00:09My name is Elara Ashcroft, the Earl's illegitimate daughter.
00:17The stain this family has tried to hide.
00:21Today, they finally decide to send me to my death.
00:25Stand up straight, Elara.
00:27Being sent to the palace is the last shred of dignity left to you.
00:32The Holy Church has spoken.
00:34The House of Ashcroft must provide a sacrificial bride.
00:39Father, you're not sending me, are you?
00:42Of course not.
00:47So you chose me.
00:48Your mother was labeled a witch.
00:50You are the jinx she left behind.
00:52Sending you to the palace is not sacrificed as penance.
00:55Penance for whose sins?
00:57Mine?
00:58Or yours?
00:59Everyone in the capital knows no woman survives a night in the king's chamber.
01:02If your death buys this family the church's pardon, at least you'll be useful once.
01:07And if I refuse?
01:09Then you will burn at the stake.
01:11Condemned as the daughter of a witch.
01:14Name your choice, Elara.
01:16The stake?
01:18Or the king's bed?
01:20They never care about my well-being.
01:22What they fear is me coming back alive.
01:25Fine.
01:25I'll go.
01:27Remember this.
01:28Before sunrise, you'll be a corpse.
01:31If the cursed king truly is a monster,
01:34then tonight, he is about to meet another creature.
01:37One who wants to live.
01:40They push me into the room where a sheet of parchment is already waiting on the table.
01:48Sign it.
01:49What is it?
01:51The sacrificial bridal decree.
01:53From this night on, your life belongs to the crown and the church.
01:57So you aren't even pretending anymore?
02:00Your mother was a witch.
02:02Someone of your birth doesn't deserve a sacred marriage.
02:05Hurry.
02:06The king hates waiting.
02:08My mother was not a witch.
02:11Enough!
02:14What she was no longer matters.
02:17Of course it doesn't matter.
02:19Once I die too, you have nothing to worry about.
02:22Sign it, Elara.
02:23Elara, don't force me to have your hand held down.
02:27I take the quill.
02:29My fingers tremble.
02:31They think this is the end.
02:33But I know better.
02:35This is only the opening move.
02:38Fine.
02:39I'll sign.
02:44Then pray that I die in that palace.
02:47What is that supposed to mean?
02:50Because if I return alive,
02:54I'll make every one of you regret the day you sent me away.
02:59You won't survive the night.
03:01Just you wait.
03:05The moment the carriage door slams shut,
03:08the bells begin to toll,
03:10like a funeral being rung in my name.
03:12And in that very moment,
03:14I make a vow.
03:15I will not die.
03:18Near midnight,
03:19the carriage stops before the royal palace.
03:22Black spires cut into the night sky.
03:24The whole palace looks like a grave built to swallow the living.
03:30Get down.
03:34When I step down,
03:36several noble girls are already waiting before the gates.
03:40I heard the last one they sent in was unrecognizable by dawn.
03:44Enough.
03:45I don't want to die.
03:47I'm afraid too.
03:49But I know fear is the most useless thing in a place like this.
03:54Stand straight.
03:56The woman speaking is the palace mistress who oversees the sacrificial brides.
04:00From this moment on,
04:02no crying,
04:03no screaming,
04:04and no looking directly at the king.
04:07Whatever the king commands,
04:09you obey.
04:10And if we refuse?
04:13Then you will die miserably.
04:15Her words are devoid of any emotion,
04:18making the threat even more chilling.
04:20Is the king truly as terrifying as the rumors claim?
04:25Remember your name,
04:26Miss Ashcroft.
04:28By sunrise,
04:30no one else will remember you.
04:33She leads us through the corridors.
04:36The palace is unnervingly still,
04:40the flames barely flickering.
04:43At the end of the hall,
04:45I hear a woman cry out.
04:49Who is that?
04:51The first woman summoned tonight.
04:55Everyone freezes,
04:56because what waits behind that door is no bedchamber.
05:00It is an execution ground.
05:03Heads up.
05:05From now on,
05:07learn to wait for death and silence.
05:11Just before the door shuts,
05:13a sharper scream tears through the hall.
05:15And in that moment,
05:17I know I may be next.
05:22That night,
05:25we are locked in the same room.
05:29No one dares sleep.
05:32Will she come back?
05:37No.
05:39No woman who enters the king's chamber
05:42ever comes out alive.
05:44Have you seen it yourselves?
05:47At dawn,
05:48the guards carry them out
05:50through the side gate,
05:51under white cloth.
05:53I sit curled in the corner,
05:55my heart sinking.
05:59They all fear the king.
06:02But I think the most terrifying thing in this palace is not him.
06:09Up.
06:10All of you.
06:13Is it our turn?
06:15Only one was summoned tonight.
06:19What happened to her?
06:21No questions.
06:23It is none of your concern.
06:27There is blood on her sleeve,
06:29bright and fresh.
06:33I don't want to die.
06:36Crying won't save you.
06:39They all look at me.
06:41I'm not even sure if I'm telling them or myself.
06:45Listen well.
06:46His majesty will summon no one else tonight.
06:52I survived tonight,
06:53but I know it's only for now.
06:57Death could still find me.
07:02I do not sleep at all.
07:06If I remain here,
07:07I die sooner or later.
07:16If I don't leave now,
07:18I never will.
07:22I quietly push the door open.
07:25The guard outside is slumped against the wall,
07:28barely awake.
07:34Holding my breath,
07:35I slip into the corridor.
07:37The palace at night.
07:39As cold as a crypt.
07:44I have no idea where the exit lies.
07:48I only know I need to get as far from that bed as possible.
07:54Left or right?
07:56As I hesitate,
07:58I hear a low, restrained growl.
08:01Like a beast.
08:04I follow the sound and stop before a black door.
08:09Chains wrap around it.
08:10And holy markings are carved across the wood.
08:15Something behind it is breathing.
08:20This doesn't look like a way out.
08:22In the next second,
08:24a much more terrifying growl slams from the other side.
08:29As if it is inviting me to step inside.
08:35I should turn and run.
08:38But my hand somehow reaches for the handle.
08:43I've lost my mind.
08:44I must have.
08:45The door is not locked.
08:49I push it open and the cold smell of blood strikes me at once.
08:57Inside lies an underground sanctuary.
09:00Stone pillars, holy icons, candlelight.
09:13Chains bind his wrists, throat, and waist.
09:18His upper body is bare.
09:20And bleeding, holy scars cut across his chest.
09:23His head hangs low.
09:28As if he is fighting something inside himself.
09:33The moment I step closer,
09:37he snaps his head up.
09:43His eyes are bloodshot and terrifying.
09:49Get out!
09:52He jerks once,
09:54and the chains snap taut with a shriek.
10:00In that instant,
10:01a realization dawns on me.
10:03This is not a cell.
10:05And the one chained here is no prisoner.
10:10He is the king cursed by holy punishment.
10:14The king stares at me
10:16as though he could tear me apart
10:18in the next breath.
10:20But I do not leave.
10:24Do you hear me?
10:28I do.
10:30But you look
10:31in pain.
10:33Shut up!
10:35He jerks against the chains again,
10:37blood spilling from his wrists and chest.
10:40What keeps me rooted there is not the blood.
10:44It is his eyes.
10:46There is more than madness in them.
10:48There is pain.
10:50If you truly wanted me dead,
10:52you would have done it already.
10:55Don't come closer.
10:57Why?
10:59Because right now,
11:02I'm a monster.
11:07Though I am shaking with fear,
11:10I still step closer.
11:13Then let me tell you something.
11:15What?
11:17I do not plan to die tonight.
11:20In the next second,
11:21his whole body goes rigid.
11:24The chains,
11:25rattling from his struggles,
11:27slowly come to rest.
11:33What did you do to me?
11:37I did nothing.
11:39Yet beneath my hand,
11:40that frantic man calms down.
11:44Beep?
11:46Beep.
11:47Beep.
11:49Beep.
11:50You
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