I'm Not Afraid

Behind Theodore stood a young woman with long, silky black hair. She wore a lace-trimmed, openwork princess dress beneath a black velvet coat with crystal buttons. Her dark hair fell over her pale shoulders, and below her skirt showed a pair of straight legs clad in black velvet stockings. On her feet were black suede high heels with slender heels, bows, and skull decorations.

Just below her shoulder hung Nurn's black-and-gold lion crest, the lion holding golden scales to represent the city's lofty status and just laws. There was also a white lion crest bearing a golden sun banner, symbolizing Wissen Territory's resolve never to yield to foreign enemies.

But... the girl's face was now filled with fear, and it was plain from the redness around her eyes that she had been crying.

She was the lady of Wissen Territory and the city of Nurn. Yet clearly, everything had happened so suddenly that she could barely process it.

More importantly, for seven whole years, ever since the Elector Count had been corrupted, he had feared she might be "harmed"—and that she might discover the terrible truth that "he" had become "it." So he had chosen to imprison her outright, claiming it was to protect her from the Cultists' revenge.

The nobles of Nurn had raised no objections, including the Grand Judge and Lady of the Cemetery. After all, she was just a young girl. In fact, the nobles of Nurn would have been perfectly happy to keep her locked up like that forever.

Being imprisoned like that would inevitably affect her mind in strange ways. And with so little "social interaction," among other things, her inheritance of the Elector Count's title after his death would bring countless problems.

Those problems would ultimately fall on their shoulders. And when that time