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

A New Beginning

I blankly stared at the window where the black rabbit had vanished. And I knew it instinctively. I’d never forget this moment, not for as long as I live.

A cold Rapunzel corpse. A short date we shared. Moments of joy, playing around, thinking we’d carved out the hate. The warm touch when she stole a kiss from my lips.

Her voice, beautiful like a bird’s song, and then the crimson blood, spilling out as she ended herself, soaking the floor.

All the memories flash through my head. Along with my own powerless, incompetent, weak self.

That was me. “It’ll be alright, I’ll figure it out,” was all I ever said. What a fucking idiot.

If only I had, just a little more, been able to cut away her hair, if I had the strength to calm her…

Maybe then, it wouldn’t have ended like this, maybe she would have ended up smiling, happy.

What’s the point of thinking this now?

I’m just a weak reaper who created a sad ending.

………………………………………

After Rapunzel’s death, the cursed kingdom was no longer cursed. I was just clutching her body, too numb to even twitch, when soldiers arrived. They gave us the first aid we needed, then respectfully invited us to the palace, treating us like royalty. Luckily, Ariel and Alice’s injuries, where the hair had pierced them, were not vital, and they recovered quickly. As soon as Ariel was well enough, she healed Alice and me with magic.

The king and queen were overjoyed to see us fully recovered, hailing us as heroes. They even declared they would build statues to honor us and pass down our great deed.

“Hahaha! I will never forget your contributions! To finally be free from this cursed hell! What joyful news! I can’t believe that wicked witch was my own daughter!”

“…No.”

In the palace audience chamber, the king, sitting proudly on his throne, questioned my denial.

“Hm, what did you say?”

“I said, she wasn’t some wicked witch.”

I stared at them silently. My heart wasn’t burning with rage. It was a quiet, cold anger that had settled over me after it was all over.

“I don’t understand! Didn’t you free us from Rapunzel’s curse?!”

“Free? Don’t make me laugh. Rapunzel herself decided to free you.”

Their words, the attitude of these so-called parents of Rapunzel, it made me want to vomit. They didn’t even try to consider what their own faults might be, only seeing and hearing what they wanted to. Seeing their vile hearts made me want to tear out their tongues. If I let them keep those mouths, they’d clearly keep spewing out vicious slander about Rapunzel.

I absolutely cannot stand that sight.

The queen frowned.

“Heroes, Rapunzel was a wicked villain and a demon destined to destroy the world from the beginning. So, she lifted our curse herself?”

I glared coldly at the queen and opened my mouth.

“Rapunzel regretted what she had done and took her own life so she wouldn’t become a monster, so she wouldn’t become the curse that would destroy the world, just like the prophecy foretold! Do you even know what that curse was?”

“Hmm, wasn’t it just a curse she was born with?”

“No-! It was a curse YOU cast! You believed in some ridiculous prophecy! You were manipulated by a disgusting sorcerer and cursed your own daughter, locking her in a tower, treating her like a demon! Did you even think about how she felt? Did you even know what she was going through there! You were the ones who cursed Rapunzel, how can you be so shameless-!”

“Wha-what are you saying!”

*Clang*. Startled, the queen gestured, and the guards around us approached. At their head was Bogart.

“Hero, please calm yourself. Your words are an insult to Her Majesty.”

“Insult? An insult, you say? Is that what you call an insult? You wanted your own daughter dead, you locked away a girl who was still just a child in a tower and celebrated like it was a festival! And this is an insult?”

I ground my teeth. The cold, suppressed fury was sharpening a blue-tinged blade relentlessly. The tip of the blade was aimed at every demon in front of my eyes. They were in denial.

Of the evil they inflicted on Rapunzel. Not only did they continue their horrific and repulsive abuse, but now they’re insulting Rapunzel’s sacrifice, that she did to prevent herself from becoming a curse.

“Insolent! Even if you are a hero, such words insult the throne! If you say one more word like that, even if you are the hero who ended Rapunzel’s curse, I will not forgive you!”

“Don’t you dare speak Rapunzel’s name with your filthy mouth!!!! You damn trash!”

*Thud!* I pulled out the twilight scythe and slammed the handle into the floor. A vein like an earthworm throbbed on the king’s forehead.

“How dare you draw a weapon before me!! All of you…!”

The king couldn’t finish his sentence. His large pupils reflected Alice, laughing maniacally as she charged.

*Whap!-!*

Alice, her skirt billowing, landed a clean kick to the king’s face.

“Krrkhack!”

The king spat out a shower of teeth, tumbling from his throne to roll on the floor. She, standing over the fallen king, stepped on his back and grinned.

“Who do you think you are, flapping your gums like that? Our darling doesn’t like it, right? Huh?”

Alice. She had been half-listening to the king’s words until just now, when she smacked him hard across the face.

*Swishh*!

“Eeeaaah! What, what are you doing! Impu- aaack!!!”

A massive splash of water engulfed the queen, binding her, then a whip made of water thrashed her bottom repeatedly.

[YOU’RE the ones who insulted him. You insulted MY prince! You’re all dead!]

Ariel. She glanced back at me and smiled. Maybe they had been disappointed in me. They were threatening, sure, but they showed me favor and were willing to lay down their lives for me. Yet, I was only grieving for Rapunzel’s death and kept being depressed by myself, and they must have been disappointed, but even now, for me, who only acts for Rapunzel, they assaulted a country’s king and queen without hesitation.

Maybe I’d been being all jumpy, worried about being used like a tool?

They’ve been so sincere with me the whole time.

Guilt. An unbearable pang of guilt grips my heart. Something hot and overwhelming rushes to my face, and tears begin to fall.

I’m just a stupid human who can’t manage anything properly.

“Y-Your Majesty! All of you, stop them! Save His Majesty and the Queen from those demons!!”

Boggart drew his sword and shouted. Then all the guards let out a loud roar and charged towards us.

“Kyahahahaha! Darling!”

Alice was suddenly in front of me. She held out her hand, her smile one of pure, unadulterated madness.

“Why the long face? Let’s wreck this place and let off some steam, shall we~?”

Seeing this, Ariel quickly held out her hand to me too.

[That’s right! Those pieces of trash don’t deserve to be pitied! Don’t be sad and just pour all that negative energy onto those lowlifes!]

My throat tightened, I couldn’t speak properly, and I just nodded.

I felt an unutterable gratitude towards them for looking after me until the end.

What followed was concise and refreshing. It was so exhilarating that I barely remember how I acted. Like riding a thrilling roller coaster.

I just smacked and bashed the dumb faces in front of me. The King, after being constantly tormented by Alice, finally pissed himself and passed out, and the Queen collapsed clutching her ass. Bogart was whacked across the head with the side of a scythe, lost his front teeth, and rolled on the ground. The soldiers, realizing that we were no match for them, turned tail and ran for their lives.

It felt so good, but a part of me still felt uneasy. So, we went outside the castle. And what we saw there left us speechless. Rapunzel’s corpse, hung on a cross. And below it, a pile of firewood, ready for a burning. The sight of it made something inside me snap.

The villagers, who initially praised us as heroes, were now battered and in shock, scrambling to flee. The festive square instantly turned into a scene of chaos. We punished the trash who had cursed Rapunzel, and they screamed as they looked at us.

“Ah, demons!!”

After a while, there was no one left in the square. Most had hid inside their houses, shivering and refusing to come out. I took Rapunzel’s corpse down and shouted, so loud it shook the town.

“From now on, anyone who even mentions Rapunzel’s name will suffer the pain of hell for eternity before they die-!”

And we left that disgusting hellhole.

I tightly hugged Rapunzel’s cold body and said,

“Thank you, everyone.”

At my words, Alice and Ariel widened their eyes and smiled at the same time.