Now she's Ariel Winston, the genius perfumer and villainess who forced Duke Cedric Evans, the male lead, to become her lover by withholding the perfume he needs to suppress his bloodlust. And if the story doesn't change, Cedric will be the one to execute her!
All Ariel wants is to break up with him and start her own perfumery. So why does Cedric seem so determined to stay by her side? Can the new Ariel achieve her sweet smelling-dreams, or will she die tragically all over again?
The Tyrant's Only Perfumer is a Korean fantasy romance webtoon, based on a web novel by FairyDragon and adapted by Team Dead Shell. The series ran from 2021 to 2023 for a total of 90 chapters.
A complete English translation of the series is available to read on TappyToon
, Tapas, Pocket Comics, and LalaToon.
The Tyrant's Only Perfumer contains examples of:
- Adaptational Gender Identity: In the web novel, Ariel's business rival is Baron Magnus. In the webtoon Magnus is now a young woman.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Ariel was originally a blonde in the web novel, but her hair color was changed to pink in the webtoon.
- Arranged Marriage: After Ariel breaks up with Cedric, Count Winston attempts to marry her off to the forty-year-old Marquis Olgen. She refuses, opting to start a perfume business and become financially independent instead.
- Babies Ever After: The story's epilogue ends with Ariel and Cedric finding out they're expecting twins.
- Brainwashed: After Ariel refuses to work for Khan, Lizero attempts to brainwash her into compliance.
- Evil Counterpart: Ariel and Magnus are both hobbyist perfumers who want to start their own business, but they have very different ways of going about it. Ariel wants to achieve success through her own hard work and enjoys having healthy competition, while Magnus is only out for herself and is willing to use underhanded methods to get ahead, like directly copying Ariel's perfumes and selling them at a lower price.
- Evil Smells Bad: When Ariel is set up on a blind date with Robin Marcell, a minor character from the novel who drugs the heroine and tries to kidnap her, the first thing she notices is his foul odor. Somewhat justified, as it's the lingering smell of the drugs he does.
- Eyepatch of Power: Lizero wears one of these in public to hide the scar across his right eye.
- Good Capitalism, Evil Capitalism: Ariel and Magnus both start their own perfume businesses, but they have wildly different ethics. Ariel is passionate about her craft and wants to succeed through her own merit, while Magnus will do anything to eliminate the competition—be it selling cheap knock-offs of Ariel's products, or bribing all the florists in the capital to stop doing business with her.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Ariel wins the title of May Queen at the Spring Equinox Festival while wearing a violet gown. She strategically chooses it to stand out, as the irises needed to make purple dye are difficult and costly to import, making it a rare color choice in high society.
- High-Class Glass: Khesion Urdent, one of the gentlemen who offers to escort Ariel and Charlotte at the Founding Day Ball in Episode 60, is wearing a monocle.
- Kidnapped for Experimentation: As a child, Cedric was kidnapped by Khan and used to test the power of demon blood. It made him physically stronger, but also gave him a constant bloodlust that can only be calmed by the scent of the Anixcia flower.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Ariel and Magnus. Ariel is kind, gentle, has long pink hair and typically wears pastels and florals. Magnus is haughty, competitive, has a sleek black bob and always sports dark colors or jewel tones.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Prince Azekian has four older brothers and a sister.
- Media Transmigration: After dying of an incurable illness, the protagonist's soul possesses the body of a character from the novel she'd been reading in hospital.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: In the novel, Ariel’s unrequited love for Cedric drives her to attempt to kill the heroine by tricking her into inhaling a poisonous perfume. She fails and is swiftly executed for her crimes.
- Next Life as a Fictional Character: The protagonist dies of terminal illness and becomes Ariel Winston, the villainess from the romance novel May Rest Be At Your Side.
- No Name Given: We never find out what the protagonist's name was before she took over Ariel's body.
- Ojou Ringlets: In Episode 61, the Empress is seen wearing her hair in corkscrew pigtails to the Founding Day Ball.
- Pauper Patches: In Episode 16, Magnus fantasizes about Ariel becoming a beggar in patch-covered rags after her perfume business fails. She even has one in her hair.
- Pimped-Out Dress:
- Ariel tends to wear elaborate dresses to the many balls she attends.
- Princess Deleina wears one to the Spring Equinox Festival in Episode 49.
- Practically Different Generations: Cedric appears to be in his early twenties, but his sister, the Empress, is old enough to have six adult children around his age.
- Sense Loss Sadness: As an aspiring perfumer, the protagonist was devastated when her illness took away her sense of smell. After possessing Ariel's body, she cries the first time she's able to smell a perfume again.
- Signature Scent: Ariel notes several times that Cedric smells of pine needles.
- Soap Opera Disease: The protagonist's illness is never named. All we know is that it was incurable, terminal, and caused the gradual loss of all five senses.
- Tarot Troubles: In Episode 35, Ariel gets a reading during the Summer Solstice Festival. While trying to predict her love life, she keeps pulling ominous cards like Death, The Devil, and the Ten of Swords.
- Unrequited Love Switcheroo: The original Ariel coerced Cedric into becoming her lover by leveraging her ability to make the Anixcia perfume he needs to calm his bloodlust. After possessing Ariel's body, the protagonist breaks up with him. Noticing the sudden change in her personality, Cedric becomes intrigued and starts to fall for the new Ariel.
- Visible Odor: Robin Marcell is drawn with a thick black cloud surrounding him, representing the smell of the drugs he's on.
- We Can Rule Together: How Lizero tries to convince Ariel to work with him. She's not interested.
