Pauliana was born to a noble family, but unfortunately for her, her parents strongly prefer her younger, prettier sister. In order to get her out of the way so her sister can inherit the family fortune, her father takes advantage of an antiquated legal loophole to send her to the warfront in the hopes she'll be killed.
She cuts her hair and presents as a man, and quickly proves herself to be a capable leader. The direction of her life is changed forever after her nation's army is routed by the army of Arcea, lead by the young King Lucius, who has designs on uniting the continent and becoming an emperor. Pauliana quickly proves herself to Lucius and he decides to offer her the position of knight despite her gender. Pauliana thus swears a life-long allegiance to Lucius, and soon unknowingly manages to steal his heart.
Emperor and His Female Knight was a novel, later adapted into a webcomic.
This work contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Pauliana's father ignores her thorough her childhood and then forces her to conscript, hoping that the war will kill her so his younger daughter will inherit everything. Her mother was complicit in the plot as she also favored Pauliana's sister.
- Action Girl: Pauliana is one of the most capable fighters in the series.
- An Arm and a Leg: Lord Redben lost his leg when he was forcibly conscripted in the army in his youth. He ended up getting infected from the lost limb that resulted in his father discovering a way to cross the Komong River to access a doctor out of desperation, which Pauliana later discovers and uses to help Acrea get across the river.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted with Pauliana, who winds up with quite a few scars and scratches that never really go away and are always seen whenever she briefly shows some skin.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Frau Sneke appears to Pauliana as a shy, smitten and compassionate potential marriage partner. In front of others, he revels in his duplicity and indulges in Evil Gloating.
- Death by Childbirth: Rebecca dies after giving birth to her daughter with Lucius, in part because of her already frail constitution. Her death is devastating to both Lucius and Pauliana, who was her close friend.
- Disguised in Drag: Her original mentor forced Pauliana into this trope in order for her to survive as he knows too well what would happen if others discovered she's a girl.
- Dramatic Irony: When Lucius announces to his cousin his plan to marry Pauliana, said cousin is against it because it would mean his son would become the next emperor by marriage since Lucius only has a daughter and Pauliana is barren and therefore could never have a child. Unknown to both, Pauliana had started having her periods, which imply she isn't actually barren.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Lucius starts drinking excessively after Rebecca dies in childbirth.
- Dude Magnet: Pauliana actually does earn herself several male suitors. Unfortunately, one of them is a snake.
- Flipping the Bird: On her first day as an Acrean knight, Pauliana encounters the soldiers who tried to rape her carrying large packs of supplies as a punishment. She flips the bird as they walk by. She also does this to Donau just before she takes a quick vacation to her hometown.
- Forever War: Ehas and Cukda have been in a cycle of war for decades, with Pauliana having been fighting in said conflict for over six years of her life and Lord Redben having also been forcibly conscripted during his youth for three years.
- Gold Digger: Frau Sneke proposes marriage to Pauliana because he knows she is barren and unable to bear children. He desires to off her so that he and his son from a maid can inherit the title and its benefits.
- Grand Romantic Gesture: When Lucius decides to officially start courting Pauliana, he commissions plays to be written about their romance to help make clear to the public that Paul is not trying to sleep her way to the top and that his love is genuine. This would have failed miserably had he also not dressed to the nines, making Paul forget her embarrassment upon seeing him.
- Grew a Spine: Tory had always hated her treatment by her family and knowing they were being traitors yet forced herself to do whatever they said. But when said elders decide to poison Stra in order to get rid of potential competition for the empress position, Tory finally has enough and willingly exposes her family for their treachery, even at the cost of her own social position.
- Groin Attack: With the blessing of his father, Pauliana kicks Donau square in the family jewels for continuing to disrespect her as his superior.
- Heir Club for Men: Property and inheritance rights automatically go to the first-born son of a family, regardless of any older daughters. It's to the point Rebecca's mother bemoans the fact her daughter was useless for dying giving birth to a daughter instead of a son. Gerald by law would have become the next emperor despite having an older half-sister. However, Lucius for Pauliana's sake chooses to change laws so the first-born regardless of gender will be allowed inheritance rights, making Lumina the next ruler after him.
- Irony:
- Cekel starts out as a maid serving under Tory, a member of a high ranking noble family and later one of the consorts. After a series of events, Tory divorces Lucius on her own will after she exposes her family's treachery, later becoming a minor noble, while Cekel ends up marrying into a duke family, meaning Cekel ends up outranking Tory.
- On a related note, Tory was raised and groomed by her family to be the next empress. When Pauliana ultimately becomes the empress, Tory is the one that does the empress's duties since Pauliana's duties are focused on her duties as a knight, meaning Tory in spirit does do the duties of an empress, but not in the way her family would have ever imagined it.
- Pauliana's knight division has the designation of protecting the imperial family. When she becomes part of the imperial family herself after marrying Lucius, she is forced to transfer to another division.
- Frau Sneke tried to marry Pauliana to get his son the benefits of her noble title and esteem because he believes her to be infertile. The consequences and fallout after Pauliana discovers this leads to the conception of her son Gerald, who is set to be the next Marquis Winter after Lucius changes the inheritance laws to have Luminae be the heir of the throne instead.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Pauliana's parents favored her younger, prettier sister, and the reason why she ends up in the army is because her father wanted to get her out of the way. Pauliana would eventually return to her childhood home and take over, kicking out her former family in the process.
- Donau is kicked square in the family jewels by Pauliana for his continuous disrespect, with his father's blessing.
- Frau Sneke planned to marry her so he can kill her, allowing him and his son (whom he sired with a maid) to inherit her wealth and property. He was so busy gloating about his plans that he doesn't realize that he's overheard by Pauliana, who appears behind him and knocks him to the ground, breaking everything off and admitting she's only sparing him from death for his crime because of his son.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Pauliana is convinced that she is barren. So of course she ends up getting pregnant after getting drunk in Lucius' company.
- Like a Son to Me: Baopalro after having worked alongside Pauliana in the supply administration unit ends up viewing Pauliana like a daughter of sorts, to where Pauliana even thinks of his sons as her brothers of choice.
- Mayfly–December Romance: Played with. Frau is close to Paul's age, but he's shorter than her and has a youthful appearance, so this leads many to believe that Paul has a preference for younger men. When news that they broke up spreads, several fathers try to set Paul up with their teenage sons.
- Meaningful Echo: Chapters 194 and 195 deliver one each to chapter 8:
- Pauliana demands a sword so that she may deliver a vow of loyalty to Lucius. The first time, everyone is freaking out because she is an unknown person from the enemy territory and they are worried that she wants to use it to kill Lucius. The second time, she has the friendship and loyalty of the entire kingdom so all her friends and subordinates each offer their own sword willingly. She takes Donau's in order to perform her new vow.
- Pauliana performs her first vow after seeing that Lucius is a leader worth following and she offers her lifelong loyalty as a knight. The second vow is similar except she finally accepts his hand in marriage while also asking him to marry her after he has found a way for her to keep her honor and achievements as a woman. Also both times, Lucius promises her that her status as a woman does not make her a second-class citizen and he will continue to make the kingdom a place where she can aim as high as she chooses.
- Non-Action Guy: Lucius is a capable tactician and leader, but not much of a fighter.
- No Periods, Period: Averted. Pauliana doesn't have periods, but it's noted to be because of her circumstances growing up that caused her to not have them and noted to be unusual. Her starting to get regular periods is actually a significant point because it proves she isn't barren.
- Oblivious to Love: Unfortunately for Lucius, Pauliana doesn't see his affection for her because she's too focused on being a loyal knight to him. At the same time, Lucius does try his best to contain his feeling for her albeit unsuccessfully at times.
- Polyamory: Lucius has three wives from different factions of the kingdom to balance out his political power. He doesn't really love them romantically (as his true love is Pauliana) but does feel affection and friendship toward them as a dutiful husband. He cares enough that Rebecca's death puts him into depression and heavy drinking for a while.
- Rape as Drama: Pauliana is very aware of how this could happen to her if she's captured and her gender is revealed. It almost happens, but she stabs one of the men responsible and beats both of them senseless. They're stripped of their ranks and forced to do hard labor as punishment.
- Later parodied when Paul mistakenly comes to the conclusion that she drunkenly forced herself onto Lucius. She's absolutely horrified, but it's later established that they were equally drunk, and that it was completely consensual.
- Right Behind Me: While Frau Sneke is spilling the details of his plot to kill Pauliana and inherit her property, she appears behind him and knocks him to the ground.
- Royal Harem: Lucius has one that consists of three wives after he's become the emperor. Despite coming from rivalry factions, the three women actually get along very well with each other and Pauliana. Rebecca even forms a relationship that is borderline Pseudo-Romantic Friendship with the female knight. All of them are devastated when Rebecca dies from childbirth. While the remaining two ultimately step down as Lucius' wives due to circumstances, they choose to stay working in the palace both due to their friendship with each other and for Luminae's sake.
- Share the Male Pain: All the surrounding soldiers cross their legs and grab at their nethers after Donau's Groin Attack.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Paul is the only woman Lucius seems to harbor genuine romantic affection for, despite him having a harem of brides for political reasons, all of whom he treats with respect and care. He even has a daughter with one, and falls into a depression for a time after she dies giving birth.
- Sleeping Their Way to the Top: The fear of being seen this way is part of why it takes so long for Paul to reciprocate Lucius's advances.
- Smarter Than They Look: Tory is raised and groomed to be the perfect noble lady, but Pauliana discovers by her constant questions on politics and economy that Tory is actually clever and intelligent. Her family underestimating her allows for her to expose evidence of their crimes due to being present in the same room serving them during said sensitive meetings. Afterwards, Lucius grants Tory a minor noble position so she can better use her abilities on her own terms to where she ends up handling the empress duties in Pauliana's place.
- Stay in the Kitchen: While multiple female characters are subjected to this, Tory in particular is especially subjected to it by her family, who see her as a pawn for political power via making her one of Lucius' concubines. In fact, they have multiple meetings discussing sensitive information with her present and never think she's any threat because she's a woman.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Gerald is a spitting image of Lucius even as a baby to where it can't be denied he's actually his son, much to his mother's dismay at first.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Donau starts off as a misogynistic, envious antagonist towards Pauliana whom bites off more than he can chew. He eventually grows to respect and admire her and falls in love with her. It's also notable when he has a daughter, he's open to allowing her to be taught swordsmanship if she wants to and the epilogue notes that said daughter would later grow up to a skilled knight.
- Undying Loyalty: Everyone is loyal to Lucius, especially Pauliana and Aino. Pauliana pledges her loyalty twice to him, the second time as Lucius and Pauliana are proposing to each other.
- The Un-Favourite: Pauliana was this, with her father preferring his much prettier and more feminine younger daughter.
- Unequal Pairing: Played with. Once Lucius realizes that he's in love with Pauliana, he doesn't admit his feelings. It's implied to be due to the fact that Pauliana would feel pressured to reciprocate.
