotion she had caused, every servant in the mansion would soon converge here.

As if to confirm her thoughts, the maids, drawn by the noise, quickly blocked Rapunzel’s escape route. The butlers were chasing her from behind, and the maids stood firm in front.

It was a literal no-way-out situation.

Thinking this absurd chase was finally over, Dorothea slowed her pace and observed the child from afar. She thought Rapunzel would soon be caught and scolded until she cried her eyes out—but instead—

Rapunzel ran even faster toward the maids. Even if she charged at them, her slender body didn’t seem capable of toppling even one of them.

Just what was she thinking?

At that moment—

Snip-!

“Rapunzel’s Golden Sprinkle!”

Rapunzel cut her hair with a pair of scissors and flung it toward the maids.

The hair, which had been cut with a snip, turned into gold and poured down in front of the maids like a sparkling rain. The maids’ eyes widened in astonishment, their gazes darting back and forth.

Between the child they had to catch and the gold scattered on the floor—and the people moving closer to the gold as they chased her—the maids’ attention was no longer on Rapunzel.

“G-Gold? Is that real gold?”

“W-Wait! First, we need to catch the child...!”

The maids tried to focus again and reach for Rapunzel, but she didn’t miss the opening. Sliding like a snake, she dove under the skirt of one of the maids.

Shhhh-!

“Kyaaa!!”

Startled by the sensation of something slipping between her legs, the maid let out a short scream, and Rapunzel, now behind her, burst into laughter and ran away, her giggles echoing in her wake.

Rapunzel’s escape from the blockade left everyone with a sense of defeat. The prey they thought they had caught had slipped away, mocking the hunters as she disappeared.

“Uh… What do we do? Do we go after her again?”

“Yeah, but… I mean, can we even catch her? Feels like we can’t…”

The servants glanced at Dorothea, murmuring nervously as they waited for her reaction. Watching them, Dorothea pressed her forehead with her hand as if nursing a headache, her brow furrowed in frustration.

That child, Rapunzel, was a "commodity" her father had purchased from a slave market at an exorbitant price. The so-called "Remnant of a Witch," whose cut hair turned to gold, and supposedly a "guide to reach the witch."

‘If Father finds out about this...’

The future seemed so predictable that Dorothea clicked her tongue in irritation.

That blasted obsession with witches! Witches, witches, witches! He had no idea how the family’s reputation in society had suffered because of it! How much longer would she have to put up with this?

“…Bring her back.”

Grinding her teeth audibly, Dorothea gave the order to the servants in a low voice. Her tone was so quiet and muttering that one servant hesitated and asked again.

“Pardon?”

“Are your ears blocked? Don’t just stand there—go and bring her back immediately! Use whatever means necessary to lock her in the tower again!!”

“Yes, ma’am…!”

At Dorothea’s sharp reprimand, the servants finally sprang into action. Watching them scurry away, Dorothea clicked her tongue once more in irritation.

“Tch…!”

The situation had spiraled out of control.

With how things had escalated, it was only a matter of time before her father heard about it. Her father was obsessively sensitive about any issue related to the "Remnant of a Witch." A summons from him was inevitable.

At this point, the top priority was damage control.

Before her father called for her, she needed to capture that little wild foal and lock her back in the tower. That way, she could pass it off as a simple accident when explaining to him. Otherwise…

‘…This time, I might really get kicked out.’

***

“Hmm? Why aren’t they chasing me?”

Feeling no longer pursued, Rapunzel looked around. Just moments ago, the servants had been swarming toward her like an army of ants, but now there wasn’t a single trace of them—not even a strand of hair.

…Was it because she had used her hair? Did they give up? For some reason, the thought made her mood deflate, and she let out a sigh. She had thought the servants might give up, but she was certain her stepmother would chase her to the ends of the earth.

“Well, nothing I can do about it. Still, that was amazing back there. Sliding under the maid’s legs like swoosh! Whoosh! Shwoosh! You can do anything in dreams, huh?”

Thinking back to when she had slid beneath the maid’s legs to break through the blockade, Rapunzel shivered with excitement as a thrilling sensation ran up her spine. That was the kind of scene you’d only see in movies.

A tightening blockade from both ends! It seemed like there was no way out of this desperate situation. While it was a bit disappointing to have used up the last of her hair to break through, Rapunzel couldn't help but feel a bit proud of herself for thinking to escape by sliding under the maid’s legs. Her body had moved instinctively, bam! without hesitation.

As she marveled at her own feat—something that could only be explained by it being a dream—she heard murmurs of the servants from the far end of the hallway again. Of course, she hadn’t escaped the mansion yet!

Rapunzel quickly sprinted in the opposite direction of the voices, pulling out the hand mirror she had taken earlier from her stepmother’s room.

In her opinion, the most overpowered item among all the "Remnants of a Witch" was this very hand mirror. Its ability could only be described as a "map hack + navigation system."

In the game, the map of the mansion was initially hidden, forcing players to wander around and memorize the layout. That’s why the first chapter always took so long to complete.

But with [The Queen’s Hand Mirror], there was no need to waste time memorizing the mansion’s layout or worrying about the butlers and maids lurking ahead.

The mirror would guide her straight to the mansion’s exit! On top of that, it would even show the locations of nearby butlers and maids around Rapunzel.

An item so overpowered it was only available for the final boss fight. That’s the true nature of [The Queen’s Hand Mirror], an item that could only be obtained in the boss’s room.

“…But how do I use this thing?”

She looked at the mirror while running.

Reflected in the mirror was a scruffy-looking Rapunzel with her now cropped hair. There was no map, no visible markers for the servants—nothing.

“What the heck? Does it not work because this is a dream?”

She tapped the mirror repeatedly, implementing the classic Korean fix-it method. Then, she recalled the fairy tale this mirror was inspired by and asked the mirror directly.

“Mirror, mirror, can you show me the way out of here?”

...

There was no response from the mirror.

Growing more frustrated, Rapunzel smacked the mirror with her palm and tried again.

“Hey! Mirror! Show me the escape route, will you?!”

Smack! Smack! Smack!

If you didn’t understand how a device or mechanism worked, hitting it usually fixed it. She had successfully repaired computers and TVs this way before, so she placed full faith in this method now.

After a few more smacks, the surface of the mirror began to ripple. Then, the image of a girl—no, a woman?—appeared. She had golden hair, green eyes, and sharp features with a mischievous look.

Frankly, Rapunzel didn’t have time to care about who this was. The sound of the servants chasing her grew louder from both ends of the corridor.

She couldn’t even use the scissors anymore!

Panicked, she raised the mirror high, ready to smash it in desperation, all while praying that it would finally start working. Just as she was about to strike, the woman in the mirror screamed and frantically waved her hands.

“Kyaaa! Stop hitting me! Who are you?!”

“Hey! Mirror! Escape! Route! Tell me! Ugh, I’m out of breath!”

“W-What are you talking about?! Escape route?! Where even is this… and who are you?! And who’s chasing you?!”

Oh, great. A defective item.

In the game, it would’ve just given directions immediately...

Clicking her tongue, Rapunzel prepared to smack the mirror again.

“T-Turn right! Go to the hallway on the right!”

“Good job, Siri!”

“Who’s Siri?!”

Following the mirror’s instructions, Rapunzel turned into the right hallway and grinned at the sight of an empty, pristine corridor.

So, it was a map hack + navigation system!

“Keep giving me the next route, immediately!”

“G-Give you...? Oh! You mean tell you! Alright! Go straight down this hallway, and you’ll find a staircase! If you go down, there’s an open window...!”

According to the item description, wasn’t this the mirror from Snow White? No wonder the Queen used it so much—the mirror fairy’s guidance was top-notch!

By simply following the mirror’s instructions, Rapunzel managed to escape the mansion in no time, without encountering any butlers or maids.

Leaping out of the window, she landed on the lush grass and began running toward the “open” gates of the mansion. At that moment, the mirror screamed again.

“W-Wait a minute! Ahead of you...!”

“You’re useless now!”

“What?! W-Wait—!”

With her hands full, Rapunzel tossed the mirror and her scissors into the bushes and started digging through the large [Basket of Sweets] she had been holding.

The reason for the mirror’s sudden scream? It was—

“Woof! Woof! Grrrrr-!”

The guard dogs at the gate.

Large Dobermans or Pitbull-like creatures stood in front of the mansion’s gate, growling at her. From Rapunzel’s perspective, they looked as massive as bears, and their menacing presence was admittedly terrifying.

But...

“WAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

Rapunzel, refusing to back down, began flinging the sweets from the basket toward the dogs. She threw the treats with both hands, scattering them to either side. To her surprise, the dogs started catching and eating the treats.

“Good boy! Good boy!”

The perfect way to transform these hellhound-like guard dogs into obedient “good boys” was by feeding them treats from the [Witch’s Basket of Sweets].

The basket’s origin? Most likely inspired by Hansel and Gretel. The in-game description even said, “A basket filled with sweets beloved by twins.”

As Rapunzel scattered sweets to the guard dogs, she was reminded of Hansel and Gretel, who had scattered breadcrumbs in the forest to avoid getting lost—only for animals to eat them, leaving the siblings stranded.

Leaving the snack-absorbed guard dogs behind, Rapunzel sprinted straight for the main gate. As the towering iron bars of the gate loomed closer, her heart pounded with a mix of excitement and nervousness, as if she were mere moments away from the game’s ending.

“This will…!”

She leapt through the open gate.

“Game clear!”

Overcome with joy, she was certain she would now wake up from this delightful dream.

...Wasn’t she supposed to wake up?

***

By the time the sun had set and the moon had risen...

“What do you mean you still haven’t found her?!”

“I-I apologize…! But no matter how much we search the mansion, we can’t find a single strand of hair! Perhaps she may have escaped outside...”

“Do you even hear what you’re saying?!”

Dorothea, upon receiving the butler’s report that the child was still missing, erupted in fury. She demanded an explanation, incredulous at the idea.

“You’re telling me that not only did she escape under your noses, but she also got past the guard dogs and left the mansion? Do you really think that’s possible?!”

“I-I’m sorry! I’ll resume the search immediately!”

The butler bowed so deeply that his forehead nearly touched the floor. Just as he turned to leave the room to resume the search, he collided with a maid rushing in from the hallway.

“Hey! Watch where you’re—!”

“M-Miss! They’ve found her! They found the child!”

Hearing the news that Rapunzel had been found, Dorothea finally exhaled a sigh of relief. If the search had dragged on past the evening and into the night, she would have seriously considered ordering a full investigation outside the mansion.

“...Haah, really? Where did they find her? Or rather, where is she now?”

“Well, that’s, uh...”

“...?”

The maid hesitated, her lips parting slightly as if struggling to explain, prompting Dorothea to raise an eyebrow in annoyance. Just as Dorothea was about to press her for an answer—

“...She returned on her own. She apparently asked the guards at the tower to unlock the door...”

“......What?”