The Empress' Beast Selection (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 8

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“What more should I do for you here?”

Sophia stared at them with a blank expression.

They were throwing a fit just because she sat quietly—drawing swords and making demands—what else could she possibly do?

Her words dripped with irony.

Yet Demios, as if certain Sophia would understand, immediately laid out exactly what he wanted.

“I’d appreciate it if the Empress would yield just this once, as a commemoration for Titié’s first entry into the palace. Do not grant the Repeto Palace to Lady Swani.”

Sophia was utterly speechless.

She’d spoken those words precisely because she had nothing left to say—and this was his response?

He even acted as though he’d presented some brilliant solution.

‘What commemoration?’

A commemoration for my husband’s concubine entering the palace?

Each of his words pierced her heart like a blade.

Had maintaining composure ever been this agonizing?

Sophia squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again.

“Even setting aside the fact that she is Lady Swani, Your Majesty’s request is fundamentally flawed.”

“…What exactly is flawed about it?”

Demios narrowed his eyes.

He seemed irritated that, despite her clear objection, she still refused to easily grant his demand.

But the real point was yet to come.

“To lease a palace within the Imperial City, one must be married—or have been married before.”

Imperial Palace Law, Article 57, Clause 6:

Anyone seeking temporary or long-term lease of a palace under the Empress’s jurisdiction must either be currently married or have previously entered into matrimony.

This was one of the longstanding Imperial Laws rooted in the culture of the Suin Empire, where individuals were only recognized as full-fledged adults after reaching adulthood and marrying.

Demios’s expression hardened—he clearly hadn’t considered this.

Sophia rose from her seat and spoke.

“Once you arrange a marriage for Lady Titié and bring her back, I’ll consider the matter of Lady Swani as well.”

If he was willing to go so far as to marry off his own named concubine to another man, perhaps it was worth some thought.

Demios’s face twisted in anger, and Titié flinched beside him.

Ignoring them both, Sophia returned to her desk and shuffled through documents.

“The Victory Festival is approaching, and I have much to attend to. Please take your leave now.”

She picked up her quill.

At her complete dismissal, a harsh sound of someone rising abruptly from their seat echoed through the room.

Click. Clack.

The sound of the concubine’s heels followed.

Soon, all traces of their presence vanished.

Even the maids withdrew, leaving Sophia truly alone at last.

She curled up in her chair and covered her mouth tightly.

“Huh… h-hic…”

Only the large desk concealed her.

Sophia remained seated for a long while, waiting for the tears streaming down her cheeks to dry.

Rumors spread through noble society.

News that the Emperor’s concubine had been granted a palace within the Imperial City began circulating.

It was the Repeto Palace—the fourth most splendid in the Imperial City—granted through a special permit secured thanks to the Emperor’s personal guarantee.

Historically, such a guarantee from the Emperor himself was reserved only for legendary heroes or figures who had profoundly shaped the Empire.

No matter how imperial her association, for the Emperor to personally vouch for a concubine was unprecedented.

People openly mocked it as “truly extraordinary love.”

Sophia headed toward the lake nestled in the most secluded part of the Imperial City.

Built exclusively for the imperial family’s repose, the lake was so small that a full circuit took barely ten minutes.

Precisely because of this, it remained serene and tranquil.

Willow branches, now turned brown with autumn.

Trending

Their leaves swayed gently in the breeze, offering a faint sense of calm.

Yet Sophia’s heart remained deeply unsettled.

Titié’s residence within the Imperial City had only been possible because Sophia had permitted it.

All palaces within the Imperial City fell under the Empress’s authority.

Thus, no matter how strongly Demios vouched, he could not override the authority Sophia held as Empress.

‘That’s enough.’

Sophia rubbed her eyes.

Given Demios’s temperament, Titié’s entry into the palace had been inevitable from the start.

‘It was merely a matter of sooner or later.’

At least she had preserved the palace where Lady Swani resided—that would have to suffice.

She tried to convince herself of this, though it wasn’t easy.

In truth, even sitting in her office had become unbearable.

The maids kept fussing over her with concern.

‘Could they have seen it?’

She thought she’d cleaned it thoroughly, but perhaps they’d noticed the tear stains on the carpet.

She wasn’t ungrateful for those who stayed by her side in hard times.

But still…

Sometimes, even their worry felt like another wound.

And that was exactly how she felt right now.

She was deeply ashamed—and filled with regret.

‘I shouldn’t have let them see my tears.’

The Empress occupied the highest, most dignified position among women in the Empire.

To wear the tiara, one had to bear its weight.

But before that, one had to prove oneself worthy of wearing the crown at all.

‘Empress? You’re nothing but a worthless person—born of such tainted blood.’

The voice of that old curse, which she’d barely managed to forget.

Memories from Hyuron clung tightly to Sophia’s ankles.

Sophia had been born the eldest daughter of Duke Arte.

She was only three years old at the time.

Duke Socio Arte entrusted his young daughter to the Hyuron Imperial Palace.

His intention was to secure her position as the future Empress early on.

But the Duke never knew.

He was unaware that his wife, Duchess Valuntie, and Emperor Vertik were deeply entangled in a secret affair.

The first to discover their relationship was Empress Dalian.

History may record Empresses who turned a blind eye to their Emperor’s infidelities.

But Empress Dalian was different.

Because she truly loved Emperor Vertik.

His betrayal struck her as a devastating blow.

Even after their affair became widely known, Dalian could do nothing.

As the Emperor’s love for the Duchess deepened, so too did Dalian’s resentment.

It was only natural that her hatred eventually turned toward Sophia.

Empress Dalian had ample justification to torment Sophia.

‘If you aspire to be Empress, you must endure at least this much.’

Under the guise of “Empress training,” Sophia suffered relentless mental and physical abuse.

Trapped within the gilded cage of the palace, little Sophia slowly broke apart.

Still, once a month, she was allowed to see her father.

Whenever she met Duke Arte, Sophia would cling to his legs and beg.

‘Father, please let me go back home.’

But the Duke simply turned away from his tearful daughter,

offering only hollow comfort that once she became Empress, she could have anything she desired.

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By day, lessons bordering on abuse.

By night, whispers like curses.

Just as Sophia’s mind teetered on the brink of collapse, Crown Prince Demios of the Suin Empire arrived in Hyuron.

He was only ten years old.

To Sophia, the boy was her salvation.

Because of Demios, she managed to keep from going mad.

Five years later, even after he left, the “Empress training” continued.

But when Sophia turned seventeen, Empress Dalian publicly named another young lady—not Sophia—as the Crown Princess.

Sophia wasn’t disappointed.

She’d long suspected she would never become Empress.

Instead, a flicker of hope emerged.

She thought she could finally return to the ducal estate and wait there for Demios.

But it was only a fleeting dream.

Sophia never returned home.

Duke Socio neither came to reclaim his “discarded” daughter nor visited her again.

Watching Sophia left utterly alone, the Empress reveled in her misery.

‘See? No one wants you. How dare someone like you dream of sitting on the Empress’s throne? Impossible.’

The Empress refused to release Sophia.

Dalian forced Sophia to attend lessons alongside the Crown Princess, using her as a tool to humiliate Sophia and elevate the Crown Princess’s status.

It was outright discrimination.

Hyuron’s nobles also began avoiding Sophia.

Before long, Sophia became someone everyone shunned.

Occasionally, she even encountered her birth mother.

Though Duchess Valuntie pitied her daughter, she never once reached out to help.

But once the Crown Princess was officially chosen, even her own mother treated her as though she didn’t exist.

All along, the Duchess had used Sophia as a shield to deflect the Empress’s wrath.

Every moment was abandonment. Every moment was pain.

Yet she had to endure.

Holding onto her last hope—waiting for word from Demios.

One year. Two years.

Even when Sophia turned nineteen, no letter came.

Not even after she heard he had ascended the throne.

She finally understood.

‘You’ve forgotten me.’

True despair settled in at last.

But her misfortune was far from over.

The Empress, having grown bored of tormenting Sophia, declared she would cast her away to a distant desert kingdom.

After spending her entire life confined within the palace, exile was unthinkable.

And it was a place where even her life couldn’t be guaranteed.

That night, Sophia wrote a letter.

She and Demios had promised—she would wait until he reached out first.

But…

‘You were the one who forgot me first.’

He’d promised he would come for her himself.

Biting her lower lip hard, Sophia moved her pen.

The letter, filled with memories of their childhood, was desperate and achingly earnest.

‘If you’ve forgotten, I’ll make you remember.’

Even if it was just a sliver of memory.

If all feeling from that time had vanished entirely, even common pity would suffice.

Half a year passed after sending the letter, and winter arrived.

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In that time, an envoy was assembled to send Sophia to the desert.

Three days before her departure,

Sophia finally gave up entirely.

Until the marriage proposal from the Suin Empire arrived.

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