History Literature / ImTheTyrantsSecretary

* AbusiveParents: Kahir's father and stepmother were physically abusive to Kahir, pushing him aside in favor of Caron, his half-brother. [[spoiler:Caron is also beaten by his mother when he ruins his marriage talks]].

** Ella (or at least the reincarnated Ella) also is this, as she sees herself as the true heroine of the story and wants to throw Rosalyn out of the competition.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Roy is extremely protective of Rosalyn when it comes to Kahir. Somewhat justified as it was supposed to be him that took the secretary job, and he fears what Kahir might do to his sister if she ever got on his bad side. It takes until close to the end of the story for him to finally accept Rosalyn and Kahir as a couple.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Ella Paulos was the beautiful, kindhearted protagonist of the original novel, who managed to save Kahir of his loneliness and became his empress through her empathy and love. The Ella of this story is a transmigrated Korean woman who cannot be kind to save her life, and just sees Kahir as a means to fulfill her fantasy of being the heroine of a romantic story.
* CainAndAbel: Averted. Despite Kahir and Azalea being at odds with each other concerning the throne, Kahir and Caron don't actually hate each other since Caron doesn't want to be emperor and Kahir more pities Caron for being used by his mother. [[spoiler:In the finale, when Azalea is gone, Kahir and Caron are able to take the first steps to acknowledging each other as family by Kahir allowing Caron to stand beside him at his wedding and hold his ring.]]
* CruelMercy: [[spoiler:After Rosalyn chooses to stay with Kahir and because there can only be one transmigrator at a time, the goddess sends Ella back to her original world and she will simply believe everything that happened as just a dream. Rosalyn notes considering Ella is a narcissist obsessed with Kahir, that punishment is actually more cruel than death would have been to her.]]
* DeclarationOfPersonalIndependence: [[spoiler:Caron does this when he declares that he will not get married to his mother and not be a pawn for her personal gain. He then has to run away after she whips him for disobeying her]].

* ElectiveMonarchy: Kahir succeeded his father for the throne, although Azalea almost had Caron on the throne instead. But selecting an empress [[SuccessionCrisis proves to be a challenge]] as Azalea tries to interfere with the selection process in order to put her candidate (Ella) in first place. [[spoiler:Rosalyn is able to win in the end thanks to Ella and Azalea's attempt at brainwashing Kahir backfiring.]]
* {{Foil}}: Rosalyn and Ella are this to one another. Both reincarnated into the world of a novel they read the night before, and both adapt to their new surroundings quickly before meeting Kahir. However, Ella is a narcissist that only desires a romantic fantasy with Kahir, not the responsibilities of the throne or being a mother, and proving to be terrible at both. Rosalyn, as Kahir's secretary, understands how important being the mother of the nation is, and is well-equipped in handling the empire's affairs, as well as Kahir's more unsavory tendencies.
** Kahir and Caron are also foils to each other. The former is the unwanted child of the former emperor whose mother was abandoned by the emperor and he himself was sent off to the battlefield from a young age. He's therefore ruthless and strong-willed, doesn't know much about love until he meets his love interest, and aggressively goes after his stepmother to stop her from obtaining the throne. Caron was sheltered and coddled by his mother, having known nothing but luxury since a young age. He's timid and not able to stand up for himself, afraid to get on his mother's wrong side and she plans to use him as a puppet ruler if she gets him on the throne.

* IChooseToStay: [[spoiler:Rosalyn chooses to stay in the novel's world rather than return home. This forces Ella to return instead, as only one transmigrator is allowed in the world at a time and she's already caused enough problems to the world]].
* MarriedToTheJob: After becoming Kahir's secretary, Rosalyn is swamped with paperwork and event planning. Five years later, she's so dedicated to her job that everyone relies on her to get things through to Kahir, and doesn't have any time for a vacation or even a day off. Once Kahir becomes aware of his feelings, he tries to get Rosalyn to ease up on her responsibilities. Her being so good at her job is actually a reason why Kahir is easily able to make her an empress candidate despite coming from a family of viscounts since she's already gained immense respect from nobility for handling Kahir.

* DeclarationOfPersonalIndependence: [[spoiler:Caron does this when he declares that he will not get married to his mother. He then has to run away after she whips him for disobeying her]].
* DevotedToYou: Kahir is so obviously in love with Rosalyn that he finds it difficult to imagine life without her. The same is true for Rosalyn, although it takes a while for her to come to terms with that.

* NoBadassToHisValet: Kahir is feared as a tyrannical brute, but Rosalyn knows that's just because he thinks with his sword rather than his head. She's therefore the best person equipped to dealing with him, and has saved numerous nobles from execution through her intervening.

* ProperLady: Rosalyn is able to demonstrate how eloquent and graceful she is during the empress candidate selection. She does so well that the other ladies drop their candidacies to rally behind her, on top of her strong understanding of politics and nuances in government. This infuriates Ella, as she proves that even after spending a whole lifetime in this world (and then some), she still doesn't know how to act properly.
* SassySecretary: Both Rosalyn and Derrick have shades of this. You have to develop a thick skin when it comes to dealing with Kahir.

** Kahir and Caron are also foils to each other. The former is the unwanted child of the former emperor whose mother was abandoned by the emperor and he himself was sent off to the battlefield from a young age. He's therefore ruthless and strong-willed, doesn't know much about love until he meets his love interest, and aggressively goes after his stepmother to stop her from obtaining the throne. Caron was sheltered and coddled by his mother, having known nothing but luxury since a young age. He's timid and not able to stand up for himself, afraid to get on his mother's wrong side.

* {{Foil}}: Rosalyn and Ella are this to one another. Both reincarnated into the world of a novel they read the night before, and both adapt to their new surroundings quickly before meeting Kahir. However, Ella is a narcissist that only desires a romantic fantasy with Kahir, not the responsibilities of the throne or being a mother. Rosalyn, as Kahir's secretary, understands how important being the mother of the nation is, and is well-equipped in handling the empire's affairs, as well as Kahir's more unsavory tendencies.

* IChooseToStay: [[spoiler:Rosalyn chooses to stay in the novel's world rather than return home. This forces Ella to return instead, as only one transmigrator is allowed in the world at a time]].
* MarriedToTheJob: After becoming Kahir's secretary, Rosalyn is swamped with paperwork and event planning. Five years later, she's so dedicated to her job that everyone relies on her to get things through to Kahir, and doesn't have any time for a vacation or even a day off. Once Kahir becomes aware of his feelings, he tries to get Rosalyn to ease up on her responsibilities.

* PeggySue: Ella turns out to be a villainous example. She was transmigrated like Rosalyn was and followed the novel exactly, marrying Kahir and having kids with him. However, she became extremely clingy and jealous of her own children and ended up separated from Kahir after one too many fights. She is then transported to the past and works together with her former mother-in-law to remarry Kahir, but now Rosalyn stands in the way as a better love interest than her, pushing Ella to get rid of Rosalyn by any means necessary.
* ProperLady: Rosalyn is able to demonstrate how eloquent and graceful she is during the empress candidate selection. She does so well that the other ladies drop their candidacies to rally behind her. This infuriates Ella, as she proves that even after spending a whole lifetime in this world (and then some), she still doesn't know how to act properly.

* SelfProclaimedLoveInterest: Ella claims that she and Kahir must be together because that was how it was in the novel, but Rosalyn doesn't approve of her because of her twisted personality. It also turns out this Ella already married Kahir once and their marriage ended in failure, which makes Ella's attempt at remarrying him all the more pathetic.

* {{Yandere}}: The transmigrated Ella is this after she marries Kahir in the first timeline, not wanting to lose him to anything after achieving the book's happily ever after. She even gets jealous of her own ''children''. She refuses to let him go, even in the second timeline where it's clear Rosalyn is a better fit for him.

** Kahir and Caron are also foils to each other. The former is the unwanted child of the former emperor whose mother was abandoned by the emperor and he himself was sent off to the battlefield from a young age. He's therefore ruthless and strong-willed, and doesn't know much about love until he meets his love interest. Caron was sheltered and coddled by his mother, having known nothing but luxury since a young age. He's not able to stand up for himself, afraid to get on his mother's wrong side.

* DevotedToYou: Kahir is so obviously in love with Rosalyn that he finds it difficult to imagine life without her. And vice Verda, although it takes Rosalyn a while to figure out why she feels this way.

* OfficeRomance: The fantasy version. Kahir develops feelings for Rosalyn, his secretary. He's able to use her good publicity with the nobility to put her down as an empress candidate, which brings out Rosalyn's own budding feelings towards Kahir.

* DeclarationOfPersonalIndependance: [[spoiler:Caron does this when he declares that he will not get married to his mother. He then has to run away after she whips him for disobeying her]].

* AbusiveParents: Kahir's father and stepmother were physically abusive to Kahir, pushing him aside in favor of Caron, his half-brother. [[spoiler:Caron is also beaten by his mother when he ruins his marriage talks.

* AlphaBitch: Azalea is like this, using her position as the former emperor's favored woman to get what she wants. [[spoiler:Ella (or at least the reincarnated Ella) also is this, as she sees herself as the true heroine of the story and wants to throw Rosalyn out of the competition]].

* AlphaBitch: Azalea is like this, using her position as the emperor's favored woman to get what she wants. [[spoiler:Ella (or at least the reincarnated Ella) also is this, as she sees herself as the true heroine of the story and wants to throw Rosalyn out of the competition]].

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Ella Paulos was the beautiful, kindhearted protagonist of the original novel, who managed to save Kahir of his loneliness and became his empress through her empathy and love. [[spoiler:The Ella of this story is a transmigrated Korean woman who cannot be kind to save her life, and just sees Kahir as a means to fulfill her fantasy of being the heroine of a romantic story]].

* PeggySue: [[spoiler:Ella turns out to be a villainous example. She was transmigrated like Rosalyn was and followed the novel exactly, marrying Kahir and having kids with him. However, she became extremely clingy and jealous of her own children and ended up separated from Kahir after one too many fights. She is then transported to the past and works together with her former mother-in-law to remarry Kahir, but now Rosalyn stands in the way as a better love interest than her, pushing Ella to get rid of Rosalyn by any means necessary]].

* SelfProclaimedLoveInterest: [[spoiler:Ella claims that she and Kahir must be together because that was how it was in the novel, but Rosalyn doesn't approve of her because of her twisted personality. It also turns out this Ella already married Kahir once and their marriage ended in failure, which makes Ella's attempt at remarrying him all the more pathetic]].

* OfficeRomance: Kahir develops feelings for Rosalyn, his secretary. He's able to use her good publicity with the nobility to put her down as an empress candidate, which brings out Rosalyn's own budding feelings towards Kahir.

''I'm the Tyrant's Secretary'' started as a web novel by Lee inhye and Feelyeon Management. It was adapted into a webcomic, with art by Kio and the story by Jay. The English translation is available from [[Tapas https://tapas.io/series/im-the-tyrants-secretary/info]].

Wrong! Turns out her brother has been "selected" (read: forced) to become the emperor's newest secretary. It's then that Rosalyn remembers that the emperor is set to execute an entire family after one of his secretaries makes a mistake; that family happens to be Rosalyn's. Now faced with the future death of her new family, Rosalyn decides to change the course of the this story, by using her old secretarial skills to become the emperor's new secretary herself!

''I'm The Tyrant's Secretary'' started as a web novel by Lee inhye and Feelyeon Management. It was adapted into a webcomic, with art by Kio and the story by Jay. The English translation is available from [[Tapas https://tapas.io/series/im-the-tyrants-secretary/info]].