Being born into a noble family is a blessing to most. For you, it became a sentence.
When false accusations threaten to destroy your family, you're forced into a dangerous decision: enter the royal palace as a concubine to prove your family's loyalty and protect their name. But life behind palace walls is nothing like the noble life you knew. It’s a world ruled by secrets, schemes, and power plays—where trust is rare, and betrayal is everywhere.
As the child of a respected civil official, your fate was supposed to be different. Now, you're caught in the middle of court politics, royal jealousy, and the lingering scandal left behind by your mother. The only way to survive is to play the game and win.
Will you rise through the ranks and gain the Emperor’s favour? Or will you lose yourself in the cruelty of palace life?
Your choices will decide your future, your family's honour, and the legacy you leave behind.
Key Features:
Play as male or female, and shape how the world sees you—from your looks to your personality.
Make choices that matter—every decision affects your future and your family’s fate.
Explore life in the royal palace, filled with secrets, lies, and unexpected allies.
Build or break relationships with other concubines, servants, nobles, and even the Emperor.
Choose who you trust—and who you love—romance the Emperor, a fellow concubine, a sharp maidservant, or a rising military officer.
Balance duty and desire—stay loyal to your family, or chase your own path to power.
Uncover the truth behind your family's downfall and your mother's scandal.
Rating: 18+ [May contain violence, death, suggestive or explicit content, strong language, and harm to children]
❖ STORY ❖
The martial world has long since granted you reprieve from the past. Once a frightened child in a world vaster than you’ve ever known, you have since carved out a name for yourself in this realm of martial artists.
Now a wandering vigilante of renown, your name has been uttered by many a storyteller - yet no tale is without tribulation. Swept up in something much larger than yourself, forces of the imperial court now crack down upon you, the ordered world closing around you like a fist.
Your skills haven't failed you before, yet this is unlike anything you've ever faced. Now's your chance to build new relationships, learn to trust those around you, and find allies in this world turned hostile.
Journey through the martial world, delve into your own past, escort your charge to safety, entangle yourself in an imperial plot, save a few people, kill some others, try to differentiate friend from foe - preferably before your luck runs out.
❖ CHARACTERS ❖
Xia An'er [夏安儿] - [10 | She/Her] Your charge in a simple escort mission. Though a little noble lady with danger following at her tail, she’s positive, sincere, and exceptionally cheerful to boot. Doesn’t quite have a martial realm moniker yet, but she really wants one.
Zhao Ning [赵宁] - [24 | He/Him] [RO] A mentor of your charge. A reserved young scholar with an air of melancholy, he’s a fish out of water in the martial world; nonetheless, he remains courteous and polite. Though his manners are impeccable, you barely know anything about him. He seems oddly familiar at times.
Meiduo Cairen [梅朵才仁] - [29 | He/Him, She/Her] [RO] She saved your life once. A physician first and martial artist second, he approaches his work with stern diligence, and people with gentle humility and humor. A pacifist and buddhist at heart, he always extends a helping hand to others - always saves, and never kills. Known as the “Temple in Bloom” [满寺花].
Lin Jingshu [林静姝] - [22 | She/Her] [RO] A young, straightforward spitfire with a heart of gold. She’s got the nimbleness of a swift and the temper of a raging torrent, with a fighting style to match both. Naturally blunt to a fault, she rarely resorts to tact or diplomacy in her dealings with others. Known as the “Thousand-Blades Soar as Wild Swifts” [千刀狂飞燕].
Nalan Ruoyun [纳兰若云] - [37 | She/Her] [RO] Few know her real name or face - you’re one of the few with this rare privilege. Under her elegant, soft-spoken mask, she’s cynical, pragmatic, and almost cold-hearted. With keen insight, extraordinary intelligence, and almost terrifying dedication, she ranks among the elite of the underground intelligence world, her intellect nearly unmatched. Known as the “Spring Night Rain” [春夜雨].
Yang Qingyi [羊青逸] - [42 | He/Him] [RO] A smooth-talking, sly old goat - according to his own words. He looks the part of an experienced, worldly martial artist, and has a flippant, wild attitude to match. You’ve been acquainted for quite a while; he's still got the bad habit of calling you “kid”. Known as the “Green Python Who Strangles Mountains” [青蟒绞山].
[RO Details] [Other Characters]
❖ FEATURES ❖
❖ Play as male, female or non-binary; cis or trans; allo, aromantic, asexual or aro-ace.
❖ Customize your personality, appearance, style, and how others perceive you.
❖ Customize your weapon and fighting style. Do you rely on pure martial technique, inner force from your Nei Gong, or the nimbleness of your Qing Gong?
❖ Choose your role in this world. Are you a focused martial artist, chivalrous thief, or a philosopher and scholar?
❖ Build bonds. Learn to trust those around you. Romance is optional - platonic bonds are just as important.
❖ Reputation is important in this world - how do people perceive you? How do you present yourself to the world?
❖ UPDATES ❖
Note: if you somehow found this, congrats!! It’s still bare bones here, and this post will continue to be updated. WIP is in very early stages and everything is being built up right now - even the WIP name may change. Feel free to shoot questions my way!
I've got good news and i've got bad news. The good news is that i'm almost done with chapter two. The bad news is that i was almost done with chapter two.
I should probably explain a bit, because I know this sounds confusing. When I write, I usually draft everything on my tablet first; all the different paths, branches, and dialogue without worrying about coding. Then, later at night when my family’s asleep and I know I won’t be disturbed, I sit down at my laptop and actually code it all in.
I was almost done with Chapter Two when disaster struck, my tablet slipped right out of my hands. Now the screen won’t respond at all. And, being the absolute dumbass that I am, I never backed up my data. So… I’ve lost about half of Chapter Two in one go. I’m really sorry about this.
This literally happened like 30 minutes ago.
but it shouldn't be too hard to rewrite everything...
Different anon, tried to play the demo and got the infinite loop when I got to the end of the prologue. Waited 5 min, still nothing. Went to delete the navigation cache in case it had something to do with that (happened so many times with other demos it wouldn't surprise me) and... still won't let me through.
At this point you can imagine me like Eric Andre yelling ''Let me in! LET ME IIINNNNNN'!' at my phone screen, lol.
I looked through the code and realised that it was an error on my part. I've fixed it now.
Hello, i wanted to ask if it is normal that the story can’t continue when you tap chapter 1 to continue, it shows it’s loading but that is it. It will not show next page, or is that where the demo start?
No, it's not normal. It's an issue that cogdemos have, all you have to do is wait a few seconds then press the button again and if that doesn't work, refresh the page.
First off, sorry for disappearing for a bit, life caught up with me, and I didn’t want to force out a half-baked update. Thank you so much for your patience.
The good news is: The Cruel Palace will have a new update coming in early October! It’ll be a chunky one, and you'll get to meet a very special somebody.
Also, I finally set up a Discord server for the game, If you want to hang out, chat , share fan content, or just lurk, you’re more than welcome to join.
[Insert Discord invite link here]
Thanks again for sticking around, you’re seriously the best. See you soon with the update!
Hey, sorry I disappeared for a bit. I moved house and life got very busy for a minute. Thank you for sticking around. ❤️
While I’m sorting my notes and getting back to the main interactive fic (honesty time: I haven’t written in a while), I wrote this short piece on Ae-ri’s background. It was written fast, a little messy, a little raw, but I wanted to share it anyway because I had fun and figured you might too.
It’s short. It was written in a hurry. I probably won’t update it regularly, but whenever I get burnt out I’ll drop these little shorts for other ROs too.
hyperfixation please stay with me long enough to complete the project. hyperfixation do not fade. hyperfixation finish what you started for the love of god
How did Xu Ae-ri and the MC meet!? Also does she live with her family in China and/or visit Goryeo at all?
I can't answer your first question because i am currently writing a short story on it, but for your second question, Xu Ae-ri splits her time between China and Goryeo. As the daughter of a Chinese envoy, she maintains her family ties in China but travels to Goryeo for diplomatic and personal reasons (cough MC cough).
