The Empress’s Beast Selection - Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Sadness Reflected In The Lake

“What more can I do for you here?”

Sepia stared at them, expressionless.

What more could she do, when all she had to do was sit still and she got angry and they drew their swords.

The words were spat out like sarcasm.

But Demios, as if he knew she would understand, went straight to what he wanted.

“For once, I hope the Empress will give in. In honor of Titian’s first entrance into the palace. I’ll give Madame Swan the Palace of Lepetto.”

She was stunned.

She didn’t really have anything to say, but that was the reaction.

As if he had come up with a brilliant solution.

‘To commemorate what?’

The anniversary of her husband’s government entering the Palace?

Her heart sank with every word he said.

Was it so painful to remain calm?

Sepia squeezed her eyes shut tightly and opened them.

“Even aside from the fact that you’re Madame Swan, your Majesty’s request is awkward.”

“Like… What?”

Demios’s eyes narrowed.

He was clearly annoyed that she wasn’t giving in to his demands so easily.

But here was the kicker.

“You must be married, or have been married, to rent the Imperial Palace.”

Article 57, paragraph 6.

‘Anyone who wishes to rent the Empress’s palace on a temporary or long-term basis must be married or have never been an enemy.’

It was one of the long-standing Imperial Laws of the Beastman Empire, a culture where one was only recognized as an adult individual once they had passed the age of majority and married.

Demios’s expression hardened as he realized he hadn’t thought of that.

Sepia spoke up, rising from her seat.

“Perhaps you can bring Titian to me after you have married someone else, and then we can consider Madame Swan’s case.”

What kind of a man would marry a mistress who bore his name to a foreigner?

Demios’s face contorted, and Titian flinched.

Sepia ignored them, turning back to her desk and shuffling papers.

“I’m afraid I have much to attend to before the tribunal, so if you’ll excuse me.”

Sepia lifted her quill.

As she adopted a completely dismissive attitude, she heard him get up from his seat harshly.

Again.

The verbal sounds of government followed.

And then it was gone.

The maids had been bitten, and Sepia was finally alone.

She crouched down and covered her mouth.

“Huhu… hmph…”

Only the large desk hid her.

Sepia didn’t get up for a long time. Waiting for the tears running down her cheeks to dry.

***

Rumors spread through noble society.

The news was that the Emperor’s government had been granted a palace in the ImperialCity.

The Lepetto Palace, the fourth most lavish palace in the ImperialCity, had been granted special permission because the Emperor himself had given his guarantee.

The Emperor’s personal guarantee was historically reserved for great men and women who had made a mark on the Empire.

Even though it bears the Emperor’s name, it is a great honor to stand for the government.

It was sneeringly referred to as great love.

Sepia made her way to the lake in the most secluded part of the castle.

The lake was small enough that a full lap would take less than ten minutes.

It’s a place of peace and quiet.

The willow branches have turned to brown leaves.

The leaves swaying in the breeze seemed to bring some calm.

But Sepia’s mind was restless.

It was only with Sepia’s permission that Titian was allowed to live in the ImperialPalace.

All the palaces in the Imperialcity belong to the Empress.

So even if Demios had given his word of honor, he could not override Sepia’s authority as Empress.

‘That’s it.’

Sepia rubbed the corners of her eyes.

Given Demios’ temper, Titian’s accession was a foregone conclusion.

‘It’s just a matter of sooner or later.’

The palace where Madame Swan resided was safe, and that was all that mattered.

She tried to think that way, but it wasn’t easy.

In fact, she found it difficult to even sit in her office.

The maids were constantly worrying about her.

‘Have they see me?’

She thought she cleaned up, but they might have seen the tear stains on the carpet.

It’s not that she doesn’t appreciate people who are there for her when she needs them.

But…

There are times when even that concern is painful.

That was now.

She felt terribly ashamed and filled with regret.

‘I shouldn’t have shown my tears.’

The Empress is the most exalted woman in the Empire.

To wear the tiara, one must be able to bear its weight.

But first, they must determine who is worthy of the crown.

‘Empress? You are not even worthy to be human, with the blood you have inherited.’

The voice of a curse she had barely forgotten.

Memories of Huron seized Sepia’s ankles.

Sepia was born the eldest daughter of the Duke of Arte.

She was three years old.

Duke Sociio Arte entrusted his infant daughter to the Emperor of Huron.

The intention was to make Sepia the next Empress at an early age.

But the Duke was unaware.

that his wife, the Duchess of Valunthier, and the Emperor Bertique were closely related.

It was Empress Dalian who was the first to discover their relationship.

Throughout history, there have been Empresses who have not been involved in their Emperors’ affairs.

But Empress Dalian was different.

She was truly in love with Emperor Bertique.

The Emperor’s infidelity came as a great shock to Empress Dalian.

Even when their relationship became public knowledge, there was nothing she could do about it.

As the Emperor and Duchess’s love deepened, so did Empress Dalian’s resentment.

It was only natural that her hatred should be directed at Sepia.

Empress Dalian had her own reasons for her sadism.

‘If she wants to become the next Empress, she’ll have to endure this.’

The mental and physical torment inflicted in the name of the Empress Class.

Young Sepia was torn apart in the cage of the Yellow Castle.

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

Whenever she saw the Duke of Arte, Sepia would cling to his legs and plead.

‘Father, I want to go back home.’

But the Duke would simply turn away his tearful daughter.

‘When you become Empress, you will be able to do anything.’

By day, the lessons bordered on abuse.

At night, whispers of curses.

Just as Sepia’s mind was about to break, Demios, Crown Prince of the Beastman Empire, arrived in Huron.

At the tender age of ten.

For Sepia, the boy was her salvation.

Demios was the only thing that kept her from going mad.

Five years later, after his departure, the Empress’s lessons continued.

But when Sepia turned 17, Empress Dalian announced Young Lady, not Sepia, as Crown Princess.

She was not disappointed.

Even she had long since realized that she would never become Empress.

Rather, she felt hopeful.

Now, she thought, she could return to the ducal residence and wait for Demios there.

But it was a short-lived dream.

Sepia never made it home.

Duke Sociio Arte never came to collect his stray daughter, nor did he visit her anymore.

The Empress was delighted to see her completely alone.

‘See,’ she said, ‘your existence is unwanted. No one wants your presence, and yet you think you can sit at the Empress’s right hand? Impossible.’

The Empress refused to let go of Sepia.

Dalian made her study with the Crown Princess and used her as a tool to humiliate Sepia and get her in her favor.

It was outright discrimination.

Even the nobles of Huron shunned her.

Soon, Sepia was shunned by everyone.

Occasionally, she had the chance to see her mother.

The Duchess of Valunthier pitied her daughter, but never reached out to her.

But once the Crown Princess was named, even her own mother treated her as if she were not there.

In the meantime, the Duchess had used sepia as a shield to deflect the Empress’s arrows.

Every moment was abandonment and pain.

But it had to be endured.

A last hope. Waiting for Demios to contact her.

A year. Two years.

By the time Sepia was nineteen, no letters had come.

Even when she learned of his ascension to the throne.

She finally realized.

‘You’ve forgotten me.’

She despaired.

But her misery was not yet over.

The Empress, tired of her abuse of Sepia, has declared that she will abandon her to a faraway desert country.

She had spent her entire life imprisoned in the Imperial Palace, and now she was exiled.

She wasn’t even sure of her life.

That night, Sepia wrote a letter.

She had promised Demios. She would wait until he contacted her first.

But.

‘You’re the one who forgot me first.’

He promised to come and get her.

Sepia bit down hard on her lower lip and shifted her pen.

The letter was desperate, so desperate for their childhood.

‘If he’s forgotten, I’ll make him remember.’

Even if it’s just a fragment of Demios’ memory.

Or, if the emotion was completely gone, a simple sympathy note.

Half a year had passed since the letter was sent, and winter had arrived.

In the meantime, the mission to take Sepia to the desert had been finalised.

Three days before they left for the desert.

Sepia had given up everything.

Until a marriage proposal from the Beastman Empire arrived.