I Was an Emperor, But I Became a Princess

“What on earth is happening? Who is this child, and why is Lerrhagen here?”

The ‘puppet Estria,’ perfectly replicating my personality, calmly sat on the throne despite the nobles’ demands, and remained silent.

After some time, when the nobles instinctively began to close their mouths one by one in the face of ‘my’ continued silence, ‘I’ finally spoke.

“An important matter?”

<I’ve kept this from you until now, but I actually have a daughter with Lerrhagen.>

At that moment, the chamber became completely silent, like someone had doused it with cold water.

I held the ‘puppet’s’ hand like a child reluctant to leave its mother’s side, while observing the nobles’ expressions.

‘So far nothing unusual.’

The nobles seemed frozen by the fact that ‘I’ had a daughter.

Moreover, learning that Lerrhagen was the father probably gave them the greatest shock of their lives.

“Suddenly, what is this…”

Breaking the long silence, Duke Delmen, Rigan’s father and head of the Council of Elders, was the first to speak.

After both my maternal grandfather Duke Elvierts and Duke Kelliard, who had been hostile toward me, completely left the Council of Elders, Delmen had become the de facto leader of the nobles and seemed devoted to his duties.

Of course, that meant little under ‘my’ cold gaze.

Of course there is.

I knew well enough. It was no ordinary matter for an Emperor to secretly bear and hide a child away from the ministers’ eyes.

Moreover, most of those present had hoped their sons or family members would catch my eye and become the Emperor’s husband.

Their goal, of course, was to gain access to imperial power.

So their shock must be immense.

Even if that weren’t the case, anyone would be surprised if the Emperor suddenly appeared with a child who looked exactly like him.

I met the gaze of the nobles who were staring at me with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, Duke Delmen, who had been carefully choosing his words, finally spoke.

“So this child—no, Her Imperial Highness—is truly the daughter of the Dragon Lord? But how—”

<I’ve seen all the men you nobles sent. Each one was laughably transparent in what they wanted.>

This, by the way, was my honest opinion.

“Your Majesty, if you distrust the Council this much, we find ourselves in a difficult position.”

“…”

I snickered inwardly.

At that moment, ‘my’ languid voice, tinged with amusement, echoed through the hall.

“Your Majesty!”

“We never did such a thing!”

I deliberately clutched the ‘puppet’s’ knee and looked down at the nobles.

Though I was speaking through the ‘puppet,’ all of this was essentially my warning.

“But Your Majesty, what about marriage—”

The nobles sighed, seemingly having expected this answer.

But in truth, this was better for them.

Formally accepting a Dragon Lord, worshipped by all races, as a husband would complicate matters far beyond simply having a child.

While scanning the nobles’ faces, I glanced at Lerrhagen one last time. Despite my efforts to speak with dignity, Lerrhagen was simply sitting in his chair with his eyes closed.

Yes, rather than uselessly running his mouth, it was better for him to sit there like a symbol.

Moreover, his mere presence suppressed the nobles’ spirit and kept them silent.

Just as I was thinking it was time to wrap things up neatly, Duke Delmen asked:

“May I inquire about Her Imperial Highness’s name?”

“Esht.”

This time, I answered. As all eyes suddenly turned to me, I smiled brightly and said:

“Esht de Leviathe Arsizes.”

“Esht, you say.”

“It was Mother’s childhood name. Mother gave it to me specially. Isn’t that right?”

The ‘puppet’ nodded at my question. I looked around at the nobles, gesturing if they had any more questions.

Eventually, after some time, Duke Delmen sighed deeply and rose from his seat.

“We greet Her Imperial Highness.”

With the Council head acting this way, the attitudes of the remaining nobles were predictable.

I alternately looked at Rigan standing to one side and Lerrhagen who now appeared completely asleep, then finally smiled broadly at the nobles.

“Yes. I look forward to working with you all.”

* * *

The meeting ended successfully.

Though I seemed to be the only one who thought so, at least none of the Council members doubted my identity.

Instead, they focused on “the Emperor secretly raising a daughter born with a Dragon Lord,” which made Rigan the busy one.

He was immediately cornered by the nobles after the meeting, but since he had agreed to handle all the trivial issues, I didn’t bother rescuing him from their clutches.

After sending the ‘puppet’ back to my room and magically locking the door to prevent anyone from entering, I returned to what had now become ‘my room.’

No sooner had I stepped inside and admired the elaborately decorated interior than I pointed at the ‘objects’ on the bed and asked:

“What are those?”

“They’re stuffed animals! Since Rigan didn’t prepare any, I specially got them for you! Aren’t they cute? I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I prepared cats, dogs, foxes, and rabbits!”

Faced with Sela’s bright expression, I was at a loss for words.

Yes, in her common sense, having a few stuffed animals in a child’s room would be natural.

However, the problem was that I wasn’t a child, and those stuffed animals were clearly too many.

And decisively, I strongly disliked stuffed animals.

‘I’d like to tell her to put them away, but since this is supposed to be a child’s room, it’s probably better to leave them.’

In the end, I forced a smile and approached the bed.

As I absently picked up a rabbit doll, I suddenly realized this was the first time ‘my room’ had stuffed animals.

How could I have had dolls when I didn’t even have attendants? Such nice things always belonged to my siblings, and I never dared to touch them.

They would always boast about the dolls Father had given them right in front of me.

That was precisely why I disliked dolls. Because I never had them.

“Do you like the rabbit doll?”

I must have been lost in thought. I suddenly snapped out of my reverie at Sela’s question and shook my head.

“No, I don’t like it.”

“Then the cat?”

“Actually, I’m hungry.”

I finally changed the subject to escape Sela’s burdensome gaze. Sela clapped her hands as suddenly remembered something.

“I’ll bring you a snack!”

“No, not a snack, a meal…”

“But it’s not lunchtime yet.”

I clicked my tongue slightly.

‘She’s surprisingly stubborn. An overly enthusiastic type?’

Contrary to my thoughts, Sela smiled brightly and said:

“You need to eat a proper meal later, so I’ll bring something light like fruit. I’m sorry I couldn’t prepare dessert in advance today because of all the commotion. Next time, I’ll make it myself for you.”

Such a fuss.

But there was no need to stop her.

I watched Sela hurriedly leave the room, and as soon as the door closed, I tossed the doll I was holding onto the bed and climbed up.

It was quite easy to climb, probably because it was made to match my height.

Not just that—the entire room was cute and pretty, seemingly custom-made for me.

Exactly the kind of room I dreamed of as a child.

‘Rigan really did unnecessary things. He could have decorated it simply.’

While muttering this and looking around the room, I turned my gaze to the mirror.

In it was ‘Princess Esht’ with slightly chubby cheeks. I blinked while staring at the reflection.

I wondered how long I would have to remain in this form, then realized it was a pointless concern and abandoned the thought.

‘For now, it’s important to act well so those around me don’t notice anything suspicious. And I should quietly investigate when possible.’

Hadn’t I created a ‘fake family’ for all of this? Thinking about it made me feel strange.

Family, huh.

But I quickly escaped from these thoughts.

‘Come to think of it, Lerrhagen and Hasis will fully move into the imperial palace today. I hope they don’t make any mistakes.’

With the hidden princess just announced, they would obviously attract everyone’s attention. Yesterday was so rushed that I didn’t explain things in detail.

‘I should go find them and give them some precautions. And make my request while I’m at it.’

With that thought, I smiled.

* * *

The sudden announcement of my existence seemed to have surprised the palace people more than I expected.

As proof, the moment I left my room, all eyes turned to me, and some of those gazes were neither friendly nor hostile.

If I had to describe them—curiosity.

Yes, walking under those curious gazes, I knocked on Lerrhagen’s door, but when there was no response from the other side, I frowned.