Rapunzel Is Raised by Her Stepmother

Chapter 14:  Everything Except What Can't Be Found (2)  

The moment she heard Rapunzel's request, Dorothea involuntarily took a step back, chills running down her spine.  

She could have demanded much more in exchange for asking the ‘mirror’ to find that person. A better room, perhaps, or improved treatment in this place.  

But Rapunzel did not wish for such things. Spreading her arms wide open as if asking for a hug, she smiled brightly like a child and made only one request.  

“...If you call me your daughter with a loving voice, I will help you, Mother.”  

To be called ‘daughter.’  

It would have been better if she had asked for money or jewels. If that mirror truly found ‘that woman,’ money and jewels wouldn’t have been a waste.  

But still, no matter what...  

‘Calling that child my daughter...’  

Flinch.  

With her arms wide open, Rapunzel approached her, and for the first time in her life, Dorothea felt afraid of a child.  

No, she was afraid of a child who, even when pushed away, constantly craved affection.  

She had made it clear from the very first day. She had unwillingly taken in a ‘foster daughter,’ but it was not out of affection or a desire to support her.  

That statement meant that even if she was a ‘foster daughter,’ she should not expect any familial love. Hadn't she spoken directly, making it easy enough for even a child to understand?  

Yet, whether Rapunzel did not understand or simply ignored it, she kept following her around, calling her ‘Mother.’  

She dug a hole in the tower to escape, trailed after her even when tied with a rope, and even when she fled in refusal, she would open her mouth wide like a baby bird begging for food, chirping, ‘Mom! Mom!’ nonstop.  

So she ignored her.  

She had no intention of raising that child as her daughter. In the first place, she didn’t even see her as a person. That child was merely an ‘object’ brought by her father, just another piece of junk she had to manage.  

Hadn’t her father said so himself?  

Just keep her alive, like livestock.  

So she had decided to think that way...  

“...Why are you looking at me like that? Is it so strange for a mother to call her daughter by her title? I always call you ‘Mother’ with a loving voice.”  

“That’s because you—on your own...!”  

...Only now did she realize why that child sent chills down her spine.  

That child saw her as nothing but ‘Mother.’ No matter how much she loathed her, despised her, or ignored her, in that child's eyes, she was still ‘Mother.’  

‘It’s horrifying...’  

The red eyes staring straight at her sent shivers down her spine. The child, smiling brighter than sunlight, arms wide open as she approached—she truly looked like a daughter seeking her mother’s embrace.  

“...Even if I call you my daughter, I will never think of you as one. No, there will never come a day, not even in death, when I consider you my daughter. You are nothing more than an ‘object’ my father brought in.”  

“Why? But you said it yourself, didn’t you? That I am your ‘foster daughter.’ I know what foster sponsorship means, too. Taking in an orphan from the streets and raising them... In other words, ‘a new family,’ right?”  

“Haven’t I told you already! Taking you in as my foster daughter wasn’t my choice! It wasn’t done out of affection! It was only because you had to remain in this family!”  

There was only one reason for making Rapunzel a foster daughter.  

It was to legally prevent anyone claiming to be her biological parents from taking her away later. If a foster child was raised for five years, they could be officially registered into the family.  

In other words, once five years had passed, no matter who appeared claiming to be her real parents, no one could take Rapunzel away. It was a scheme devised by her father.  

Whether the child had been bought from a slave market or picked up from the streets, once she was officially registered, her past no longer mattered. From that point on, Rapunzel would be a part of the ‘Nebrant’ family.  

‘Of course, leaving that task to me, someone who can’t even get married, is just like Father...’  

That was why taking in that child as a foster daughter had never been something she wanted. There was no affection to be had. The only one suffering losses because of that child was herself.  

“So, don’t—”  

Just as she was about to tell her not to call her ‘Mother’—  

Rapunzel suddenly threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around Dorothea’s legs.  

The moment she was tightly embraced, a wave of chills surged from her legs upward, and instinctively, Dorothea shoved Rapunzel’s shoulders away.  

Smack!  

Rapunzel was pushed back forcefully, falling straight onto her backside. Watching the scene unfold, Dorothea found herself unable to close her mouth in shock.  

No matter how unnerving the child was, the fact that she had laid hands on a child with her own two hands was deeply unsettling. Rapunzel had fallen so hard that she couldn’t even get back up.  

“Ah, you—”  

The words Are you okay? almost escaped her lips, but Dorothea bit down on her lower lip and swallowed them back.  

She realized that this was a good opportunity to push Rapunzel away for good.  

After all, wasn’t it that child who refused to understand when spoken to nicely? If so, she had to use this chance to put an end to Rapunzel’s strange behavior. If she used force like this, the child wouldn’t dare come near again.  

So, Dorothea began acting even more venomously.  

As if brushing off dirt from her skirt, she dusted herself off and looked down at Rapunzel, who lay sprawled on the floor.  

“...Rapunzel, did you think this was amusing? Were you so sure that this situation would never come?”  

Rapunzel neither cried nor made a sound. She didn’t even move, simply staring down at the floor. Watching that motionless figure, Dorothea’s shoulders trembled involuntarily.  

“...That’s why you should have known when to stop. Is it that painful that you can’t even speak? Now that you’ve felt some pain, at least...”  

Dorothea spoke coldly, but as Rapunzel remained completely still, a sense of unease crept up on her.  

Was something actually wrong? No matter what, it was strange for her to be this unresponsive.  

“...Rapunzel.”  

Dorothea called out to her in a cold voice.  

But Rapunzel did not answer.  

“...Rapunzel?”  

This time, Dorothea’s voice carried a hint of concern.  

Even then, Rapunzel did not respond.  

“Rapunzel?”  

Feeling that something was truly amiss, Dorothea bent down to examine the fallen girl. As she lifted Rapunzel’s face by her cheek—  

“...Heehee, hihihihihi.”  

Rapunzel leaned into the hand touching her cheek, resting her face against Dorothea’s palm. Then, she gently nuzzled into it.  

Her half-lidded eyes curled into a bright smile—  

“Ugh...!”  

Simply calling it unsettling was not enough.  

Dorothea let out a silent scream and immediately pulled her hand away from Rapunzel’s cheek.  

“Y-You cunning little thing...! Now you’re even acting?!”  

“...Acting? But I really was in pain. I thought my backside had split into four.”  

As if truly in pain, Rapunzel patted her own backside before standing up. Then, she turned to Dorothea, smiling with her eyes.  

“I’m so happy right now. Because the fact that you worried about me means you saw me as a ‘person,’ not an ‘object.’ You called me an object before... but you’re really bad at lying, aren’t you, Mother?”  

“Y-You little...! Now you’re testing me?!”  

“Testing? I was simply waiting because I believed you would worry about me. You see, the younger a child is, the better they know how to get their parents’ attention.”  

“You—You...!”  

Dorothea’s mind was in chaos.  

Was it because anger had reached its peak?  

Or because she was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t even form words?  

Or perhaps... because Rapunzel’s actions had gone beyond eerie and into the realm of the grotesque?  

Dorothea could only open and close her mouth, unable to speak.  

She had no idea where to even begin.  

She had no idea what words could possibly make that child give up.  

In the end, Dorothea was left with no choice but to close her mouth.  

As she pressed a hand against her forehead, feeling the onset of a headache, Rapunzel approached her with a bright smile.  

“Mother, just one word will do today.”  

“......”  

“I really don’t understand why this is so difficult for you, Mother. Other mothers and daughters call each other by affectionate names, eat together, hold hands, and hug, don’t they?”  

No matter what was said, they would always be on parallel lines.  

Dorothea had repeatedly told her that their relationship was nothing more than a foster sponsorship, not a ‘mother-daughter’ bond. But Rapunzel refused to understand.  

“If you call me ‘daughter’ just once, I’ll help you.”  

Dorothea pressed a hand to her forehead and lifted only her eyes to look at Rapunzel.  

With the mirror clutched tightly in her hand, Rapunzel’s smiling face—her eyes curved in amusement—was nothing short of unnerving.  

For a brief moment, Dorothea considered giving up on finding ‘that woman’ altogether.  

But...  

‘...That mirror looks real.’  

She couldn’t afford to let go of even the slimmest chance.  

In the end, Dorothea had no choice but to grant Rapunzel’s request.  

She had to find that woman—only then would her father, the family, and everything else return to normal.  

“...Daughter.”  

“Hm? What did you just say?”  

Rapunzel had clearly heard her, yet she pretended not to.  

Dorothea wanted to flick the girl’s forehead in frustration, but instead, she took a deep breath, unable to force a smile, and spoke again with a weary expression.  

“...Daughter? Can I ask for your help?”  

“Alright! Since it’s Mother’s request, I’ll ask the mirror fairy in your place!”  

With that, Rapunzel grinned foolishly once more, just like before.  

At the sight, Dorothea let out a deep, exhausted sigh.  

A sigh of pure, utter exhaustion.