The emperor looked down at me with eyes so cold that I felt he was a cold-blooded man.

However, what surprised me wasn’t that the emperor had a chilly expression.

“Ba, bbaaa?”

Wh-what?

As soon as I made a sound, the corners of the emperor’s mouth curved up in a grin unbefitting his status.

“Princess!”

Soon my body was lifted up. It was because the emperor had picked me up.

‘Ugh!’

This guy, hasn’t he ever held a baby before?

‘Why is he lifting me so roughly?’

I frowned and screamed at his insane lack of strength control.

“Uuuuu! Aaaaaa!”

Hey, hey! Control your strength! Control it!

As I flailed about, the emperor seemed startled for a moment before pulling me into his arms. It was gentler than before.

“Bbaaa, abubueuu?”

Hurry up and speak! Why are you coming out of here, Duke Piccadilly?

“Eubueu bubueu?”

Somehow the voice was familiar, and the room was familiar. I thought he looked like someone I’d seen before.

The emperor was none other than ‘Duke Piccadilly’, to whom I had abdicated in my past life. He was a great general known as the god of war, famous for being a man of few words and having a cold temperament that didn’t let others get close.

‘How come you, who was a loyal subject in my past life, are my father in this life?’

I say, Mr. God! What is the meaning of this?

‘To think I’m the daughter of a loyal subject!’

To think I’m that guy’s daughter!

“Daughter~ Our pretty Darjeeling!”

While I was confused, the loyal subject’s lips were approaching my cheek.

“Waaaah!”

Nooooo!

I desperately reached out my hands to refuse, but I lacked the strength.

“Who does our daughter take after to be so lovable?”

“Waah, waaah!”

Aaaaah, he’s crazy!

“She takes after her father, of course~”

The emperor, who had spewed all sorts of sappy words, kissed my cheek with a loud ‘smooch!’

‘No……!’

In the end, I ended up giving my cheek to him.

‘To think I’d get a kiss on the cheek from a loyal subject!’

“Agugu, our pretty daughter.”

It was truly shocking and terrifying. The guy I knew wasn’t the type to make such cooing sounds, and I thought we’d said goodbye when I died back then.

“Our Darjeeling! Oh my! Pretty eyes! Pretty nose! Who do you take after? You take after Papa, don’t you?”

‘This guy, he must have gone crazy in the meantime.’

Just what on earth happened to you?

“What’s that? Yes~ I love Papa the most~ Hahaha. Papa, you’re embarrassing me!”

Jeff’s sappiness knew no bounds. While I was struggling desperately because I hated it so much, he alone was making a fuss in excitement.

I reached out to Miranda, signaling for help, but Miranda just smiled broadly in joy, not noticing my distress.

‘This doesn’t make sense, save me!’

I feel like punching the god who has never been helpful in my life even once.

Is this what they call the ‘trick of fate’ that only happens in books?

“Ow uaaaa!”

Is that what this is?

“Waaaaaaah!”

It seems this life has gone wrong somehow.

* * *

I fell ill for a full fortnight after meeting Duke Piccadilly… no, Jeff, who is my father in this life.

It was because my weak body couldn’t handle the shock of learning that my loyal subject was my father, and the stress of being tormented by him, who turned out to be an extreme daughter-con.

And as time passed, I soon turned 3 years old. A full 2 years had passed since my shocking reunion with Jeff.

During that time, Jeff had been doing things unbefitting the dignity of an emperor.

Of course, I could understand doting on one’s own child, but it was different when the target was me.

At first, I thought he was paying extra attention because I was pitiful being alone without siblings.

Above all, since there was no sign of this body’s birth mother, I wondered if she had died and thought the fate of the original owner of this body was truly unfortunate.

Meanwhile, as Jeff kept cooing at me, I almost revealed that I was his former sovereign, but stopped myself.

Long ago, revealing my past lives had led to complicated lives more than once. Ulrika was the only one who didn’t treat me like a lunatic after hearing everything.

Considering Jeff’s temperament, he certainly wouldn’t call me crazy, but…

‘He’d be shocked to know that the daughter he loves so much is me.’

Ah, I’m going crazy. I’m going crazy.

For the past 2 years, I’ve consistently cursed at God. I’m doing it again today, but God hasn’t shown his face to me even once.

As if telling me to adapt to reality and live on, just as I had in many past lives.

‘Aaaaargh, damn God!’

I pounded my pillow with the rattle I was holding.

‘This is too much no matter how I think about it!’

In my past life, I was the one who assigned nannies and tutors to Jeff, so why am I being subjected to childcare as if it’s some kind of give and take through reincarnation?

“Oh my, Your Highness. What’s wrong? Don’t you like the rattle?”

“Sniff, sniff, waaah!”

Aside from my mental confusion, life in the imperial palace is peaceful. I’m draped in all sorts of rare things and eat well under the pretext of being the emperor’s only daughter.

I had no complaints about this part either. If I had to point out one problem, it’s that I was born into too young a body this time.

‘No matter how much I grow, there’s no end to it!’

I’ve grown a lot, but why am I still only 3 years old!

“Huuuung, hubububu. Huuung!”

How frustrating and painful it is to have an adult mental age but not an adult body!

“Pr-Princess? What’s wrong? Princess! Princess!”

At this rate, how long will it take to walk on two feet, and how long until I can go outside and find answers to the problems God has given me!

A sudden feeling of unjust anger welled up.

‘I can’t believe eating is this difficult!’

It was a tearful struggle to finally become independent from the milk bottle, and I wanted to finish that process quickly before my soul’s dignity crumbled.

“Picture, picture!”

“Yes, that’s right, Your Highness. It’s a picture.”

Meanwhile, as I looked like I was about to cry, the maid brought various things to show me, and I responded perfunctorily.

“Colored pencils!”

“Yes. They’re colored pencils. They’re a specialty product of the Kingdom of Nowen.”

You might think that the life of a princess wouldn’t be arduous since I’ve lived as a beggar at the bottom, but it’s clearly different.

When I was a beggar, there were some voluntary circumstances, but now I’m filled with shame every mealtime as a milk bottle is forcibly put in my mouth, making me feel like I’m going to shrivel up and die from embarrassment.

‘Sigh, anyway, I seem to be adapting to this life more or less…’

I slowly turned my head.

Seeing the bright weather, the season seemed to be between spring and summer, and the warm and slightly hot wind was no longer just prickly like before.

Above all, the princess’s bedroom was the best temperature-controlled place in the imperial palace.

In other words, it could be kept cool when it was hot outside and warm when it was chilly, adjusted to a temperature comfortable for a baby.

“Phew……”

I suddenly let out a deep sigh. The wet nurse and maid who had been playing with me tilted her head, followed my gaze, and said “Oh my” with a smile.

“You were looking at His Majesty the Emperor.”

“No.”

I didn’t look, okay?

By the way, don’t say things like that. If you’re not careful, Jeff might…!

“……Is that so?”

An uncomfortable gaze poured onto my cheeks. Someone might find the deep and heavy voice charming, but it gave me goosebumps.

“Our daaaaaughter? Did you see Papa? Did you see him?”

Because I knew that voice would soon change like that!

‘It’s too much!’

I looked at my dad with a disgusted expression.

‘Don’t you have any work to do?’

However, even with my face like this, Jeff suddenly grabbed his own eyes.

“Kuhup!”

“Your Majesty?”

“Our, our daughter looked at Papa warmly!”

‘Are you crazy?’

The emperor’s eyes revealed an uncomfortable light. It’s unbearable to see an older man’s eyes sparkling, even if he’s a handsome man in his early 30s!

‘You’re even older! Where’s your dignity, your majesty?’

I didn’t teach you like this, I swallowed the lamentation that was about to burst out.

‘This guy was so reliable when he was a loyal subject.’

What happened to you?

“Our daughter spoke! She’s holding a colored pencil!”

“Yes, Your Majesty. She’s only 3 years old, but she’s reciting words and holding a pencil. Surely she must have outstanding intelligence and talent.”

Everyone was busy keeping up with ‘Dad’s’ rhythm.

“She might become an artist!”

I only drew a crumpled circle.

“Perhaps becoming a great novelist wouldn’t be a problem either!”

I looked at the maid and knight inside with an incredulous expression.

‘Do you write novels these days by saying ‘ubuyabaya’?’

Everyone seemed to be out of their minds.

‘Well, what can ordinary citizens do in the face of power…’

Whenever I made this expression, people would just look at me with even more sparkling faces.

Since all I have are chubby cheeks and maple leaf-like hands, even putting my hand on my head and shaking it seems to look lovely.

‘Sigh.’

It’s severe, severe. It’s just tiring to keep looking, so I turned away from all the pouring gazes. And afterwards, I practiced walking diligently. Since I was tired of practicing drawing or writing, I thought I’d try this at least.

I also started trying to speak clearly from this time. Strangely, practicing speaking was easier than weaning off the milk bottle.

Until I was 2 years old, many pronunciations were difficult, but whether it was thanks to living countless lives or a special privilege granted only in this life, the moment I turned 3, my language proficiency suddenly rose to adult level as if it had been waiting.

I guessed that perhaps this impossible phenomenon was obtained in exchange for being born with a weak body.

The problem was that Jeff made a fuss about this again, talking for a whole month about how our princess was a heaven-sent genius that might appear once in a thousand years, which gave me a headache.

Anyway, since my body was young unlike my mind, there were many inconveniences in various ways. It seemed to be because it was the first time I was born as a young child, but except for language expression, everything about this body was too slow.

Even if I could move, simple movements were difficult and unfamiliar, and I naturally decided to cancel what I had felt was the hardest thing as a king in my past life while living as a baby.

‘Being a baby is the hardest.’

The toddling feet wobbled every time they touched the ground, making me anxious. Still, it was fortunate that I could move forward.

“Uwaaaaang!”

Although I soon fell down and lay on the floor, struggling as if I was going to destroy everything.

‘What kind of upside-down bug posture is this?’

This damn body! This cursed child’s body!

“Our Princess!”

As soon as I fell and started throwing a fit, Jeff quickly approached and picked me up.

The emperor, seeming to think I had done some fun game, had eyes that looked like they might shoot magic beams full of hearts, and then he rubbed his cheek against mine vigorously.

“Ogu ogu, so pretty! Who do you take after? Papa, right? Yes, it’s Papa!”

Of course, the sappiness didn’t stop.

‘Who gave you permission to beat your own drum!’

Why don’t you just play the flute alone too! Go ahead, do an orchestra!

I hissed as if I was in a bad mood.

“Are you bored playing alone, our Darjeeling?”

No, I’m not bored at all!

I made a disgusted expression, but my desperate look didn’t reach my former loyal subject. The general who used to maneuver troops perfectly just by looking at their eyes was gone, replaced by a fool crazy about his daughter.

“Papa brought a companion for our daughter in case she gets bored.”

A companion?

‘What’s this sudden talk about?’

I blinked my eyes wide, half bewildered and half perplexed.

‘A companion for me who’s only 3 years old.’

No matter how I think about it, it’s too early. Even if my growth seems fast, I thought it was premature to just arbitrarily assign a friend.

Creak.

Soon after, before I could say anything, the large door opened, and people entered as if they had been waiting.

“Your Majesty, Marquis Fleur has arrived.”

At the same time, the smile disappeared from Dad’s face. He returned to a solemn and serious appearance, the look I knew. It was the face that I, as the former emperor, used to show.

“Let them enter.”

Not long after Dad’s permission was given, the door opened wide and… a baby about 3-4 years old toddled in, holding the hand of some woman.

But the child who entered with the woman wasn’t the only one.

‘Th-three of them?’