E7 - A Cruel Fairy Tale: The Beautiful Princess

Source: Crunchyroll
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[00:06] ---
    THE STORY I'M ABOUT TO TELL YOU NOW
    REALLY HAPPENED ABOUT SIX HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
[00:10] ---
    BUT I'D LIKE YOU TO LISTEN
    AS IF IT WAS FICTION.
[00:12] ---
    BECAUSE IT HAPPENED TOO FAR IN THE PAST
    TO SOUND REALISTIC,
[00:16] ---
    AND A STORY LIKE THIS WITH NO MORALS
    OR SALVATION IS BETTER OFF LEFT AS A LIE.
[00:27] ---
    About six hundred years ago, in a country that
    no longer leaves a name anywhere in this world,
[00:34] ---
    there was a very beautiful girl.
[00:38] ---
    She was born as the sole daughter
    of wealthy nobility,
[00:41] ---
    with beauty known to everyone in the country.
[00:46] ---
    She was so beautiful that a portrait of her
    was displayed in every household.
[00:52] ---
    Regardless of age, gender, or social status,
    everyone was enthralled by her.
[00:59] ---
    She was given a title from the emperor
    for her beauty alone.
[01:04] ---
    Everyone in the country called her
    "Beautiful Princess" and loved her.
[01:12] ---
    Citizens formed long lines to the castle she lived in
    to get a glimpse of her rumored beauty.
[01:20] ---
    Each and every day, a mound of presents
    was placed in front of the castle.
[01:27] ---
    "I turned your beauty into a song, Princess.
    Please accept this."
[01:34] ---
    A musician said thus
    and played his violin.
[01:39] ---
    "I turned your beauty into a poem, Princess.
    Please accept this."
[01:45] ---
    A poet said thus
    and read his poem out loud.
[01:50] ---
    "I turned your beauty into statues, Princess.
    Please accept these."
[01:57] ---
    An artist said thus
    and carved out a hundred statues.
[02:03] ---
    But no gift would make the princess smile.
[02:10] ---
    Nobody looks at me.
[02:13] ---
    The princess lamented
    all alone in her room.
[02:17] ---
    Beautiful this, beautiful that.
[02:21] ---
    They all sing praises,
    but they say nothing more.
[02:24] ---
    None of those people know
    what kind of person I am.
[02:29] ---
    They don't know who I am on the inside.
[02:32] ---
    That agonized the Beautiful Princess.
[02:37] ---
    No matter what she does, no matter what
    she says, the response is simply, "Beautiful."
[02:45] ---
    Whether it be success or failure,
    whether she does good things or bad,
[02:50] ---
    the assessment she received
    was always the same.
[02:53] ---
    Whatever she did was beautiful.
[02:55] ---
    Asleep or awake, she was beautiful.
[02:58] ---
    "Beautiful Princess"
    was a very apt description.
[03:02] ---
    Such a beauty must be from
    that of an enchantress.
[03:08] ---
    At this rate, it wouldn't matter
    whether or not I have my own will.
[03:13] ---
    I am not a slave to my own appearance.
[03:17] ---
    Beauty I just happened to be born into
    is nothing but a hinderance.
[03:21] ---
    I would rather have them look at my soul
    more than my looks.
[03:27] ---
    Her great will, unspoiled by her own beauty,
    greatly touched the heart
[03:32] ---
    of an old witch who lived
    in this country for quite some time.
[03:38] ---
    "Beautiful Princess, I will turn your beauty
    so transparent that nobody can see it."
[03:45] ---
    "Instead, I will make your heart
    visible to everyone around you."
[03:52] ---
    "From now on,
    your soul will be what they judge."
[03:58] ---
    The old witch cast a spell
    and waved her wand.
[04:02] ---
    The clear skin of the princess
    really became transparent.
[04:08] ---
    "Thank you. Thank you so much."
[04:12] ---
    The Beautiful Princess gave thanks
    from the bottom of her heart.
[04:16] ---
    Her outward beauty was gone,
[04:19] ---
    but the princess's soul
    proved to be even more beautiful.
[04:26] ---
    Word of her brilliance traveled all over
    the country without her even leaving her castle.
[04:33] ---
    The princess's father felt shame for not noticing
    his daughter's beautiful soul for all this time,
[04:42] ---
    and after greeting her in the morning,
    he jumped off the balcony to punish himself.
[04:51] ---
    The princess's mother was proud to have given birth
    to a daughter with such a wonderful soul.
[04:57] ---
    She felt that such a feat was simply enough
    to end her role in this world,
[05:04] ---
    and peacefully passed away
    after eating breakfast.
[05:10] ---
    The musician thought he could not possibly express
    the Beautiful Princess's kindness in song.
[05:16] ---
    So he decided a suitable gift
    would be to offer what he held most dear,
[05:22] ---
    and more cherished than life itself,
    which was his wrists to play his instrument.
[05:26] ---
    He chopped his wrists off
    and presented them to the princess.
[05:33] ---
    The poet thought he could not possibly express
    the Beautiful Princess's wisdom in poetry,
[05:39] ---
    so he decided a suitable gift
    would be what he held most dear,
[05:44] ---
    and what he cherished more than life itself,
    his tongue to recite his poems.
[05:48] ---
    He ripped his tongue out
    and presented it to the princess.
[05:55] ---
    The artist thought he could not possibly express
    the Beautiful Princess's bravery in statues,
[06:02] ---
    so he decided a suitable gift would be
    what he held most dear,
[06:07] ---
    and what he cherished more than life itself,
    his eyes to inspect the materials.
[06:11] ---
    He gouged his eyes out
    and presented them to the princess.
[06:18] ---
    All the citizens had burned their portraits
    of the princess that they had long cherished.
[06:26] ---
    They wondered why they took such great care
    of such trivial things for all this time.
[06:32] ---
    While thinking reluctantly
    that it was not suitable as a gift at all,
[06:37] ---
    they sacrificed their own lives,
    the lives of their parents and siblings,
[06:41] ---
    the lives of their children,
    and the lives of their grandchildren.
[06:47] ---
    It didn't take long before the mountain of presents,
    or rather the mountain of corpses,
[06:52] ---
    that laid before the castle, was stacked
    higher than the height of the castle itself.
[06:59] ---
    Oh, what a tragedy!
[07:02] ---
    I didn't think this would happen!
[07:04] ---
    Losing all hope from the mountain of corpses
    and river of blood offered to the nature of her soul,
[07:10] ---
    the princess sought out the old witch
    to have her magic dispelled.
[07:16] ---
    But it was too late, as the old witch
    was the first one to see the princess's soul,
[07:23] ---
    and had already sacrificed her head,
[07:25] ---
    which she cherished more than life itself and was filled
    with all the knowledge she gained over the years.
[07:31] ---
    Seeing the old lady's severed head,
    the princess broke down into tears.
[07:37] ---
    Such a scene that evoked pity, of her
    beautiful heart shedding tears for someone else,
[07:44] ---
    further enchanted the citizens of the country.
[07:47] ---
    They scrambled and raced to offer their lives or things cherished more than life itself to the princess.
[07:59] ---
    To console the princess, they smiled as they
    laid down their lives one after another.
[08:07] ---
    The mountain of corpses that piled up,
    or rather the castle made of corpses,
[08:11] ---
    became infamous and talk of it rang across
    the capital and even to neighboring countries.
[08:16] ---
    But all the armies that rushed over, upon seeing
    the authority of the Beautiful Princess up close,
[08:23] ---
    gladly, and willingly,
    became a part of the corpse castle.
[08:29] ---
    I've had enough.
    Everyone is going to die.
[08:32] ---
    But I can't save even one person.
[08:36] ---
    The more things I do, the more I speak,
    everyone would keep dying.
[08:43] ---
    I want to die myself.
[08:47] ---
    But she could not die.
[08:52] ---
    The strength of the princess's will
    did not allow for that.
[08:57] ---
    The princess was also
    unable to fall into insanity.
[09:02] ---
    "Then you shall embark on a journey."
[09:05] ---
    That was when
    the old lady's severed head spoke up.
[09:10] ---
    The tears that the princess shed
    had created a miracle.
[09:15] ---
    The old lady came back to life
    for just one brief moment.
[09:21] ---
    Someday, you may be able to save those who die
    for your beautiful soul that is beyond enchanting.
[09:30] ---
    Until then, you need to keep
    distancing yourself from other people.
[09:35] ---
    Do not get close to anyone.
    You shall live alone.
[09:40] ---
    With that said,
    the old lady passed away yet again.
[09:47] ---
    And thus, leaving behind a castle stained scarlet
    with blood and a castle of corpses,
[09:54] ---
    the Beautiful Princess embarked
    on a never-ending journey.
[09:59] ---
    She followed the advice,
    almost a curse, of the old witch.
[10:04] ---
    So that no one will die anymore...
[10:08] ---
    A solitary journey to escape it all,
    where she cannot have any companions.
[10:13] ---
    It would be a while longer yet
    before she turns into a vampire.
[10:19] ---
    But the vampiric tale of the princess, of Kiss-shot
    Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade,
[10:24] ---
    covered in red blood had started here.
[10:32] ---
    And her innocent soul finally saves
    a tiny life offered to her for the first time
[10:41] ---
    in an incident roughly
    six hundred years later.
[10:48] ---
    A CRUEL FAIRYTALE
    THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS