User blog comment:Schiffy/BG9: Man, Machine, or Something Else Entirely?/@comment-6904925-20130920142806/@comment-1387259-20130921004700

If anything, that use of "fear" just seems like another format of "I'm afraid that...." as in "I'm afraid only his Majesty could provide an explanation," which, translations aside, is just a common modern English phrase.