I Thought It Was a Fairy Tale but the Genre Is Strange

Rapunzel (2)

“What!?!?”

I was startled and shook off her hand, standing up abruptly. My heart was pounding as if it would burst. It was the first time I had ever heard a confession. It felt completely different from Ariel liking me. I heard the words asking for a formal relationship directly with my own ears.

“W-what do you mean by that!”

My face was burning. I was definitely here because of Rapunzel’s curse, but I was being swung around like a toy. That must be an act. Yes, it must be an act to deceive and tease me.

“Your hearing seems worse than I thought. This time, I’ll whisper it in your ear, so come here.”

Rapunzel smiled and approached me with light steps. I gulped. Think. This is a cruel world. This confession is not real. Why is Rapunzel trying to confess to me? She wants to hear my answer.

What could be the reason?

Damn, I can’t concentrate while looking at her face as beautiful as a rose. I lowered my eyes to avoid meeting hers.

Then I recalled the keywords.

Fairy tale. Rapunzel. Curse. Magic. The difference from the original is that Rapunzel is a cursed child. Also, instead of a witch, there’s a wizard named Gothel, but his appearance is nowhere to be seen.

A kingdom falling into ruin because of Rapunzel. The wizard Gothel who locked Rapunzel in the tower.

Confession.

Maybe she needs someone to accept her confession to break the barrier of the tower and get out. Yeah, this is it. There’s no other answer. I’m sure of it! She’s planning to get out of here and completely destroy the kingdom!

“Hoo.”

“Ahhh!”

Suddenly, Rapunzel’s breath hit my ear, making my body shiver and giving me goosebumps.

“Hehe, this is fun. What are you thinking so deeply about? Huh? I’m asking you to go out with me.”

Rapunzel looked at me with seductive eyes, and I stiffened my neck upwards to avoid her gaze. I felt like I’d be mesmerized if I kept looking.

“I, I don’t want to go out with anyone yet.”

I rejected the first confession I’ve ever received in my life. For some reason, my heart ached. I glanced at Rapunzel nervously, wondering if she might kill me for not accepting her confession.

“Hmm~ I see. Am I not good enough?”

Rapunzel looked utterly dejected. Her face was like a sad puppy whining because it couldn’t go for a walk.

“No! It’s not that you’re not good enough…”

“Not good enough!?”

Rapunzel’s eyes sparkled with life. Why did I say that? Ugh, you idiot! Your mouth is a problem!

“Ah, it’s just that I’m not ready yet. I mean, we’ve only known each other for less than an hour, right?”

“Aha! So you mean we need more time to get to know each other! Great!”

Rapunzel giggled, and I couldn’t help but laugh along. No! Get a grip! What if I get mesmerized and end up accepting her confession?

“Shall we go on another date then?”

As Rapunzel clapped her hands, the surrounding scenery changed. It was as if we had teleported to another place, and this time we arrived at a well-manicured garden. We began to stroll slowly through it. She walked ahead of me and said,

“You know, Siyu, I’ve spent almost my entire life trapped in a tower, so I don’t have much of an imagination. There’s a limit to the spaces I can create. I want to go on a fun date with you like ordinary couples do. So, can you tell me? How do ordinary couples go on dates?”

Hmm, what would a normal date be like in this world? I hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Where I come from, people go to amusement parks, or chat together in cafes. They watch movies or dramas and go to famous restaurants to eat. On anniversaries, they set the mood and go to expensive restaurants. Actually, I’ve never had a girlfriend, so I don’t know in detail.”

I laughed awkwardly. Rapunzel turned around to look at me, her face full of question marks.

“Um, I have no idea what you’re talking about! Amusement parks? Cafes? Movies and dramas? What on earth are you saying?”

“Uh, how should I explain this? I’m not from this world, so it’s a bit hard to explain. It would be great if I could just pull out my memories and show them to you.”

“Then let’s do that!”

“What?”

Rapunzel smiled softly and snapped her fingers. Then something moved swiftly from the flower bed in the garden. A strand of golden hair. A long, thick strand of hair shot towards me and embedded itself in my head.

“Ahhh! What is this!”

I panicked and tried to pull the hair out, but I couldn’t even remove a single strand. It was as hard as iron and wouldn’t break.

“Hahaha! Are you that scared? Don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt at all, it’s just sharing your memories with me.”

As she said, it didn’t hurt at all. I did feel a creepy sensation of the hair piercing my head, but there was no feeling of it stirring my brain or causing a headache.

The strand of hair embedded in my head emitted a dazzling light. Rapunzel closed her eyes quietly and smiled.

With a pluck, the hair came out of my head. Is it over? I looked at Rapunzel, and her face was flushed red.

“Amazing! Truly amazing, Siyu!”

She couldn’t hide her excitement and grabbed my hands, shaking them up and down vigorously.

“Your world is truly amazing! How can such things exist? You can communicate even when far apart, and you can fly in the sky to travel to other countries! The internet is especially astonishing! It’s like creating an entirely new world!”

Rapunzel spoke rapidly like an excited child.

“Haha, is that so?”

Well, Rapunzel’s world has the feel of a medieval fantasy with swords and magic, so it’s no wonder she’s amazed by the advanced civilization I come from.

“Si-yu, thanks to you, I’ve had such a wonderful experience! Let’s go on an amazing date!”

“Wow!”

This time, the ground shook violently as if something big was changing. The beautiful garden disappeared underground, and in its place, enormous buildings began to rise. Towering high into the sky, these were no ordinary buildings.

They were variously designed amusement rides.

Shops selling churros and delicious street food appeared around, and stores displaying cute souvenirs from the amusement park also emerged.

It was an amusement park. The inside of the tower was transforming into an amusement park. I watched the scene with my mouth agape. Creating an amusement park with magic. It didn’t even take a minute.

As I stood there in awe in the amusement park square that had been built in the blink of an eye, I felt a soft touch on my hand. Rapunzel, smiling brightly like an excited child, was holding my hand.

“Let’s go quickly!”

Rapunzel led me to the rides. We rode various amusement rides.

“Ahhh!!!!”

My vision spun dizzyingly, and we went high up into the sky, then dropped almost vertically on a ride I never wanted to ride again in my memory. We rode water slides, haunted houses, gyro drops, and many other rides endlessly.

I, who wasn’t good at riding thrilling rides, screamed every time, while Rapunzel burst into bright laughter beside me.

Why on earth! Why are the rides working!!

“Ah~ that was so much fun!”

“Ugh, let’s rest for a bit.”

I said, clutching my trembling legs.

“Are you acting like this because you rode that? Our Siyu is weaker than I thought!”

“Ugh, if anyone rides a heart-dropping ride non-stop for an hour, they’d feel the same.”

“Hahaha! Alright~ Then let’s eat that!”

Rapunzel ran towards the churros stand. Watching her back, I couldn’t help but rationally suspect that she might be a dog turned into a human. It wouldn’t be strange at all if she had a dog’s tail on her butt.

I glanced around for a moment. In the vast amusement park, there were only the two of us. Naturally, there was no one at the stand where Rapunzel went to buy churros. But in her hands were churros. Now she can even make food.

We sat on a bench in front of the splendid fountain.

“Mmm~ Smells good. Here, try it quickly.”

“Uh-huh.”

I hesitantly received the churros. I wondered if it might be made of hair, but the smell was indeed that of sweet churros. With a doubtful heart, I took a bite of the churros, and the sweet taste that burst in my mouth made me feel like my cells were coming alive.

“Delicious!”

I couldn’t believe how tasty the warm churros were! I devoured the churros in a hurry, and Rapunzel smiled at me with a look that felt like a mother watching her son eat well.

Then she also put a churros in her mouth.

“Hehe, it tastes better eating with Siyu.”

Her words made my face flush for a moment. Ugh, where did she learn such lines?

Maybe it’s because we’re in an amusement park, not a bizarre fairy tale land, that I really feel like I’ve returned to the real world. Rapunzel felt like an ordinary girl of her age.

It feels nice. Ordinary. Yes, I like ordinary moments. Like this moment right now. But I know. Eating churros made by magic in an empty amusement park is far from ordinary.

I looked straight at her and said.

“Rapunzel, won’t you tell me your story?”