To be honest, I can’t say I didn’t do anything worthy of punishment.

Unlike most emperors, I ascended the throne by killing my half brothers and sisters.

Of course, I also had my reasons.

Although I was born as the only legitimate descendant of His Majesty the Emperor, I fell for my half-brothers and sisters, who had excelled in magic and swords since childhood.

I wonder if Mother, who was the empress of the late emperor, even spoke to me about the disgrace of the imperial family.

He was the kind of person who used to walk by me with a nonchalant face, pretending not to see anything, even when I was being bullied in the corner by my half-brothers and sisters.

That said, if I asked if my mother, who was the former empress, loved me, that wasn’t the case either.

Being from a duchy, she wanted me, her daughter, to follow the path of an emperor, but when I found out that I was dumber than she thought, she despised me more than anyone else.

I still can’t forget the words she uttered as I fell while running towards her.

– I didn’t give birth to something like you.

As a result, my childhood was literally a nightmare.

Even when my mother died at the age of 15, those who only cared about the empress tried to blatantly drive me to death.

Eventually, in the winter of my 17-year-old age, I held the hand of my maternal grandfather who came to me and whispered to me, “Don’t you want to stop being hurt?”

In fact, until then, my purpose was not to become emperor and covet power.

My true purpose was different.

Just ask Mother.

– Mother, look at this sword. The blood of the children that Mother cares so much for is stained here. I killed it with my own hand.

– … … you dare!

– But, Mother, would you still say that I am not your greatest and proudest daughter?

I just wanted to know.
Was the time in the past when I believed that if I worked hard, I could somehow get Mother’s love, was it just my misunderstanding and cheating, or… … .

– okay. you are my shame forever.

Was it just an illusion?

I laughed bitterly at Mother’s answer. Dreams are shattered and everything is over. And at that moment, along with the sound of gunfire, my eyes were stained with blood.

– Bang!

– ……!

The following spring, I was crowned emperor.

As emperor, the first thing I did was to deal with my father’s concubines and their families.

I executed all those who had been harassing me one by one, and even among them, I completely destroyed the few families that aimed their swords at me.

A few years after that, before I knew it, I was being called Iron Blood Lord, Tyrant Estria.

but.

‘I admit that I did something worthy of divine punishment, but how can such a punishment be inflicted like this?’

It was absurd.

Until yesterday, I fell asleep soundly, but suddenly I became a child.

God couldn’t have given such a punishment without being crazy.

I jumped out of bed He tripped on his long nightgown and nearly fell over, but luckily he didn’t get his nose punched.

“Aww.”

I clasped my cumbersome nightgown with both hands and approached the mirror, trying to take a closer look at myself.

But then, suddenly, a knock was heard.

“Your Majesty, I have come to report this morning.”

I let out a sigh of relief while making a wary face.

The owner of the voice was none other than my 8-year-old assistant, Regan.

As the youngest son of the Duke of Delmen, he was the one I personally selected as my aide as soon as I ascended the throne, and at the same time, he was the only person I could trust.

I was about to reply to come in, but I remembered my voice and tone and immediately opened the door with magic. Fortunately, there were no problems with mana management.

Click.

Soon a handsome young man with slightly disheveled gray hair and amber eyes appeared.

But Regan, who had pushed through the door, hesitated as soon as he saw me standing in front of the mirror with the hem of my large nightgown in my arms.

His complexion turned pale as he looked at me once on the bed. I looked at him pathetically and sighed.

“Don’t make that face and come here.”

“… … who are you?”

Was it because he didn’t recognize me?

He didn’t recognize me, even though he’d been my aide for eight years, and he must have even seen a portrait of me as a child.

Subtly embarrassed, I deliberately opened my mouth one by one curtly.

“Guess the bar.”

“yes?”

Regan made a puzzled face at the unexpected quiz.

And after a few seconds of silence, he replied with an even more astonished face.

“no way!”

“Yes, I have a child… … .”

“Are you our majesty’s daughter!”

“… … Mo?”

I had the urge to fire my aide right away.

Regan seemed to notice something strange going on when I completely distorted his face.

I stiffened my face a little more and then muttered.

“Just one more time… … give me a chance I will give you a hint this time.”

“……?”

“Kneel down.”

In an instant, the air cooled rapidly.

And after a few seconds of silence.

thump.

The papers in Regan’s hands fell mercilessly to the floor, and he suddenly fell to his knees.

“your majesty!”

“Noticing.”

However, it is not common for an adult to become a child overnight.

At least, he probably accepted it quickly because he followed me and saw all kinds of magic and alchemy.

Of course, even if that was the case, it was still pathetic.

Shaking his head, he turned around and climbed onto the bed with a whimper.

Still, judging from that guy’s reaction, it seemed that no one would think that the emperor had become young right away when he saw my current self.

If I don’t recognize him, the best ‘genius’ in the empire and my closest confidant, it’s obvious that other guys won’t recognize him even more.

In the end, I roughly explained the situation to Regan, who was in shock.

Of course, that alone did not lessen his shock.

“Anyway, do you understand now?”

“Why did you suddenly do this all of a sudden? Could it be that you got into an accident while researching magic?”

Regan shouted with his mouth wide open as if the sky had fallen. I frowned as if that made sense.

“There’s no way I’d do something like that without being crazy, right?”

It was difficult to correct the leaky pronunciation. Even so, with the determination that I could never appear clumsy, I focused my mind and spoke clearly, one by one.

“But then what the hell are you doing without returning to your original form?”

“If I could go back, I would have gone back right away.”

As soon as I came to my senses and confirmed that I had become a child, I tried to squeeze all the magical energy inside me to return to my original form.

But no matter what magic I used, I was still the same.

“I tried all the magic, but it was useless.”

Regan opened his mouth wide.

Of course, among the existing wizards, there were few who surpassed me.

Even though I don’t have natural magical power, after becoming the emperor, I gained so much mana that I was told that I was hardly human, and thanks to madly polishing my magic, I rose to the ranks of the best wizards on the continent.

It meant that if there was no way for me, other wizards would be helpless as well.

Regan brooded over the shock, and after sorting out the papers that had fallen on the floor, he cradled them in his arms and stood up slowly.

“Then… What are you going to do now? If it is revealed that His Majesty has become young, the empire will fall into great chaos.”

“Place… The chaos of the empire is not the problem. When this is known, I die.”

I was well acquainted with the habits of nobles. They bowed their heads in front of the imperial authority and my power, but if they see even the slightest gap in me, they will bite it and hang on.

In addition, it was difficult to move the military in this state. The military is controlled with dignity and coercion, but wherever you look at this situation, it looks far away from those two things.