The Empress' Beast Selection (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 7
“Of all people, it was someone cherished by the Empress Dowager.”
It infuriated her that such an impertinent act had been entirely thrust upon Sophia.
This, at the very least, was absolutely unreasonable.
She returned the request to the attendant.
“Please convey that I cannot lend out Leven Palace.”
“Ah… I understand.”
The attendant, who had hesitated with a conflicted expression, finally gave up and left the office.
Half a day passed after she had sent the attendant away.
Sophia idly twirled her pen.
In truth, her work was already finished, so the gesture was meaningless.
Lost halfway in thought like this,
“…Ah!”
The sharp nib scraped a long line across the back of her hand and fingers.
The stinging pain came with blood that soaked into the documents.
“Oh dear.”
She was flustered by how much blood flowed—more than she’d expected.
Though she quickly wrapped the wound with a handkerchief and stopped the bleeding, the pain lingered for quite some time.
‘Should I just go home now?’
At this point, it seemed best to wrap up work early for the day.
Just as Sophia was about to call her maid,
a commotion arose beyond the door.
‘Why is it so noisy?’
At that moment, the office door swung wide open.
Standing there were Sophia’s husband and his lover.
‘They really came?’
She had worried they might show up, but never imagined her fear would become reality.
Her feelings were utterly tangled.
Yet, on another level, the situation seemed absurd.
‘Demios must surely know what that palace means to Lady Swani.’
If he came here despite knowing that…
She couldn’t keep the Emperor waiting indefinitely.
Sophia rose from her seat and asked,
“What brings you here?”
“The Empress should know better than anyone.”
Of course she knew.
The problem was that you’d issued an utterly unreasonable order.
Sophia reaffirmed her resolve once more.
“Leven Palace cannot be lent out. Lady Swani already resides there.”
The late Empress Yerdiel, who was also Empress Dowager, had passed away after suffering from an unknown illness.
It was not a contagious disease.
Yet, because her flesh had been rotting away, even the Emperor and her own children had kept their distance from her.
The one who had faithfully attended to the late Empress until the very end was none other than Viscountess Swani.
After her passing, Lady Swani asked for nothing.
All that remained was Leven Palace, granted to her indefinitely.
She had earned the right to reside there and receive the highest honors.
‘I’d even wondered if there was some political motive behind evicting Lady Swani.’
But now, of all times?
Lady Swani herself had always been far removed from court politics.
Thus, there could be only one reason.
‘It must be because of Titié.’
He wanted to give the woman bearing his name the finest treatment possible.
He’d known long ago she would one day enter the Imperial Capital.
But to covet a palace already belonging to someone else—and to send Demios ahead as his proxy?
Her gaze instinctively turned toward Titié.
At Sophia’s look, Titié flinched and hid behind Demios.
Demios glanced down at Titié clinging tightly to his arm, then shot Sophia a sharp glare.
“You don’t even offer us seats. Do you dislike Titié so much?”
It was a question unworthy of an answer.
Who could possibly be warm toward their husband’s lover?
Awkwardness was only natural.
Yet instead of following this natural course, he already saw Sophia as a jealous, resentful wife.
Sophia thus had only one choice.
She gave Madam Remodi a subtle signal.
“Please bring some tea.”
“Oh, yes.”
The maid hurried out of the office.
In the meantime, Sophia remained alone in the main seat, while the two visitors sat side by side on the sofa.
Soon, three cups of tea and some refreshments were placed on the table—but no one reached for them.
Demios’s gaze, which had been scanning Sophia, settled on the back of her hand.
“What happened to your hand?”
“It’s just a scratch from an accident.”
Sophia covered her wounded hand.
Hearing their exchange, Titié leaned her head against Demios’s chest.
Seeing Titié act as if she felt frightened and uncomfortable, Demios turned his attention back to her.
“Titi. We’re not alone—please sit properly.”
“Yes… I’m sorry.”
So she’d even acquired a pet name already.
Because of that, Demios’s voice even sounded unusually gentle.
After comforting Titié, he faced Sophia again,
completely forgetting the wound on her hand.
“We’ve already exchanged greetings. I came today to make a request.”
Sophia couldn’t hold back a sigh any longer.
Demios’s brow furrowed at this, but she had to speak her mind.
“I’ve already told you it’s impossible. After all, it’s none other than Lady Swani’s residence.”
Surely he’d understand with that much said.
She was the very person who had cared for Demios’s own mother until the end and was now finally enjoying her twilight years.
Given their longstanding acquaintance, he ought to back down at this point.
But that was merely Sophia’s wishful thinking.
“Couldn’t Lady Swani simply stay in another palace?”
“…Are you asking me to tell Lady Swani to move out of her palace—because of Your Majesty’s consort?”
Of all people—the benefactor of his own mother?
It was utterly preposterous.
Yet Demios seemed to think otherwise.
“I’m not suggesting we exile Lady Swani from the capital. I truly don’t see the issue. It almost seems like the Empress is fabricating excuses simply because she doesn’t want to give the palace to Titié.”
Again.
He was turning Sophia into the stereotypical jealous wife.
But the dagger didn’t stop there.
“Let me say it again: Titié bearing my name is no crime. Can you truly call yourself Empress while persecuting an innocent person? Even the Goddess would disapprove of such a decision.”
An innocent person.
And the qualifications of an Empress.
Those were precisely the words Sophia had hoped Demios would never utter—and now they pierced her heart like a blade.
She desperately suppressed the bleeding emotions within,
though she couldn’t stop her eyes from reddening.
“…You’re impossible to reason with.”
“What?”
Even at his questioning tone, Sophia remained unmoved.
She could only endure the deep, aching pain within her chest.
Just as Demios was about to raise his voice, Titié clung tightly to his arm.
“Your Majesty…”
Titié’s eyes had already welled up with tears.
Ever since Sophia had used the word “consort.”
Demios, realizing this, gently wiped the corners of her eyes.
At that, Titié began shedding large, heavy tears.
“My heart hurts so much.”
The tears shimmering in her violet eyes evoked a poignant sorrow.
After soothing Titié, Demios glared at Sophia.
“Calling her a consort—that’s far too impolite, especially with Titié right here.”
Once again, Sophia was cast as the offender.
But she still had to speak.
“Is there any other word I could have used?”
The Therians worship Yekasia, the sole goddess.
Yekasia commands a pair of wolves named Drodian as her divine servants, and it is said that today’s imperial family inherits their bloodline.
It was unprecedented for a Therian outside the imperial family to manifest a Name.
‘So she’s neither a concubine nor merely a lover.’
A woman who shares intimacy with the Emperor but isn’t his wife—
what else could she possibly be called but a consort?
Demios fell silent. Of course he would—he hadn’t uttered a single false word.
Though he had nothing to say, his lips twitched as if desperate to argue back.
Titié placed her hand on Demios’s chest.
“Your Majesty, I’m truly fine. Please don’t fight over me. Consort… that’s exactly what Her Majesty the Empress called me.”
She offered a bitter smile.
Her white eyelashes trembled faintly, as if she found her own position pitiful.
After gazing down at his sorrowful lover for a while, Demios’s eyes suddenly gleamed with resolve.
“This is already the second time, Empress. You’ve drawn your blade against Titié.”
It felt like standing in court as the accused,
a criminal with no one to defend her.
“Titié bearing my name is no crime. If you truly refuse to apologize, at least grant her the palace. That’s the only thing an Empress can do.”
His determination to secure the palace was unmistakable.
Sophia bit down hard on the inside of her cheek.
Watching her, Titié rubbed her cheek against Demios’s chest.
“Your Majesty, I really am fine.”
“But didn’t you adore the camellias blooming there?”
“I did… but perhaps I was too greedy. I never expected Her Majesty to react so strongly.”
Titié glanced at Sophia, then lowered her eyes.
Seemingly too afraid to meet her gaze, she even buried her face in Demios’s chest.
‘Reacted strongly?’
Sophia had never once raised her voice in this room.
She hadn’t been angry—she’d merely stated facts.
Demios sighed, then tried to soothe Sophia this time.
“Empress, Titié has been frail since birth. Can’t you see that just by looking?”
Sophia knew that too.
Albinos born in the wild are fragile and conspicuous, quickly hunted down and killed.
But not every individual was the same.
If an albino could command the alpha of a pack, could such a being truly be called weak?
My Arch-enemy Sealed My Memory and Said That He is My Husband
This is an incredibly captivating story that you absolutely shouldn’t miss! I’ll give a brief introduction here, and below you’ll find a detailed synopsis of the plot.
The female lead is a fierce and powerful demon king. The male lead is a once-in-a-millennium celestial lord, admired by the entire cultivation world.
They are equally matched, legendary rivals who have battled for centuries.
In the final duel, the female lead is gravely injured. The male lead saves her, seals her memories, and hides her true identity. He tells her that he is her fiancé. His entire life has been flawless—except for the one thing he never expected, never controlled, and never wanted to control: falling for his greatest enemy. She is his inner demon, his obsession.
When the female lead regains her memories, she is furious at his deception.
She makes his life a living hell.
And somehow, the male lead—possibly a total masochist—doesn’t mind at all. In fact, he’s happy she’s paying attention to him.
Yep, we’re back to my favorite trope: male lead suffering. If you love this kind of story, jump into the pit with me now!!!
Intro
Dong Xia lost her memory.
Her handsome and extremely powerful fiancé Li Qing comforted her: “It’s okay if you can’t remember. I’ll always be with you.”
Everyone thought Dong Xia’s ancestors must have burned incense to get such a perfect fiancé. He was the number one person in the immortal realm, yet he remained chaste and only loved her.
…
The day before marrying her fiancé, Dong Xia finally remembered everything.
She wasn’t suffering from memory loss at all.
Her arch-enemy had made her fake her death, destroyed her cultivation, replaced her memories, and pretended to be her deeply in love fiancé.
No wonder he said, “It’s okay if you can’t remember”!
Dong Xia laughed coldly as she pulled out her long knife: Li Qing, prepare to die 🙂
*
Li Qing, as the supreme being of the immortal realm, was the people’s shining beacon.
The only unknown stain in his life was his affection for Dong Xia, the ruler of the demon realm.
In the final battle of the war between immortals and demons, the sky collapsed and the earth shattered. The ruler of the demon realm was finally slain under the sword of the supreme being of the immortal realm, and everyone in the immortal realm applauded.
The cultivation world lost a ruler of the demon realm.
And in the back mountain of Li Qing’s cave dwelling, he secretly hid away a fiancée.
Notes:
1. The female lead is white on the outside, black on the inside, and the queen of flattery; the male lead repeatedly tests the edge of darkness, a VIP guest at the crematorium.
2. Fantasy cultivation world setting.
[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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