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

Escape

“Hoo-ah, hoo-ah. If I’ve made it this far, it should be okay, right?”

I collapsed in front of the sandy beach that I reached after running frantically through the grass. The horrific scenes of slaughter still wouldn’t leave my mind. Bursting flesh. Entrails spilling out from wounds and eyeballs rolling to my feet.

It’s horrifying.

For some reason, I feel good. If I catch that guy, I can definitely go home. I’ll feel like this was just a brief dream and I’ll be able to lie down on my bed at home and sleep soundly!

“Poof.”

Poof? Pooof? Pooof!? What did I just hear? Did that cheeky rabbit just laugh at me with a “poof” right in front of me?

Now, the distance between me and the rabbit is only five steps. I swear, I will give you a good knock on that proud head of yours! This is your last moment of arrogance!

“Prepare to be punished!!!”

Just as my arm was about to grab the fluffy body of the black rabbit.

Pababak!

“Huh?”

I rubbed my eyes and checked again, wondering what I had just seen.

Pababababak!!!!

Just a second ago, the black rabbit was close enough to touch my fingers, but now it was running. On the sea, no less.

The rabbit is running on the sea.

Huh? What does this mean? A rabbit running on the sea? Does that make any sense?

“No. No, this is…….”

I was so dumbfounded by this absurd situation that I couldn’t speak. Yes, the rabbit was dashing across the sea like a jet, so fast that its legs were invisible. I could only watch in a daze as the black rabbit’s figure disappeared into the distance, creating a rough spray of water.

Am I not going home?

Did I really miss such a golden opportunity? Hot tears rolled down my cheeks and hung on my chin.

“Hey!!! How can you do this! This is cheating!!! Come back! I was wrong! Huh? I was wrong, so please come back and let me go home!!!”

My tearful cry faded away, unable to even touch the shoulders of the rabbit, which had become a tiny dot in the distance.

Ah, life. I fell to my knees in despair. The hope of going home slipped through my fingers like grains of sand.

To return home, I must cross this sea, but how on earth am I supposed to do that? Unless there’s a boat nearby… Huh?

I wiped my tears with my sleeve and discovered a small boat placed right on the shore. Is this what they mean by “every cloud has a silver lining”? The boat appeared to me like a gift sent by a god who took pity on me.

“Yes, let’s keep moving forward. That’s the only thing I can do.”

I took a deep breath to calm my pounding heart and cautiously approached the boat, wary of any sign of Alice nearby.

Fortunately, Alice seemed to be nowhere around. The boat was an ordinary, old one. It was undoubtedly reckless and dangerous to cross the sea with just this small boat, so I hesitated for a moment.

What if, instead of chasing the Black Rabbit, I ended up starving to death in the sea without finding anything? Under the scorching sun, my body would cook, and with no food or water, I might impulsively drink seawater and end up as a cold corpse. The thought of such an end wouldn’t leave my mind.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

“Eek!”

A crazy-sounding laugh echoed from right behind me. The sensation was so terrifying that it felt like my hair was about to flee from my head, and I shivered all over.

No doubt about it. It’s Alice! She’s coming here!

There’s no time. If I stay here, Alice will find me. Who knows what harm she’ll do to me with that blood-stained mace she’s dragging along! I recalled the gruesome end of the Queen of Hearts and her soldiers, who had been turned into minced meat.

There are countless ways to die in this world, but at least I didn’t want to meet my end at Alice’s hands.

Behind me was a murderer, and in front of me was the vast, open sea.

I had no choice. It was far better to chase after the Black Rabbit than to stay with a murderous maniac!

Without hesitation, I pushed the boat, docked on the shore, with all my might until my arms and legs felt like they were about to burst. I could feel the blood rushing to my face, making it hot.

Splash! Finally, the boat left the sandy shore and floated on the cool sea.

“Huff, huff. I did it!”

“Ha ha ha ha! Where are you, my black reaper?”

My heart sank. Her voice was closer! There’s no time to waste! Panicking at Alice’s ever-nearing voice, I threw myself into the boat. There were oars on both sides, fixed with rings, making them easy to use.

Sweating profusely, I began to row with all my might. The pain of my muscles tearing was nothing compared to the paralyzing fear of Alice. The primal desire to survive kept my arms moving relentlessly.

Drifting away. The distance between me and the sandy beach is growing. And then, amidst the swaying giant grasses in the distance, a familiar figure appeared.

Elise, her blonde hair turned red, soaked in blood. She was scanning the surroundings with a sinister look, as if searching for me. Fearing that Elise might also demonstrate the ability to cross the sea like the black rabbit, I immediately crouched down and lay flat on the boat. Despite the considerable distance between us, my heart pounded as if she was right next to me.

The intense sunlight from the clear sky and the anxiety of not knowing when Elise might appear made sweat pour down my forehead.

I was sweating so much that my back was completely soaked.

It was so wet that it felt like I was in the water.

It could even splash like paddling… Huh? Paddling? Splashing?

I blinked and slowly focused on the sensation at my fingertips. The feeling of cold water. A sensation that could never come from sweat.

I swallowed hard and cautiously turned my head.

The seawater was rising to the point where it was almost touching my ears. I noticed a hole in the corner of the boat that could only be found with very close observation. The boat was slowly sinking.

“Why do things like this always happen to me!”

I hurriedly tried to row, but the boat tilted and was sucked into the sea as if someone had pulled it.

“Ugh!!”

In the blink of an eye, the salty seawater entered my mouth and nose. I grimaced and flailed. I couldn’t breathe, and my arms and legs felt as heavy as stones, unable to move properly.

I’m, dying.

Am I going to die meaninglessly in this cold sea?

I couldn’t hold my breath any longer, and my mind was becoming hazy. As my vision blurred, I saw a figure.

[Found you. My prince.]

A bizarre mechanical voice. Red hair swaying in the seawater. A girl swimming with a gentle smile, covering her chest with seashells. The last thing I saw was her reaching out her delicate, beautiful hand to me before I lost consciousness.