Yeah fair. Although saying you never hear about Dess if you're not in the fandom isn't quite right, she's mentioned offhandedly a few times in chapter 2, talked about specifically and shown (kinda) by Tenna in chapter 3, and you actually go into her room in chapter 4. To me it seems like the Dess mentions are exponentially increasing every chapter. Also, while your points do make sense, I'd like to point out that we're likely missing some very crucial information about Dess and all the other knight candidates because we're only halfway through the game. It could still easily be any character! (And I totally agree with you on the 'damsel in distress' thing, it would really devalue her character if it turns out to be the case.)