Let's Play Umineko Chiru, Episode 7 Scene 3: The Beatrice of 1967

[prof]

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Ushiromiya Lion

The first child of Krauss and Natsuhi. Jessica is their second child.

Was given the silver ring of the Head's successor, and will succeed the position of family head upon turning 20.

Mild, polite, and without any clear faults. Except for being too young, this youth is more suitable to become the next head than any other, and is adored by Kinzo.

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Good work. You can take a break now, so would you mind leaving? Um...
It's Kanon. Yes, as you wish.
Don't you remember the names of all your servants?
Our family has many young servants coming in and out, and they are usually replaced quite frequently. Well now. What are you trying to explain to me? Who are you, and what business do you have with this family? Of course, there's no need to convince me. Feel free to head on home, if you want.
There is no going home. Not for me... Not for anyone.
Could you please give that a rest? Stop speaking in confusing riddles all the time. Even I have limits to my patience. If you don't want me to see you off, should I call Genji or Gohda?
Stop talking. Look at this.
Yes, I can see that. It's one of the memorial roses. Are you going to show me some kind of magic trick?



Watch.
Yes, I'm watching. Is a dove going to fly out of it? Or is it going to be flags and fireworks? ...Huh?



The rose flies in a gentle arc towards the world beyond this funeral.





...What kind of trick is this? Ah--
Don't move. This chapel has been cut off from the Fragment. We're currently locked in a concentrated loop of time.
What... do you mean by that?!
Explaining's a pain, so I'll give you the short version. Basically, unless we play along with that witch's game, no one can leave this place.
What are you talking about?! The funeral is already over! I'm sure some people will want to return to the mansion or the guest house. We can't be locked up in here!
If you've got a problem, that witch is the one to hate. Being stuck in a place like this isn't any more pleasant for me.
That girl's your friend, right? Make her stop all this weirdness!
She's probably sitting in a spectator's seat with a bucket of popcorn about now. She won't come if we just call her.
What on Earth is going on?!



That's what she's telling us to investigate. If you could tell me about it, it'd make things go more quickly. That fickle witch will be totally satisfied. You'll be able to get rid of the two of us, and I have a date with Diana when I get back. If I keep her waiting too long, she'll start tearing up the sofa again.
Who killed Beatrice... that's hardly something to go barging into a funeral and start asking the family about.
Questioning the family is one of the basics of the mystery genre. Just give up and accept it. I do know that Beatrice is the mistress of Kinzo, the family head.
You really are a strange person. How do you know so much about this family. Are you sure you have no connections with us?



However, Beatrice died a long, long time ago. According to Genji, she passed away before the mansio was completed, but the reason for her death is unclear. This is the first I've heard of her being 'killed'. Tell me about it.



Will. To be honest, even I don't know much about this person called Beatrice.
I see. I guess it's called a game for a reason.
Everyone who enters the Ushiromiya family knows the name and image of Beatrice.
That's because of the massive portrait hanging in the entrance hall, isn't it? That portrait was first displayed in April of 1984.
Really, how is it that you know so much... ah, well, it's about time I stopped finding that odd. I'm sure you'll just start speaking in riddles again.



Everyone knows Beatrice. And yet, no one knows her. Kinzo's the only one who's ever met her.
The Head seems to be particularly cranky today. I'll introduce you to him when the change presents itself, so I ask that you develop an appropriately discreet attitude, Will.
That was quick. I thought you'd resist a bit more than that.
I'm used to speaking with the family head. I've learned to accept most unreasonable situations and just go with the flow.





Lion, where did you go? And who is that?
Mother, I was entertaining this guest of ours. Will, this is my mother, Natsuhi.
No introductions needed. Just let me here what you have to say.
Huh? Did you say something?
No he said nothing. This is Will. It seems he knew the deceased. He wants to know more about Beatrice. Do you know anything about her, mother?
...Lion. The deceased is a woman to whom the Head owed a great debt. Nothing more, nothing less. This funeral is a ceremony for the Head to repay the debts he made to her while she was alive. That is what I have heard, so there is nothing more to it than that.



Will. This chapel belongs to the family.
So you're telling me to follow the family's rule?
Speak in a manner appropriate for a guest of the family. Let me be the medium for all of your conversations. I ask that you follow those two rules.
I'll work on that.
This mess the witch Bernkastel or whatever has dragged us into is a real pain. Because of that, I am willing to help you. However, both of us stand on even footing, so make sure you don't forget it.
And I thought you were just some well-bred rich kid. You've got guts.
I must be prepared to shoulder the Ushiromiya family's future after all.
...Got it. Let's solve this crime together, Watson.
I'm glad I can help. I wouldn't want to keep your dear cat Diana waiting. Don't you need to feed her soon?
I gave her extra food today, so she should be good for a while. I'm surprised you realized Diana was a cat.
I figured a woman who scratches the sofas when you keep her waiting would be a bit too eccentric.
Hmph.
So? Who will you talk to first?
Anyone. Everyone. Those ones over there are Krauss's siblings, right?



...I know I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but you really do know everything, don't you?
So, you know about that story too?
I managed to overhear her saying that today. It looked as though it was bothering her, so I pretended not to hear.
Real model student, you are. Introduce me. I want to ask about it.
You're asking this of the model student who pretended not to hear because it just might be a painful topic?



Oh, Eva, this is Will. He came to offer flowers for the departed.
But who cares about that. Tell me everything you know about-- nngah!
He says he wants to know what sort of relationship the Ushiromiya family has had with the deceased.



Well... even if you say 'relationship with the Ushiromiya family'...
It's probably more accurate to say 'her relationship with father'.



Well, there you have it.
I have no interest in anyone but Rosa-- gghh!
I do believe that you said you met with Beatrice, Rosa.



She just suddenly came out with it today. It's a bit hard to believe.
It's the truth! I killed Beatrice!
Great, our work here is finished.
Don't get ahead of yourself.



Rokkenjima is covered by a dense forest. We only know about one tiny portion of it. Just the mansion, the rose garden, and the little path that leads to the harbor.
Since ages ago, there've been stories about how dad built a hidden mansion somewhere in the vast forest that no one knew about, and that he had his mistress living there.
Rosa probably came upon that hidden mansion by chance...
What does this have to do with Rosa killing Beatrice?
If I hadn't taken her out, she never would have died! She was so innocent, like a chick. I took her out, so she just followed along obediently! She stayed right behind me, trusting me completely! And because I made her take such a dangerous path...!
Did you make her walk that way because you were hoping she'd slip and fall from the cliff?
I never meant to do that! I just thought she'd like to see the ocean! No, it just looked like the path would be hard to walk, and I thought it would be easier going if we went down the cliff first!
That's not what killing someone means. It was an accident.
It's an accident she never would have had if I hadn't brought her with me, right?! It's my fault! And then, I abandoned her when she was covered in blood and ran home!
It isn't your fault. Beatrice had never seen the ocean before. You showed her that for the first time ever. She was probably so excited that she just happened to take a bad step.
H-How can you...
Beatrice is grateful to you for what you did. Of course she doesn't hate you for it.
...Really? Is that... really true...?



Beatrice is grateful for what you did. You're the one who taught her that the sea is blue.
Is that... true...?
I guarantee it.
...Thank you.
Even now, Beatrice is whispering those words to you.



You really have no problem making up claims you could never back up, do you?
Back up? Is that really necessary to that woman?
...It seems I underestimated you.



...I don't know who you are, but thank you. I wonder if she'll forgive me.
You've worried about it for nearly 20 years. That's far too long. She'd tell you that you've suffered more than enough already.
That's right, Rosa. The sadder you are, the sadder Beatrice would be.
You too... thank you. I don't know if I'll be forgiven, but I'll keep on speaking to my heart to see whether she'll forgive me or not. Thanks you two. Sorry for showing you such an embarrassing side of me.
And I'm worry to say this right after saying something so pretty, but I want you to talk to me. Tell me what happened back then.
Will!
Thanks, but it's all right. I'll talk. Hiding this and keeping quiet about it for so long might have been my greatest sin.



...It was about 20 years ago. 20... or wait, it might have been 19 or 18 years ago. I'm sorry, I've tried to force myself to forget it for so long that I've nearly forgotten that part completely.
It should have been 1967.
That's right... It was probably about 1967. I can remember what happened as clearly as a picture... I'll never forget...
If it's tough for you, don't feel like you have to tell us.
Yes, clear as a picture, if you don't mind-- ngah! Dammit, that hurts, Lion.
What does?



...But that forest is so thick it's hard just to move around in it.
I even surprised myself... To think that I made it so far into such a dense forest. I was tormented by twigs and sharp leaves over and over again, but that wasn't enough to bother me on that day. After all, I wanted to disappear into the forest and vanish forever. If, by some chance, there really was a witch's mansion in the depths of the forest, I hoped that she might take me to the land of happiness, or else turn me into a frog and make me a resident of the forest.
So then you reached the hidden mansion, Kuwadorian, and met a woman who called herself Beatrice.
Yes. I met her.
Was that Beatrice the same as the one in the portrait?
...Yes. They were the same person. Beautiful blue eyes, golden hair, a black dress. It truly was the subject of that portrait. When father first had it hung, I realized that the 20 years I had spent trying to forget must have seemed just as long for father, if not even longer, and I became even more fearful of my sin...



Beatrice is supposed to be that lady of leisure who lent dad all that gold shortly after the war, right?
By using Beatrice's gold as a foundation, father revived the Ushiromiya family and got super rich. Then he bought Rokkenjima and moved over. Rosa's meeting must have been at least 10 years after that.
A woman who could do as she pleased with 10 tons of gold could hardly be some little girl. And 10 more years passed before she met Rosa. About how old did the Beatrice you met look, Rosa?
...She looked older than I was at the time, but even so, it looked as though she might just be reaching adulthood. Yes, exactly the sort of age of the Beatrice in the portrait.
Did she look middle-aged or past her prime?
If I had to call her an adult or a child, she was clearly closer to being a child. There's no way she was middle-aged.
And isn't that strange? We have the Beatrice you met, and the Beatrice who gave father the gold, but their ages don't match.
In other words, they're different people.
Different people... who look very similar and have the same name...
It might have been her daughter. It makes sence for them to look alike if they were mother and child.
His mistress's daughter... It is possible. Perhaps father had an illegitimate child with the Beatrice who gave him the gold.
And then, Rosa bumped into Beatrice the Second. Makes those ages work out nicely.
I see... in other words, there are two people who can be called Beatrice.



So, it would seem that this funeral exists for the two Beatrices he couldn't mourn because they were hidden...
Rosa. I know you probably don't want to remember, but tell me about that accident. After Beatrice fell, was she still breathing?



Was it the sort of wound that clearly showed she was dead?
Yes. I saw the insides of her head! It had caved in deep enough to fit your fist inside it! No one could be naive enough to see that and still hope she was alive!
Will. Do you really need to ask anything more?
That's enough for the time of the accident. What did you do afterwards?
I dashed away at full speed. I wasn't even thinking about calling for help. I wanted to escape from that place as fast as I could. Half-crazed, sobbing, and out of breath, I kept on running about at random. Eventually, I came across a familiar lion statue.
Oh, the one in front of the chapel?
No, the one behind it. Anyway, I made it back to the mansion. I couldn't tell anyone, and I didn't want to. I stayed quiet until nightfall. It was so horrible of me... if I had hurried and told someone they might have brought her a first aid kit, and she might have been saved...
How is a first aid kit going to help with a crushed cranium? You didn't kill her. Don't worry about that.
What did you do next?



What did he say?
He told me to let him handle everything, and speak of this to no one. I spent the next several days terrified that father would call for me and scold me brutally. But... he didn't. Genji kept on doing his job quietly, just like normal. Father stayed locked up in his study, not knowing of any of it...
At the very least, none of us ever heard about it.
Genji probably managed to clean everything up nicely.
After all, they couldn't let knowledge of that child go public...
Since she was an illegitimate child, she must have been his daughter by blood. It must have been tough for father, not bein' able to hold a real funeral for her...
I guess that's why we're having this funeral.
And then?
That's all I know.
That's all I know, too.
I'm not hiding anything else. I've told you everything, I swear it.



Thanks, Rosa. Is that enough for you, Will? Are you satisfied?
That's enough. It was a nice review.





Where are you going?
Off to cool my head and organize my thoughts. Don't follow.
Well then, pardon me. Please, take your time.


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