The Empress' Beast Selection (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 12
Sophia asked back, surprised by the unexpected topic.
“It’s strange. I was aware they arrived near the capital over a month ago.”
“Your Majesty is correct. But they still haven’t been allowed into the capital. His Majesty issued a standby order.”
“A standby order?”
That meant their troops were halted right outside the capital gates?
It was an incomprehensible command.
The Viscountess seemed just as perplexed, wearing a bitter expression on her face.
“I don’t know the reason myself, but this is the first time I’ve seen state officials treated this way.”
The other ladies nodded in agreement.
They didn’t seem to know any more than she did.
“I see. Thank you for telling me.”
Sophia parted ways with them after a brief bow.
On her way back to her quarters, Sophia asked Jacob, the knight escorting her, about the incident just mentioned.
“Jacob, is what the ladies said true?”
He looked slightly troubled but soon nodded.
“They’re still waiting outside the capital gates.”
Now that it was confirmed, her headache only worsened.
‘The victory celebration is only a week away.’
A standby order meant indefinite waiting right where they were, with no idea when new instructions might come.
Until the order was lifted, they couldn’t even move—and without nearby lodging, camping out was the norm.
She hadn’t imagined the expeditionary force was enduring such hardship.
After all, it was the Emperor—not the Empress—who held the authority to permit their entry into the capital.
Could Demios possibly wish for the heroes of the banquet to be absent altogether?
No matter his personal feelings, treating those who sacrificed for the Empire this way was baffling.
‘I need to see Demios.’
She soon arrived before the Empress’s chamber.
She intended to immediately send a handmaiden to request an audience with him.
Click. Before Sophia could even place her hand on the doorknob, the door to the Empress’s room opened.
“Madam Remodi?”
It was Sophia’s handmaiden.
Madam Remodi reported to her with an uneasy look.
“Your Majesty, His Majesty is waiting for you.”
Demios?
Seeing Sophia’s confusion, Madam Remodi held the door open for her.
The Empress’s chamber was structured so that one passed through a reception room and a long corridor before reaching the bedroom.
Following the handmaiden inside, Sophia saw Demios’s back.
Despite the spacious sofa nearby, he stood rigidly as if nailed to the floor.
How long had he been waiting like that?
Seeing him standing alone like a lone warrior despite the available seat, Sophia asked,
“Your Majesty? Why aren’t you sitting?”
Demios turned toward Sophia, his movements stiff like a wooden doll.
His crimson eyes, bloodshot and fierce, glared at her.
“What’s the matter?”
She couldn’t help but ask—she’d never seen him so tense before.
After a while, Demios, who had been radiating hostility, finally spoke.
“…Titié told me she saw you at the secret lake with another man.”
She’d completely forgotten about what happened at the lake.
‘Of course Titié would’ve told him about it.’
Had he come here to cause a scene again, accusing her of insulting Titié?
Or perhaps to demand answers about who made Titié cry?
‘That would actually be fortunate.’
Since she herself knew nothing about Roxan, she had nothing to tell him anyway.
But what came out of Demios’s mouth was something entirely different from what Sophia expected.
“What kind of relationship do you have that you’d summon him all the way to the lake? Were you two enjoying a secret rendezvous and got caught by Titié?”
Sophia was left speechless from sheer disbelief.
What on earth had Titié told him to make him jump to such a conclusion?
“He’s just a friend.”
“…Ha.”
Even when she corrected him, he only responded with a sneer.
“In a place crawling with beasts? And between a male and a female, no less—friends? How astonishing.”
It was clearly an insult.
Realizing Demios was in no state to reason with, Sophia hardened her expression.
“I can be. Even if Your Majesty cannot.”
At her pointed remark, Demios’s eyebrow twitched.
Before he could raise his voice, Sophia quickly changed the subject.
“This is actually quite timely. I was just about to seek an audience with Your Majesty.”
Right after she spoke, she almost thought his expression softened slightly.
“…What is it, then?”
The fact that he asked meant he was still willing to listen—at least that was reassuring.
Afraid he might change his mind, Sophia hurriedly got to the point.
“Please rescind the standby order for the expeditionary force.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Demios’s expression twisted again.
He barely suppressed his anger, grinding his teeth.
“This is no concern of yours, Empress.”
“No. They are Your Majesty’s subjects as much as they are mine. Or is there a clear reason—other than personal feelings—for ordering the expeditionary force to stand by?”
Though their roles differed, Sophia had always cared for the people as Empress of the Beastkin Empire.
Now, she was making a just appeal.
She offered Demios, who remained silent, some earnest advice.
“Your Majesty, regardless of whatever feelings exist between you and Duke Leofort, they are heroes who have sacrificed everything for the Empire until now. Acknowledging that is the only way to prevent rumors from spreading.”
This advice, too, came from sincerity.
But he refused to accept her words.
“…Watch your tongue.”
His voice was rough, like scraping metal.
All the windows in the reception room were closed.
In this windless space, Demios’s silver hair stirred.
It was a sign of beastification.
‘Surely not.’
The Drodians were the Goddess’s wolves.
Divine beasts possessing far greater strength and size than other beastkin.
Like all beastkin, the imperial family could lose control and fully transform into beasts when overwhelmed by rage—making it difficult to retain reason.
Sophia had only seen Demios’s true form once, when she was very young.
Now that he was a mature Emperor, it would be vastly different.
The situation was at a breaking point.
Moose, Sophia’s beastkin bodyguard, tensed his massive muscles and placed his hand on his scabbard.
But even so, if Demios fully transformed, Moose would be felled in a single strike.
Yet the worst did not come to pass.
“…Do as you please.”
Huff. Demios took a deep breath in and out.
During this, his wildly trembling hair and fierce gaze gradually calmed.
Having regained composure, he passed by Sophia and left the Empress’s chamber.
‘Why is he so…’
So angry?
Her body, frozen for a moment, refused to move properly.
Soon after, handmaidens entered and helped the stiff Sophia onto the sofa.
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
“What on earth happened…?”
The handmaidens also looked quite startled, having seen Demios storm out of the Empress’s room.
Sophia herself couldn’t understand what he was thinking—but what mattered was this:
‘I’ve secured his permission.’
Now she could open the capital gates for the expeditionary force.
Before her tension could fully ease,
Sophia rose from her seat and issued an official decree stamped with the Empress’s seal.
“Send a messenger immediately to the eastern gate to inform the expeditionary force they are permitted entry. Ensure they can pass through the capital and proceed directly to the Imperial Palace. By my authority as Empress, accommodations will be provided for them, and all associated expenses will be covered by the Empress’s treasury.”
“Understood.”
The gates had to be opened today so the expeditionary force wouldn’t have to wait any longer.
Sophia watched the departing messenger with a complicated gaze.
‘There’d better be no further trouble.’
The gates would open—but there must be no backlash afterward.
As Sophia worried over this, Roxan’s presence suddenly crossed her mind.
‘But then… how was Roxan able to enter the city?’
She found no answer, even as the sun set.
That night.
News reached Sophia that the gates had been opened for the expeditionary force.
At dusk, under deep twilight hues,
Groar, the red-haired knight, galloped toward the encampment.
“The gates are open! Finally, that damn permission’s come through!”
His booming shout echoed through the area before the eastern gate.
Knights who had been waiting solely for the capital gates to open began murmuring excitedly.
“Commander, are the eastern gates truly open?”
Biltman, commander of the Second Knights’ Division, asked in disbelief.
His doubt was justified.
It had already been over half a month since the expeditionary force arrived before the capital, yet the standby order had never been lifted.
The soldiers, eager to return swiftly to the capital after a long war, suddenly erupted in anger.
“Yes. It seems His Majesty has finally come to his senses.”
“…Commander, if you speak like that even after entering the capital, you’ll be arrested for insulting the imperial family before the victory celebration even begins.”
Despite the teasing rebuke, Groar continued grumbling.
“Oh, go ahead and arrest me! What does that almighty Majesty know about war anyway, treating us like this? Pride is one thing, but there’s a limit!”
Biltman fell silent at Groar’s impassioned outburst—because he agreed with every word.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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