Latil

**Latrasil Valentine Tarium "Latil"** is the main protagonist of *Men of the Harem*, and the Emperor of Tarium. She becomes Empress after retaking the throne from her half-brother Thula, who had staged a coup following her father's assassination while she was overseas.

Following her ascent to the throne, a chain of supernatural events begin happening, leading her to investigate the truth of her father's death.

## Appearance

Latil has dark grey eyes, fair skin, and long black hair styled in a tall ponytail. As empress, she is often dressed in regelia, which consists of a white long-sleeved shirt with puffed sleeves, long white pants, a sash embroidered with gold motifs, black combat boots, epaulets, and a sword sheathed at her side.

When she was a princess, she styled her hair in a low ponytail, and wore long dresses in shades of pink, blue and purple, with frilled white collars. While Hyacinth was away, she was seen wearing a long white dress with a teal overcoat while visiting the temple. She is wearing similar attire when she overhears that Hyacinth will be getting married to Aini.

During her trip to Karisen as leader of the Tarium delegation, she changes her outfit to be closer to her current one. She styles her hair in a high ponytail, and wears a white shirt and tie, white pants, a red coat with black lining and golden embroidery, and a black cape with epaulets.

## Personality

Prior to becoming emperor, Latil appeared to be kind, caring, and more open about her feelings than her current self. She blushes when she meets Hyacinth for the first time, and when Hyacinth gives her a ring made of grass. When Hyacinth has to leave for Karisen, she visibly tears up and begs to go with him. After Hyacinth leaves, she wholeheartedly believes he will return for her, and goes to the temple everyday to pray for his safety. She is driven to tears upon overhearing that he will be marrying Aini instead.

After becoming emperor, Latil works to cultivate an image of a strong ruler, and begins appearing colder. Her first act as emperor is thus mercilessly executing Thula for treason, contrary to everyone's expectations. Even in front of Raean, she maintains her stance that it was the right thing to do. She becomes more cunning, and forms the harem in order to direct the nobles' attention away from her.

Despite this, Latil has moments of vulnerability. She becomes visibly more awkward when any of the consorts express genuine affection towards her. She continues to treat her brother Raean warmly and trusts that he would not betray her. She also acts casually around Sir Sonnaught, much to the disdain of the Chamberlain.

## Background

According to Hyacinth, Latil was said to have followed the imperial knights around since young. She was close to her older brother Raean and his friend, Sir Sonnaught, who would grow up to become her knight. She did not get along with her half-brother Thula, as she saw him and his mother, Anaktcha, as people who caused her mother great sorrow, due to Anaktcha's status as the Emperor's favored consort. The dislike is returned by Anaktcha, who called Latil "as ill-tempered as Her Majesty" and once pushed Latil into the lake after Latil gets into a fight with Thula.

The Great Prophet had prophesised that she had the makings of a tyrant. If she became the Emperor, a river of blood will wash over Tarium. But, she will also bring about a new era of prosperity to the empire. However, no one took this seriously as it was overshadowed by the Great Prophet's prophecy of Raean, which was filled with admiration.

## Relationships

### *Love Interests*

* **Ranamun Atraxil:** Latil accepts Ranamun into the harem in order to repay Duke Atraxil for his aid during the war for the throne. He is the second consort that Latil meets. Duke Atraxil introduces him to her in hopes that Ranamun's beauty will persuade her into making him the Royal Consort upon becoming empress. However, Ranamun's reserved personality does not win her over. This offends Ranamun's pride, who begins reading tutorial books about romance in order to pick up techniques to seduce her. He informs his father that he will be applying for the harem despite the slight against their family, as he believes he can win over Latil and get the Royal Consort position within a year. While going through the applications for the harem, Latil is surprised to see Ranamun's application, and mistakenly believes that he was pressured into applying by his father. She spends the first night with him in order to save face for Duke Atraxil. However, Ranamun genuinely tries to seduce her, to no avail, and the two end up simply falling asleep. Latil maintains the belief that he was coerced into being there, and as such maintains her distance from him so that he would not feel obligated to spend time with her. However, this ends up offending Ranamun even more, as he has no idea why she is resistant to him despite his continuous efforts to improve his charm. This results in him acting coldly to her whenever she has meals with him.

* **Prince Klein:** Unlike all the other consorts, Klein was not chosen by Latil. He is the first consort that Latil meets. Klein finds Latil drunk in the Karisen palace gardens as a result of indulging in the wine Aini gave her. She rambles about love and makes a confession that Klein, who is unaware of the relationship between Latil and Hyacinth, mistakes as being directed towards him. Klein, who was seldom the target of affection due to his hot temper, becomes drawn to Latil, and tries to confront her the next day at the wedding ceremony. However, he is stopped by Sir Sonnaught and when he tries to talk to her after the ceremony, she had already left. This leads to him constantly asking his servants about Latil's activities during the few years before they meet again. When Latil sends a delegation to Karisen requesting a consort, Hyacinth initially turns it away without offering hospitality. However, upon hearing the news, Klein volunteers. He mistakenly believes that as Karisen had no one except him to send, that Latil was directly asking for his hand in marriage. In reality, Latil had simply been trying to anger Hyacinth through making him hand-pick a consort. Hyacinth sends Klein off with the stipulation that this would only be a temporary contract and that he would return to Karisen after six months. Upon arrival at Tarium, Klein confuses Latil by making proclamations that she would never own his heart. Adding to that is his fussy attitude towards his accomodations, which leads to Latil suspecting that Hyacinth had sent Klein to annoy her or to be a spy. This leads to Latil distancing herself from Klein, which he rationalises in various forms. One day, Latil leaves Klein after only five minutes of entering his chambers due to needing to attend to an urgent report of relating to the case of the Defaced Altar. This causes rumors to spread and humiliates Klein, who grows to hate Sonnaught as a result due to him constantly interrupting his interactions with Latil. Unfortunately, with his hot temper, Guesta easily provokes him using this rumor, leading to Klein to strike Guesta. However, he is caught by Latil. In anger, she tells him to pack his bags and go home. Klein, wanting to make Latil regret her decision, begins doing just so, when he is advised by his bodyguard to wait, as going back could strain relations between Tarium and Karisen. Meanwhile, Tasir convinces Latil to forgive Klein, explaining that Klein had cried all night in the garden after she left him, and that he was not in a good state when he fought Guesta. He then gets Hyarlan to spread this news to gain Klein's trust. Latil visits Klein again in an attempt to make it up to him, but he refuses to answer the door. Latil is nearly called away again by Sonnaught when Klein bursts open the door, unable to take it any longer, and begs her to stay. Latil promises to be back in an hour, and she does. When she returns, Klein is seated on the bed with a blue candy on his tongue. He asks her if she has ever tasted the sea, and the two kiss. After Zaicin enters the harem, Klein is caught practising dancing with his valets doing the musical accompaniment by Latil. He passes it off as teaching them how to play music instruments, when in reality he was likely trying to mimic Zaicin in order to catch Latil's attention. Latil believes him and begins to leave, when he desperately calls out to her in his mind. She then discovers that she is able to hear his thoughts. Hearing his eagerness leads to her becoming embarassed, but at the same time finally makes her drop her suspicions about him.

* **Guesta Rhodes:** Latil chooses Guesta for his gentle beauty. She guesses that Chancellor Rhodes had submitted Guesta as a candidate due to wanting to regain the influence he had lost to Duke Atraxil during the war for the throne. She had known Guesta since childhood, and believes his timid external personality. This causes her to worry for Guesta as she believes that his shy nature will cause him to suffer in the dramatically charged harem environment. Unbeknownst to her, Guesta's true personality, which is ruthless and cunning, causes Klein to fall into traps he set up to make them look bad in front of Latil, such as when he deliberately provokes Klein into fighting him.

* **Carlein:** Latil chooses Carlein from the list of applications for his looks. After meeting Tasir, Latil tries to meet Carlein at the inn he is staying at with the Black Reapers. However, he does not come out of his room at all for the rest of the day, and the waiter remarks that he does not even leave to use the bathroom. When she finally does meet him at the union ceremony, she is only able to get a brief glance and not a proper chance to talk to him. She decides to spend the second night with him, when he remarks that he had been waiting for her, and begins calling her Master, a term he would not drop despite Latil's protests. Upon further prodding, Carlein gives cryptic answers, such as that he had known her since she was born. She also notes that his breath is very cold. However, Latil does not think too seriously of his statements, attributing them to her public image. Like Ranamun, he also tries making advances on Latil, but Latil pushes him away and forces him not to cross a line she made on the bed before going to sleep.

* **Tasir Anghes:** Latil chooses Tasir as she figured it would be good to have an intelligent member of the harem to balance things out. Tasir is the third consort that Latil meets. In order to see him for herself, she goes with Sir Sonnaught to the high class Hotel Grandier that his party and him are staying at while waiting for the harem application results. While there, she tries setting him up to watch his reaction, by having a royal guard act as a drunk and bump into him. However, he reacts completely unexpectedly, cussing him out before flipping him to the ground and threatening him. Latil begins thinking of him as akin to a drug dealer and not at all what she imagined as a merchant's heir. However, her staring catches his attention and he correctly deduces that she had been behind the set up. He approaches her before recognising her as the Empress, and comments that she should "hire an actor or a real drunk" as the royal guards were too obvious. She remarks to Sonnaught if she should have brought him on as an advisor rather than as a consort. Tasir quickly grows to become Latil's closest confidant due to him revealing to her that he was actually the leader of the Black Forest assassins after the Palace of Lions is vandalised with the organisation's symbol. He reveals that the Black Forest was not behind the vandalisation, but also reveals that Latil's father had previously asked them to investigate her for unknown reasons. Latil entrusts him with the responsibility of investigating the case due to his knowledge about the organisation. She gets him to accompany her to tail Paul, a guard who she had discovered was a mole due to her mind reading powers. Tasir demonstrates his incredible swordsmanship by singlehandedly defeating several thugs and looking none worse for wear. Tasir's valet, Hyarlan, upon being frustrated that Tasir was the only one out of the consorts who had not spent a night with Latil, yet was helping Klein, rants that he should make Tasir's clothes fall off in front of Latil in order to catch her attention. This gives Tasir the idea to remove the seams from his clothes, which actually fall off when Latil visits his chambers in an attempt to read his thoughts. Latil is unamused by his antics and mostly treats him as an advisor rather than a consort.

* **Zaicin:** Latil had previously only known Zaicin as the Great Sage and not by name. The Great Prophet recommends that she contact him as the Vandalism incident could have involved black magic, which very few living people knew about. He was so elusive that she did not know how to contact him. She ends up summoning him to her coronation banquet by putting up public notices. She meets him when she hears him getting attacked by assassins on the palace grounds while she had wandered away from the palace grounds. She quickly rips her dress with her sword and jumps down from the window to defend him. However, Zaicin ends up pummelling the assassins, simultaneously destroying her mental image of him as a sweet and gentle angel. Zaicin reveals to her that he had been working undercover as a casino dealer, leading to her questioning his morals, but Zaicin maintains that it was within the boundaries set for him. He then asks Latil to induct him into her harem in order to protect him from the assassins that were looking to silence him due to his knowledge about black magic. Latil agrees, and asks him to do something attention-grabbing at the banquet so that she can pretend to be mesmerised with him. He ends up doing a strange dance, which Latil nonetheless goes along with. Latil later visits him under the impression that he would not be acting as a real consort due to his true motives. However, she discovers him lying on his bed barely clothed. Horrified, she wraps him up in a blanket and orders him to put his clothes back on.

* **Sir Sonnaught:** Latil has been close to Sir Sonnaught since childhood as he was a friend of Raean. As a result, she does not understand why noble ladies fawn over him, as to her she has always been like a brother to her. This also makes her utterly oblivious to Sonnaught's flirting, such as when he asks her what she thinks of him as a marriage candidate. On the flip side, Sonnaught is deeply in love with her, a fact which is obvious to many around him, but has resolved himself to settle as her protector. He does not entertain the thought of entering the harem as he would not be able to protect her that way. However, she regards him as more Raean's friend than hers. When the Vandalism incident suggests that the one who had painted the warning was a supporter of the "true owner of the throne", Raean becomes a prime suspect, making her suspicious of Sir Sonnaught as well. This leads to her delegating tasks to Tasir instead.

### *Secondary Characters*

* **Emperor Hyacinth:** Latil's failed romance with Hyacinth kickstarts the entire harem plotline. Hyacinth genuinely loves Latil, but he had prioritised winning the throne over her, of which Latil understands and does not fault him for. Hyacinth is unable to get over Latil even after years had passed since his wedding, and he and Aini become stuck in a loveless marriage. Due to the result of her falling out with him, Latil is initially unable to lend affection to the consorts, and recalls many moments she had. She eventually realises that Hyacinth had sent her letters and gifts, but they had been intercepted by an unknown party, as when they sent letters in secret and not through the official mailing system, they were able to receive each other's letters. The two of them begin working together to track down the culprit.

* **Empress Aini:** Latil is initially intimidated by Aini, as she views Aini's seemingly gentle, ladylike behavior as everything she is not. However, both of them do not resent each other, as they recognise that it was Hyacinth who had put them in this position in the first place by accepting Duke Daga's offer. Aini even gifts Latil a bottle of wine, calling it her "best friend".

* **Prince Raean:** Latil had always been close to Raean. Before her coronation ceremony, she warmly hugs Raean upon realizing that he had came to see her despite disagreeing with her decision to execute Thula. The two have an honest conversation about Thula's execution, whereupon Latil reaffirms her stance that it was the right thing to do. Later, when the Great Prophet is summoned to the palace in order to advise Latil regarding the Vandalism incident, Raean comes along as well. Latil hugs him enthusiastically upon seeing him, and even the Great Prophet remark that they have a good relationship. However, when the Vandalism incident suggests that the one who had painted the warning was a supporter of the "true owner of the throne", Raean becomes a prime suspect. She resolves not to trust anyone until the incident is resolved.

* **Prince Thula:** As children, Latil did not get along with Thula due to jealousy over the Emperor's attention. This hatred is exacerbated by the fact that his mother, Anaktcha, caused her mother, the Empress, a lot of heartache due to the Anaktcha's status as the Emperor's favorite consort. When it was revealed that Raean would be giving up the throne, she did not want Thula to be the Emperor as she perceived his policies as idealistic and would not make a good leader. After Thula takes the throne from her while she is away, her hatred worsens. When she finally retakes the throne, she has him publicly executed by guillotine, and has Anaktcha jailed indefinitely.

* **Anacktcha:** Both Latil and Anaktcha disliked each other since Latil was a child. One day, after finding Latil fighting with Thula, Anaktcha calls her a "vile and ill-tempered child" before pushing her into the lake. Upon realising what she had done, she quickly takes Thula and runs away, leaving Latil to swim to safety on her own. Latil's mother discovers Latil dripping wet and demands to know who did that to her, but Latil appeared to be overcome by anger and it is unknown if she revealed Anaktcha's deed. When Latil retakes the palace, Anaktcha sobs while begging Latil to forgive Thula, attempting to persuade that he was her brother and a son that her father had dearly loved. She pleads for Latil to spare him for the memory of her father. However, Latil has her taken away, and has the execution carried out anyway. Later, Latil visits Anaktcha in her cell, where the latter desperately asks about her son. Latil momentarily considers sparing her pain by lying, before deciding to just tell her that her son was dead. This causes Anaktcha to wail in a horrific manner, before cursing Latil.

* **Marquis Sablé:** The Chamberlain is Latil's most trusted advisor and acts as her secretary. He has notable favor for Ranamun to become the Royal Consort, suggesting Ranamun whenever Latil needs to pick a consort. However, this does not always work.

* **Countess Aiguiness:** Countess Aiguiness, or Nurse as Latil has always referred to her, is Latil's nursemaid who has been with her since young. She comforts Latil when she discovers her crying over Hyacinth's betrayal, and expresses concern for her safety when she finds her sitting on the windowsill. Latil is glad to see that she managed to escape the war for the throne unscathed as she had gone on vacation while Latil was away, leading to her not being at the palace for the insurrection.

* **Duke Atraxil:** Duke Atraxil is the second noble to lend Latil support during the war for the throne. Initially, he had been planning to claim neutrality and sit out the war. Duchess Atraxil convinces him to lend her support, using the recent civil war in Karisen as an example of how they could make use of their standing to have Ranamun made Royal Consort. He introduces the visibly reluctant Ranamun to Latil and even remarks that the two made a regal pair, to the shock of both of them. Unlike Duke Daga however, he does not make this a condition of his support, instead thinking of it as a given since Empresses would usually only take one consort. Latil does not abide by this obligation, which shocks him at the coronation ceremony when he discovers that she would be instituting a harem instead. Still, Latil often considers his interests due to his influence, and often picks Ranamun first to save him face, choosing Ranamun to spend the first night with, even though it was only for show and they simply went to sleep. He gradually warms up to Ranamun being a consort, expressing pride whenever he perceives Latil being attracted to Ranamun. He gloats in front of Chancellor Rhodes when Ranamun is chosen by Latil for the first dance at her coronation banquet.

## Story

### Ascension Arc

#### *Webtoon Chapters Prologue to 9*

In Year 511, six years before the story begins, Latil meets Hyacinth when the latter arrives in Tarium from Karisen as an envoy and scholar. The two of them were drawn to each other and began a romance. Their time was cut short when Hyacinth had to rush back home as his half-brother, Heium, had incited a rebellion to take over Karisen while Hyacinth was in Tarium.

Latil begins going to the temple everyday to pray for Hyacinth's safety. Two years later, in Year 514, Tarium receives news that Hyacinth had successfully taken the throne. Two months pass, and Latil still does not receive any news from Hyacinth himself. Nonetheless, she resolves to be diligent in her studies so that she can be a good empress for Hyacinth when he comes for her.

One day, a delegation from Karisen arrives. Certain that it is for her, she eavesdrops on the conversation in the Grand Hall. She is shocked to hear that Hyacinth would be in fact, marrying Aini Tour La Daga, the daughter of Duke Daga. After sobbing in her room, she receives a secret letter from Hyacinth delivered by the delegation, asking her to meet. She asks her father for permission to go to Karisen, whereupon she is granted the position as head of the Tarium wedding delegation.

Upon meeting Hyacinth, she is shocked to hear that he plans to divorce Aini in five years, and to wait for him to stabilise his rule so he can reduce Duke Daga's influence. He explains that Duke Daga lent his support to him during the civil war, on the condition that he make Aini his empress. However, Latil is disgusted upon hearing that he expects her to wait for him, and rejects him.

Later that night, Aini comes to visit her in her room, whereupon Aini admits that she knows Hyacinth has no love for her. Nonetheless, she intends to go forward with the marriage, and does not intend on ever divorcing him. She then gifts Latil a bottle of wine, which Latil drinks in the palace's gardens and ends up getting drunk.

She meets Klein, who she mistakes for being a figment of her imagination, and begins blabbering about her feelings to him. They drink together and fall asleep in the garden. Latil wakes up and runs off, leaving Klein sleeping. Klein then recognises her the next day during the wedding ceremony, and tries to confront her, but is interrupted by the ceremony starting. He states that he will talk to her after the ceremony, however, Latil's anger towards Hyacinth leads to her leaving the ceremony immediately after it ends.

When she returns from Tarium, Latil is shocked to hear that Raean has voluntarily stepped down as heir to the throne in order to become a Great Prophet. Latil had never coveted the throne as it had always seemed meant for Raean. To her surprise, her father began supporting her as the heir, instead of Thula like she had expected. Raean also supports her as heir, which convinces some of his followers to support her as well, albeit reluctantly. For two years, she worked hard to catch up on her education and training to prepare for her role as Empress. During these two years, Tarium sends consorts to Karisen to strengthen relations between the two nations.

In Year 516, while on a diplomatic mission overseas, her father is assassinated and Thula stages a successful coup to take the throne for himself under the pretense that the Emperor had named him heir in his dying words. She returns to Tarium, where she spends a year gathering support from nobles such as Duke Atraxil and fighting a war for the throne with Thula. After half a year, she begins currying the favor of neighbouring countries by pretending to be a weak ruler in order to gain their support. In the spring of Year 517, she manages to retake the throne with their help, and executes Thula as well as imprisoning Anaktcha. She then has all those who had opposed her executed or stripped of their rank and wealth.

The nobles pressure her to marry in order to stabilise her rule. She agrees, however instead of picking a Royal Consort like the nobles had expected, she decides to institute a harem, with five members to start. She diverts the uproar by suggesting that the nobles could rise in the ranks by sending in their sons, which entices them, as previously they had expected Ranamun to be a shoe-in for the position due to the aid Duke Atraxil had lent. She begins receiving all kinds of applications for a position in the harem.

## Powers and Abilities

### Mind Reading

Latil possesses a supernatural power that is supposedly passed down through the royal bloodline and surfaces every few generations. This gives her the ability to read minds when the person is experiencing intense emotions, such as surprise, desperation, eagerness, and excitedment. This ability is currently subconscious and she is unable to control who she can use it on or when.

### Swordsmanship

Latil trained in swordsmanship since young, a consequence of hanging around the Imperial Knights often. The only one amongst the knights who can best her is Sir Sonnaught. On multiple occasions she demonstrates her swordsmanship skills, such as when she defeats multiple thugs with the help of Fox Mask.

## Trivia

* Latil shares the same birthday, 26 August, with Ranamun, Thula, and Aini.