Rapunzel Is Raised by Her Stepmother

Chapter 7: Our atmosphere was good, wasn’t it?

Thud-

The ‘Let’s be loved by Dorothea and avoid the bad ending!’ plan, which I had thought was perfect, collapsed before it could even begin, and my body crumpled down along with it.

Why on earth?

Isn’t this usually how the introduction of a childcare story starts?

A scruffy child, abused or abandoned by adults. An adult looking at them with disapproval. At first, it starts as mere pity, which then develops into a relationship.

Surely, that was the same for Dorothea and me.

I was trapped in a tower, looking scruffy. Dorothea looked at me disapprovingly. If she were a normal adult, she would have felt at least a little pity for a child tied up like this...

...So why did she run away?

Was it that unbearable for me to call her ‘Mom’? Should I have called her ‘Sister’ instead? But I was supposed to be her foster daughter, wasn’t I? Then ‘Mom’ should have been the right title.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out why Dorothea had run away from me. Was it because she felt uncomfortable being called ‘Mom,’ or did she just hate ‘Rapunzel’ altogether?

Come to think of it, Dorothea had said she wasn’t fostering me out of affection. In other words, for some unknown reason, she had been forced to take me in.

...If that’s why she hated it, then there was nothing I could do.

It’s not easy to like a child you were forced to take in, after all.

“But I am a man who doesn’t know how to give up.”

If the reason she disliked me was that she had been forced to take me in—

Then all I had to do was make her think that taking me in was a good thing.

A close, affectionate family relationship was much better than one filled with mutual dislike and resentment, wasn’t it?

Besides, since I couldn’t leave the mansion anyway, the only way left for me was to get close to Dorothea and be ‘protected’ by her.

‘First, I need to meet Dorothea again. I should talk to her and make it my goal to get a little closer to her.’

Once I had thought it through and made my decision, I had to take action immediately.

I jumped up from my spot and headed toward the small hole in the fireplace.

Fortunately, the ropes had only tied my upper body, leaving my legs free to move anywhere. Just because my arms were bound didn’t mean I couldn’t squeeze through the hole.

Wriggling my way through, I crawled out of the hole and immediately jumped down the tower. After passing through another small hole at the bottom of the tower, I looked toward the mansion and saw Dorothea heading in that direction from afar.

I started running while calling out to her.

“Mom! Mom!!”

“W-Wait! How on earth...!”

Dorothea’s face turned pale as she saw me hopping toward her with my body still tied up. Since she seemed to be waiting, I picked up my pace and hurried toward her—

“No, wait! Hold on! Mom!! Mom!!”

Dorothea turned her back on me again and ran away. As if she despised me that much, she didn't even glance back and sprinted straight toward the mansion.

Seeing how unstable she looked, I was so startled that I kept calling out to her. After all, the shoes Dorothea was wearing right now had high heels.

"Mom!! Your shoes!! Running in heels is dangerous!!"

The maid running alongside Dorothea also tried to stop her, saying it was dangerous, but once Dorothea had started running, no one could stop her. No, if she kept running on that dirt ground with such high heels—

"Kyaa!"

Crack!

Sure enough, with the sound of a heel snapping, Dorothea lost her balance and tumbled forward.

Luckily, she had fallen onto the grass, so she didn't seem to be seriously injured, but the impact must have been strong, as she groaned in pain while lying on the ground.

I told her it was dangerous...

"...Um, are you okay?"

As I cautiously approached Dorothea and asked, she shot me a furious glare, looking as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment. No, even if you glare at me like that...

"...I told you it was dangerous to run."

"You suddenly started chasing me...!"

"Uh, no, Mom, you were the one who locked the door and ran away first. I really don’t like locked doors."

"What are you even...!"

Seeing Dorothea trembling as if she was on the verge of crying, I suddenly felt a little guilty. But wait, was this really my fault? I had told her not to run in the first place…

Letting out a deep sigh at what felt like a completely ruined first impression, I lowered my head—only to see blood seeping onto Dorothea’s skirt. It looked like she had scraped her knee when she fell.

Had the maid not noticed that Dorothea was hurt? The maid stood beside her, fidgeting anxiously, unsure of what to do, which made me sigh once more.

"Maid sis... No, big sister. Mom is hurt. Can’t you see her knee?"

"H-Huh??"

I tilted my chin and gestured toward Dorothea’s knee. Only after hearing my words did the maid finally realize she was injured and gasped in shock before checking her wound.

The maid carefully lifted Dorothea’s skirt to examine her knee. Fortunately, the injury wasn’t too severe, but the maid started making a huge fuss about a noble getting hurt.

"A-Ah, my lady. Can you stand? W-We need to treat this right away..."

"Ugh, I don’t think I can. I might have twisted my ankle when I fell."

"O-Oh, I-I'll go get someone right away. Until then..."

The maid turned to me with a look of disbelief.

What did I even do? What could I possibly do while tied up with rope?

As I looked at the maid with an expression of pure disbelief, Dorothea let out a sigh and waved her hand dismissively.

"Enough, just go bring someone to help me up. You can’t do it alone."

"Th-Then I'll go call someone right away. Please wait a moment, my lady!"

The maid looked truly frantic as she dashed toward the mansion. She was in such a hurry that her skirt fluttered wildly in the wind.

And just like that, thanks to this unexpected situation, Dorothea and I were left alone. A silence too awkward to put into words settled between us.

"......"

"......"

If I wanted to get even a little closer to her, I had to do something...

As I was trying to think of what to say to break the awkward tension, I noticed that the blood from Dorothea's knee wound was spreading, trickling down her leg. Why wasn’t she even bothering to wipe it off...?

Was this one of those noble things? Not handling it herself...?

"...Could you untie this for a moment?"

"......"

"Don’t look at me like that, I won’t run away like yesterday. And if you leave the wound like that, it’ll scar. If you can’t do it yourself, I’ll do it for you."

I turned my back to her, showing her the knot of the rope binding me. Shaking my body back and forth to urge her to hurry up, I heard Dorothea sigh behind me.

A brief silence passed.

"...Haa, if you run away again this time, I really won’t forgive you. Keep that in mind."

"Yes, Mom."

"Please, stop calling me that. It’s creepy."

The ropes around me gradually loosened, and soon, my hands were finally free. Stretching my arms high above my head to relieve the stiffness, I finally felt like I could breathe again.

"Nggh...! Haa, I feel alive again. Now, hand me the handkerchief."

Taking the handkerchief I was given, I lifted the black skirt that covered half of her knee. The torn threads of her stockings were stuck to the wound, clotted with blood—it looked painful no matter how you saw it.

"...This is why I told you not to run. What are you so scared of that you had to run like that and make such a mess?"

"Are you lecturing me right now?"

"No? I’m scolding you."

"What?"

Dorothea frowned as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Finding her reaction just as ridiculous, I pressed the handkerchief firmly against her wound. Dorothea flinched and let out a short whimper, tears welling up from the pain.

"Ugh!"

"Stay still. I feel bad, so I’m doing this for you."

Well, if I really thought about it, the reason Dorothea had fallen was none other than me. But who would have expected her to run away in such a panic? What was so terrifying that she had to flee as if her life depended on it...?

As I dabbed at the wound with the handkerchief, Dorothea let out quiet whimpers from the stinging pain. Seeing this, I carefully started peeling away the stocking that had stuck to the wound.

"...It might leave a scar."

"Then I'll hold you responsible."

"As your daughter, I'll take full responsibility to the best of my ability."

Dorothea looked at me as if wondering if I was joking, but I simply shrugged. As if there was anything I could actually do to take responsibility.

Ignoring the irritated Dorothea, I focused on cleaning the wound on her leg.

Noticing that I was concentrating, Dorothea said nothing more. In the silence, only the sound of our breathing filled the air.

As I pressed against the wound to stop the bleeding, I noticed the maid returning from afar with other servants. Just as I wondered what to do next, I lifted my head—

And met Dorothea’s gaze.

Had the distance between us closed while I was tending to her wound? Before I knew it, we were so close that only each other’s faces filled our vision.

Feeling an inexplicable sense of embarrassment, I turned my head slightly to avoid her eyes. Then, just moments ago, when she had looked at me with pure disgust, her expression softened, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

'...Did treating her wound help us get a little closer?'

Following her lead, I gave an awkward smile in return.

At that, Dorothea’s smile deepened, her eyes curving further.

Watching her smile, I became certain—

Her hatred toward me had lessened, even if just a little.

Yes, sincerity always had a way of getting through. Maybe treating her wound had made a difference. Seeing me grinning in delight, Dorothea also smiled in satisfaction.

‘Ah, the atmosphere is nice.’

There was still some awkwardness, but the overwhelming hostility from before had long disappeared. At this rate, even if I remained locked in the tower, I could at least count on being fed.

Yes, if things continued like this, our relationship would soon—

"Lock this child up again immediately, and check if there are any holes in the tower. There must be some kind of opening, so find it and seal it at once."

"...Huh?"

The pleasant atmosphere from moments ago instantly froze over.

Tilting my head, wondering if I had misheard, I suddenly found myself being lifted by a butler who had come with the maid. Without hesitation, he carried me straight back toward the tower.

As Dorothea grew smaller in the distance, I reached out my hands toward her, screaming in disbelief.

"W-Wait! Mom? Mom?! We had a good moment just now! We were doing well!!"

But my cries never reached her.

As I watched Dorothea being supported by the maids and heading toward the mansion, I found myself locked up in the tower once more.

To make matters worse, the hole in my room had been sealed shut.

Staring at my completely blocked escape route, I clutched my head and let out a wail of despair.

"Ughyaaaahhh! My only way out is gooooone!!!"