How to Melt the Tyrant’s Heart: The Complete Reader’s Guide to Lianna, Emperor Enoch and the Ice Curse

By Mariam Nazir · Romance fantasy and web novel editor, teachmefirst.co.uk · Updated 6 October 2026 · 13 min read

You meet Emperor Enoch at the worst possible moment: awake inside a body that just climbed onto his bed, trapped in a story you already know ends with your head on a block. Most pages online give you a bare episode list and leave the curse, the court and the reading order unexplained, so readers stall halfway through a slow burn that pays off beautifully. This guide fixes that. Here is how to melt the tyrant’s heart without missing a single beat, wasting a coin, or spoiling the ending you have waited weeks to reach.

Quick Answers Before You Start Reading

What is How to Melt the Tyrant’s Heart? A Korean romance fantasy webcomic adapted from a completed 121-chapter web novel by Dalbome, written by 624, drawn by SOBA, published in Korea by Kakao Webtoon and licensed in English by Tappytoon.

Who are the leads? Lianna, a reader who wakes up as the novel’s villainess, and Emperor Enoch Philippe Dihart, a ruler whose frozen heart kills anyone who touches him.

Is it finished? The novel is complete at 121 chapters. The comic is still running, with 82 episodes published in Korea as of 4 October 2026.

Is it right for you? Yes, if you like slow-burn trust stories, political scheming and a hero who softens one honest moment at a time. Tappytoon rates the comic 16+.

What Is How to Melt the Tyrant’s Heart? (Plain English Answer)

How to Melt the Tyrant’s Heart is a romance fantasy webcomic about a woman who wakes up inside a dark adult novel as its villainess, Lianna, seconds before she is supposed to seduce the emperor and die for it. Her survival plan collapses when she discovers that her touch is the only contact Enoch can survive.

The comic adapts a web novel that Dalbome serialised in 2022, now finished at 121 chapters. Studio credits read story by 624, art by SOBA, original novel by Dalbome, with NHN holding the copyright and Tappytoon publishing the official English edition under licence.

Kakao Webtoon lists it under romance fantasy, and the platform tags tell you a lot about the reading experience: dragons, prophecy, nobility, hidden powers, a tragic past and a full-blown power struggle. If you enjoy a story where the romance grows out of court politics rather than replacing them, this series sits at the front of the queue.

Why Is It Called How to Melt the Tyrant’s Heart?

The title works on two levels, and both matter to the plot. On the surface it is literal: Enoch carries ice inside his heart, and Lianna is the cure who thaws it. Underneath, it is emotional: he is a tyrant because fear keeps him safe, and melting that defence takes years of small, patient proof.

That double meaning shapes the whole reading experience. Every scene where her hand warms his chest is also a scene about trust, and the story makes you feel the difference between being touched and being allowed close.

The Korean title leans even harder into the premise. It translates roughly to “I Became the Cure for the Tyrant in a Wretched Novel,” which flips the usual dynamic. She is not the girl who needs saving. She is the medicine, and the emperor spends the early chapters chasing her for it.

Who Are the Main Characters? The Full Cast Table

The cast is small but sharp. Four forces push against each other from the first chapter to the last: a woman who wants to live, an emperor who wants contact, a family that wants her power, and a court that wants a puppet on the throne.

One detail worth knowing before you begin: Enoch hates being touched by everyone, which makes him one of the clearest touch-starved heroes in current romance fantasy. Kakao Webtoon’s own series tags read like a checklist for that archetype, and the artwork carries most of it through posture alone. He stands at distance. He watches. He bides his time until she moves.

How Does Emperor Enoch’s Ice Curse Actually Work?

The curse follows five clear rules, and knowing them early makes the middle chapters easier to follow.

• Ice sits inside Enoch’s heart and reacts to contact. A stranger’s touch can trigger it, which is why servants keep their distance and why he has learned to live without physical warmth.
• Lianna’s power cancels the reaction. She is the only person whose touch soothes the ice instead of stirring it, which is exactly why the court notices her.
• Depth and frequency shape the thaw. The author’s own note on the novel listing puts it neatly: the more often and the more deeply the ice is touched, the faster it melts.
• The cure runs both ways. Every session builds intimacy, so healing him also pulls her closer to a man she has been warned to fear.
• Others want the power for themselves. Lianna’s family and rival factions see her ability as a bargaining chip, and their plans turn a private miracle into public danger.

What Makes Lianna Different From a Typical Villainess?

Most villainess stories hand the heroine a fortune, a handsome ally and a quick escape. Lianna gets none of that. She starts with a ruined reputation, an angry emperor and a family that has already spent her future.

Her advantage is knowledge, and the comic uses it honestly. She remembers the novel’s plot, but not every conversation, so she improvises instead of cruising. Kakao Webtoon describes her as the reader who becomes Lianna, which keeps her reactions modern and slightly wry. She notices the absurdity of imperial life and refuses to pretend otherwise.

Her real strength is self-respect. She asks for things. She sets terms before she helps. That single habit turns a survival story into a partnership, and it is the reason the thaw in Enoch feels believable rather than convenient.

The Full Chapter and Arc Table: How to Melt the Tyrant’s Heart Stage by Stage

This is the map most readers need. The comic launched in Korea on 27 July 2025 and arrived in English on 12 December 2025, so its release rhythm is easy to track and easy to plan around.

Read that table as a spoiler-light pacing guide, not a summary of every beat. The publication windows come straight from the official Tappytoon episode list, and the story details stay inside what the publishers themselves have revealed about the plot.

The Novel’s Four Acts: A Detailed Chapter Table

The novel is the finished version of the story, and its structure is tidy enough to plan a reading sprint around. Naver Series lists 121 chapters, and the ebook edition splits them across four volumes, so each act below covers roughly 30 chapters.

Chapter splits are markers, not official arc names. Use them as resting points if you read the novel alongside the comic and want to pause somewhere clean.

Comic or Novel First? A Straight Comparison

Readers ask this constantly, and the honest answer depends on what you want from the story.

My own habit is to read the comic first for the visual beats, then the novel for the court politics I want spelled out. The order rarely spoils anything that the other version handles badly, because the comic keeps the mystery running at a slower tempo.

Reading Order: How to Melt the Tyrant’s Heart Without Losing the Plot

Follow this sequence and the story stays clean from the first page to the current release.

1. Read English episodes 1 to 10 on Tappytoon. They arrived together on launch day, so you can binge the setup in one sitting.
2. Slow down at episode 10. This is where Enoch stops being a threat and starts being a person, and the whole romance hinges on how he behaves here.
3. Track the family subplot before the court subplot. Lianna’s relatives drive the danger in the early chapters, and their motives explain almost every later betrayal.
4. If you cannot wait for weekly releases, switch to the novel at chapter 31. That point lines up with the court intrigue that the comic handles visually rather than in narration.
5. Save the spoiler sections of fan wikis until you pass the novel’s halfway mark. Most of them summarise the finale in the first paragraph.
6. Re-read the early touching scenes after the novel’s midpoint. The mechanics of the curse read completely differently once you know what the story has been hiding.

Where to Read How to Melt the Tyrant’s Heart Legally

Official platforms keep the creators paid and give you clean scans, accurate translation and full episode archives. Here is where each version lives.

Two things are worth saying plainly. First, mirror sites that host the comic without a licence often crop panels, mistranslate the curse mechanics and strip the credits from 624, SOBA and Dalbome. Second, the official English release costs less than a coffee per month for most readers, and it keeps the series running.

Release Schedule and Episode Count (October 2026 Update)

Current status matters more in comics than in almost any other medium, so here is the picture as it stands now.

• The Korean comic published episode 82 on 4 October 2026 and updates weekly on Sundays through Kakao Webtoon.
• The English comic runs weekly on Wednesdays on Tappytoon, which launched the series on 12 December 2025 with the first ten episodes and then settled into a steady rhythm.
• By late March 2026, the English version had surpassed episode 40, catching up to the Korean timetable by roughly twenty episodes.
• The Korean novel finished its 121-chapter run in 2022, so the ending exists whenever you want it.
• Kakao Webtoon reports 438,000 views and 14,000 likes on the series page, and Tappytoon shows 68,000 views on the English edition, which is strong traction for a series in its first year.

Expect a season break at some point, because long-running webtoons almost always take one. Announcements appear first on the official platform pages, so check there before trusting a social post about a return date.

Themes and Tropes: Why This Story Holds Readers

The trope list is familiar. The execution is not, and that gap is why the series keeps appearing on recommendation threads.

The Five Moves the Story Uses to Melt a Tyrant’s Heart

Strip away the crowns and the curse, and learning how to melt the tyrant’s heart comes down to five moves that transfer straight into real relationships. The story runs all five, and each one earns its place.

Move one: meet him where he is. Lianna never pretends Enoch is kind, and he notices. She sees the tyrant, the reputation and the ice, and responds to the man in front of her.

Move two: make contact safe. She asks before she touches. In a story about a curse that punishes touch, her consent-first approach turns his greatest vulnerability into a shared routine.

Move three: keep your own ground. She refuses to become a treatment plan. She sets terms, states limits and leaves when she needs to, which teaches him that her presence is a choice.

Move four: reward honesty fast. When Enoch shows real feeling, she responds to the person rather than the emperor. That consistency is what melts him faster than any cure.

Move five: prove it in public. The romance stops being secret comfort and becomes a visible choice. That step is what turns a careful truce into a partnership.

Read the series with those moves in mind and the pacing stops feeling slow. It feels deliberate.

Common Mistakes New Readers Make

• Skipping the free opening episodes, then paying for chapters they cannot follow because they missed the curse’s rules.
• Judging Enoch by his first three appearances. The story deliberately lets you dislike him before it shows you why he is like this.
• Reading fan summaries that spoil the novel’s final act before the comic reaches it.
• Treating the comic as a stand-alone and then wondering why certain magic details never get explained on the page.
• Buying episodes during a season break without checking the free-wait window, which unlocks older chapters at no cost.
• Forgetting the family subplot. Lianna’s relatives explain most of the betrayals that follow.

Similar Series to Read Next

Caught up on how to melt the tyrant’s heart and hungry for the same feeling? These six series deliver it, and each one handles the thaw from a different angle.

Six Questions Readers Ask Most Often

Is How to Melt the Tyrant’s Heart finished?
The novel is finished. Dalbome completed it at 121 chapters, available in Korean on Naver Series, Kakao Page and RIDI. The comic is still running, with 82 Korean episodes published as of 4 October 2026.

Where can I read how to melt the tyrant’s heart in English?
Tappytoon publishes the official English edition, rated 16+, with new episodes every Wednesday. The first three episodes are free and new readers can binge the launch batch of ten episodes in one sitting.

Who are the two main characters?
Lianna, a reader who wakes up as the novel’s villainess, and Emperor Enoch Philippe Dihart, whose heart holds an ice curse that punishes contact. Their relationship begins as a medical arrangement and grows into a genuine partnership.

How many episodes does the comic have?
Korea has 82 episodes as of early October 2026. The English release passed episode 40 by late March 2026 and continues weekly, running about twenty episodes behind the Korean schedule.

Do I need to read the novel to understand the comic?
No. The comic explains the curse, the court and the family politics well enough to stand alone. The novel adds interior monologue and the full mechanics of the magic, which is why many readers pick it up after the comic’s midpoint.

Is the series suitable for younger readers?
Tappytoon recommends it for ages 16 and over, and the Korean novel is listed at 15 and up on Naver Series. Expect violence, court cruelty, adult themes and a romance that takes its time.

Your Next Move

Pick a night this week, open the official English release and read the first three episodes free. You will know by the end of episode two whether Enoch’s quiet persistence has its hooks in you, and most readers keep going straight through the launch batch of ten.

Then make the choice that decides how much you enjoy the story. If you love anticipation, stay weekly and let the tension build between chapters. If you hate cliffhangers, start the finished novel at chapter 31 once you pass the comic’s current release, and read the ending at your own pace.

You now know how to melt the tyrant’s heart stage by stage, so do one thing when you finish the arc you are on: tell someone. Drop your favourite Enoch line in the comments, share this guide with the friend who keeps asking where to start, and subscribe to teachmefirst.co.uk for the next update when the comic hits its next season milestone. Readers who pass good stories along are the reason series like this keep getting official translations.