Yeon Ilarde

Yeon Ilarde (연 일라드) is a main member of the Yeon Family. Since the Head of the Yeon Family has chosen not to bear children, Ilarde who is an old fellow family member (권속, gwonsok; 眷屬) of Hana does in her place. So the children of the Yeon Family all call her "godmother".

Once every 5 years, Ilarde selects (선별, seonbyeol; "choose") a man to sleep with her, and it is said that Rankers from all over the Tower gather for a chance to become that man; however, Ilarde's eyes for choosing men are very "cold", so unless one is a decent male Ranker, it is difficult to even get past the paper document interview. Selected males live in the palace for 5 years and only one of these men will receive the right to sleep with Ilarde; if a child is born, they attain the glory of being accepted into the Family. Like the Ha Family, the Yeon Family is a thoroughly matriarchal (mother-centered) family, so males cannot take central roles in either the main house or the branch house of the Family. Thanks to this, the females of the Yeon Family, especially those of the main house, have a tendency to look down on men.

Yeon Ilarde