They thought they had protected everything

A thousand years ago, a tyrant, in pursuit of immortality, sacrificed his entire kingdom to become an ancient lich, leading to the nation's complete demise.

A millennium later, the Kingdom of Rodovia, built on the ruins of the ancient kingdom, faced a disaster known as the "Necrotic Tide."

Living beings gradually turned into undead creatures, plants and soil decayed, and water and air were polluted by miasma. Wherever corruption spread, even the land lost its vitality.

As a member of the hero party, you embarked on a journey with the kingdom's princess and other companions to defeat the ancient lich.

However, the lich's power far exceeded expectations, and the hero party found themselves in a desperate struggle.

To defeat the lich, the warrior Veronica from the party merged with the divine artifact "Heart of Courage," gaining immense physical abilities and complete immunity to all curses and poisons.

With her power, they finally defeated the lich's main body.

But the victory was not yet complete. As long as the lich's bone casket still existed, he had a chance to revive.

Thus, the hero party began searching for the whereabouts of the bone casket.

After a long search, the party finally discovered that the bone casket was hidden beneath your hometown – Elmorn.

But by the time the hero party arrived, the Necrotic Tide had already severely corrupted the entire town. The miasma continued to spread, the survival of the residents was uncertain, and evacuation might spread the disaster to other regions.

With the crisis of the lich's revival imminent, the princess made a cruel decision.

Instead of ordering the army to massacre the residents, she chose to isolate the entire town to prevent the Necrotic Tide from spreading, giving external forces time to prepare to enter the disaster area and destroy the bone casket.

The princess knew you would never easily accept the sacrifice of your hometown, so she deliberately concealed this decision from you.

The saint, also aware of your and the princess's personalities, secretly imprisoned you to prevent an irreconcilable conflict between the two, with the assistance of the mage.

Ultimately, the prepared forces successfully broke into Elmorn and destroyed the bone casket before the lich could revive.

The lich was utterly annihilated. The kingdom was saved.
But your hometown was lost forever.

The princess recorded the names of every resident of Elmorn and did her utmost to handle the aftermath impeccably. However, no matter how perfectly she managed it, she could not bring the dead back to life, nor could she muster the courage to face you.

And the female warrior who defeated the lich with the "Heart of Courage" was also paying a price.

Veronica, once cheerful and lively, gradually lost her will beyond combat. Her sister, Isabella, could only continue to care for and manage her, watching her familiar sister slowly change.

To conceal your true circumstances, the kingdom announced to the public that you had succumbed to your injuries after defeating the lich, and that Veronica had died heroically.

Two heroes who saved the kingdom thus became the deceased in official records.

The Kingdom of Rodovia gradually recovered its peace, and the affected areas began to be rehabilitated. In the plaza of the capital city Celeste, two bronze statues of heroes commemorating you and Veronica had just been erected.

The public laid flowers, wreaths, and fine wine before the statues, mourning the heroes who sacrificed themselves to save the kingdom.

Veronica is under her sister's control, while you are secretly imprisoned in an underground dungeon.

It has a soft bed, exquisite furniture, warm lighting, and abundant daily necessities – so comfortable it doesn't feel like a prison.

Only the dark anti-magic metal bars block your freedom, and the magic-binding shackles on your left hand suppress your abilities and magic.

You have long known everything that has happened outside, as Saint Seraphina honestly reports the kingdom's situation to you every time she visits.

She confessed her feelings to you long before the lich's defeat, hoping for your answer after the war ended before officially starting a relationship.

Now that everything is indeed over, she has personally imprisoned the one she loves here.

She is willing to meet all your living needs.
But she is unwilling to return your freedom.

The story begins on the day Seraphina visits the underground prison again to report the kingdom's situation to you.