My Royal Nemesis (SBS, also branded internationally on Netflix) is a 2026 Korean fantasy rom‑com that mixes Joseon‑era villainess reincarnation with modern chaebol politics and time‑crossed romance.

The drama follows Sin Seo‑ri, a legendary femme fatale from Joseon who was executed by poison and wakes up centuries later in the body of a modern actress bearing the same name. In present‑day Seoul she crashes head‑first into Cha Se‑gye, a seemingly ruthless chaebol heir whose recurring dreams about his past life as Crown Prince Cheongheon are increasingly vivid — and always feature a woman who looks exactly like Seo‑ri.

Episodes 9 (“That’s First Love for You”) and 10 (“Hope, Despair and Longing”) mark a turning point: the leads finally confront the truth about their past‑life connection, even as villainous cousin Mun‑do escalates his corporate schemes and personal vendetta.

My Royal Nemesis Episode 9 Recap – “That’s First Love for You”

Episode 9 aired on June 5, 2026 and pushes the reincarnation storyline to the forefront while deepening the romance and sharpening Mun‑do’s envy‑driven rivalry.

Se‑gye confronts Seo‑ri about her true identity

Episode 9 picks up directly from the previous cliffhanger as Se‑gye confronts Seo‑ri, calling her by the name Kang Dan‑sim, the woman who has been haunting his dreams from the Joseon era. Seo‑ri is clearly shaken when he suddenly uses the past‑life name, and for a moment she panics over how much he might know.

Trying to regain control, Seo‑ri insists that what he’s seeing are “just dreams” and nothing more, pushing back against the idea that there’s any real link between his visions and her identity. Se‑gye, torn between instinct and logic, reluctantly agrees that they’re only dreams — but the seed of doubt is planted, and his emotions grow more complicated.

Jealousy, scripts, and a very possessive chaebol

In the lighter half of the episode, Se‑gye’s jealous streak becomes a running gag. Seo‑ri takes on a new drama project, The Women’s Kingdom, and when Se‑gye reads the script he discovers a romantic wedding night scene with her male co‑star.

Unable to stomach it, he uses his influence to have the scene toned down into a simple wedding sequence instead, effectively cutting the intimacy but accidentally giving Seo‑ri even more spotlight as the central figure of the episode. This jealousy, while petty, plays as endearing — and it sets up several sweet on‑set moments where he quietly shows support and then turns up to see her after filming.

Dates, hospital scares, and dental surgery

Later, Seo‑ri and Se‑gye finally make time for an actual date, indulging in the kind of regular, public couple activities that Seo‑ri could never enjoy as a condemned royal consort in Joseon. Their easy banter, affection, and shared jokes make it clear that their modern‑day bond is deepening beyond the initial love‑hate friction.

However, the evening takes a worrying turn when Se‑gye suddenly starts bleeding, leading to a hospital check‑up. The issue is ultimately tied to dental surgery rather than anything life‑threatening, but the scare forces them into more vulnerable conversation at his bedside. Seo‑ri stays with him, and they circle back once again to the topic of his dreams and the woman he loved in another era.

Past‑life confession: “I loved you then, I love you now”

The emotional core of episode 9 comes when Se‑gye finally admits the truth of his dreams.

He tells Seo‑ri that from everything he’s seen, the man in those visions — Crown Prince Cheongheon — was deeply in love with Dan‑sim, the Joseon‑era version of her. This revelation hits Seo‑ri hard: not only does it confirm that his dreams are accurate memories, but it also allows her to realize that Se‑gye is, in fact, the reincarnation of the crown prince she once tried (and failed) to save.

Later, when Seo‑ri visits a museum, she finds a portrait and poem attributed to the crown prince, dedicated to Dan‑sim; the painting’s resemblance to her is unmistakable, reinforcing the idea that their souls have been orbiting each other for lifetimes. For Seo‑ri, this becomes a source of both comfort and guilt — she remembers not doing enough for Cheongheon back then, and starts to see loving Se‑gye now as a way of atoning for that failure.

Mun‑do’s schemes backfire… again

Meanwhile, villainous cousin Mun‑do grows even more unstable. He’s furious that the Dynaestie event Se‑gye spearheaded is outperforming his own plans and that their grandfather Dal‑su seems to be leaning toward Se‑gye as the favored heir.

Mun‑do tries to drive a wedge between the couple by showing Se‑gye photos of Seo‑ri with him, implying she’s been colluding with him all along. But the plan backfires spectacularly: instead of believing the lie, Se‑gye dismisses Mun‑do’s accusations and warns him not to target Seo‑ri again.

What hurts Se‑gye isn’t the idea of betrayal; it’s the fact that Seo‑ri didn’t tell him how aggressively Mun‑do has been pressuring and threatening her. That realization becomes the final trigger. At the end of the episode he tells her outright that he doesn’t care about her past or any secrets — and then, in a huge romantic payoff, confesses his love and kisses her.

Episode 9 closes on that climactic kiss, a moment that finally aligns their present‑day relationship with the love they shared in Joseon, while Mun‑do seethes on the sidelines, more dangerous than ever.

My Royal Nemesis Episode 10 Recap – “Hope, Despair and Longing”

Episode 10, which aired on June 6, 2026, capitalizes on the newfound honesty between the leads while ramping up both the business war and the supernatural stakes.

Seo‑ri finally tells Se‑gye the whole truth

The big emotional milestone in episode 10 comes early: Seo‑ri tells Se‑gye everything.

She explains that she is in fact a reincarnated soul, not the original modern Seo‑ri, and that she is essentially Dan‑sim’s spirit inhabiting this 21st‑century body. She fills in the missing pieces of their shared past: his banishment as Crown Prince Cheongheon, her failed attempt to flee with him, and Mun‑do’s Joseon‑era counterpart exploiting her fear to separate them.

Se‑gye is understandably shocked, but one of the surprises of the episode is how calmly he absorbs the revelation. Thanks to his dreams, he already sensed that something mystical linked them; the confession simply gives names and context to feelings he’d been struggling to rationalize.

From this point on, the couple make a key promise: no more secrets. They vow not to hide anything from each other again, whether it’s about past lives or current corporate battles.

Lovey‑dovey dates and comedy gold

With the truth out, Se‑gye and Seo‑ri embrace the chance to live the simple romantic moments their past selves were denied. Episode 10 is packed with soft, almost domestic scenes of:

• Dates at popular couple spots Seo‑ri had always wanted to experience.
• Playful teasing and joking, as they relax enough to be goofy around each other.
• Physical affection that feels earned after nine episodes of push‑pull tension.

Leisurebyte’s review notes that the majority of the episode “explores romance hand in hand,” highlighting how genuinely happy and “lovey‑dovey” the pair become once they commit to each other.

The episode also lands several comedic beats, the standout involving Se‑gye’s anxiety about his, ahem, “stamina.” His assistant misinterprets Seo‑ri’s concern for his health and hints that she’s unsatisfied, sending Se‑gye spiraling into insecurity and comedic over‑compensation in a sequence that gives fans some much‑needed lightness amid the heavier reincarnation and revenge plotlines.

The chaebol battlefield: brothers at war

On the corporate front, episode 10 pulls the curtain back on why the brothers’ grandfather shipped Mun‑do off to the US and favored Se‑gye as the future head of the company.

We learn that Dal‑su saw Mun‑do as someone who “would always want more” — a man so consumed by jealousy that he’d never allow Se‑gye to have anything of his own. That’s why he decided to sideline Mun‑do, urging him to focus on raising his son Seo‑jun instead of fighting for the company.

Mun‑do, however, interprets this as a humiliation he refuses to accept. Episode 10 details how he:

• Returns to Korea seething, determined to destroy Se‑gye from the inside, even if it means blowing up his own career.
• Begins targeting Se‑gye’s vulnerabilities — and Seo‑ri and her grandmother are at the top of that list.

Targeting Seo‑ri’s grandmother: the line is crossed

One of the most disturbing developments is Mun‑do’s decision to go after Seo‑ri’s grandmother. First, he tries to scam her financially, preying on an elderly woman to hurt Seo‑ri indirectly.

Later, previews and episode coverage suggest he goes even further, using Grandma as leverage in the corporate war, effectively kidnapping or manipulating her hospital situation to force Seo‑ri back into his orbit. Seo‑ri discovers that her grandmother has become entangled in this power play and confronts Mun‑do in a fiery scene, accusing him of targeting a defenseless old woman.

This crossing of a moral red line intensifies Seo‑ri’s hatred and pushes the story closer to outright thriller territory.

Se‑gye and Seo‑ri’s biggest fight yet

All this external pressure inevitably bleeds into the couple’s relationship. As Seo‑ri gets increasingly entangled in Mun‑do’s schemes — out of a desire to protect her grandmother and manage fallout quietly — Se‑gye reaches his breaking point.

In a brutally honest argument toward the end of episode 10, he:

• Explodes in frustration over her repeated contact with Mun‑do.
• Pleads with her to stop putting herself in danger and to let him handle the business war.

Seo‑ri fires back that his words hurt her just as deeply, since from her perspective she’s the one absorbing risk to shield his family and the company. The fight escalates until she walks away in tears, leaving Se‑gye stunned and alone in a scene Leisurebyte calls “their most serious conflict yet.”

The episode doesn’t fully resolve the fight. Instead, it ends on a tense, ominous note:

• Se‑gye’s grandfather shares heartfelt words with Seo‑ri about hoping Se‑gye’s partner would have a warm, generous heart, implicitly endorsing her even as chaos swirls.
• After the argument, Seo‑ri suddenly disappears, and Se‑gye can’t reach her.
• The final images show Se‑gye desperately calling her, alone in the dark, consumed with fear that something terrible has happened.

It’s a cliffhanger that fuses the show’s three main threads — romance, reincarnation, and chaebol warfare — into one question: has Seo‑ri left by choice, or has Mun‑do escalated again?

FAQ – My Royal Nemesis Episodes 9 & 10

Q1. What is the main reveal in My Royal Nemesis episode 9?

Episode 9 finally confirms that Cha Se‑gye’s recurring dreams are past‑life memories and that he was Crown Prince Cheongheon in Joseon, deeply in love with Dan‑sim — the past‑life version of Sin Seo‑ri. This realization pushes Se‑gye to admit that his feelings for Seo‑ri span both lifetimes, not just the present.

Q2. Does Se‑gye find out Seo‑ri’s big secret in episode 9?

He gets very close. Se‑gye confronts Seo‑ri using the name “Kang Dan‑sim,” which clearly rattles her, but she deflects by calling his visions “just dreams.” Episode 9 ends with Se‑gye confessing his love and kissing her, but Seo‑ri doesn’t fully admit she’s a reincarnated soul until episode 10.

Q3. What does Seo‑ri confess to Se‑gye in episode 10?

In episode 10, Seo‑ri tells Se‑gye the whole truth: she is Dan‑sim’s reincarnated soul living in modern Seo‑ri’s body, and their connection goes back to Joseon. She explains his banishment as Crown Prince Cheongheon and how she failed to save him then, which is why she’s determined to protect him in this life.

Q4. Why are Mun‑do’s schemes so important in episodes 9 and 10?

Mun‑do’s jealousy and ambition escalate the external conflict just as the romance stabilizes. In episode 9, his attempt to frame Seo‑ri backfires and only pushes Se‑gye closer to her. In episode 10, he crosses a major line by targeting Seo‑ri’s grandmother, using her as leverage in the chaebol succession war, which raises the stakes and leads to Se‑gye and Seo‑ri’s biggest fight so far.

Q5. Why do Se‑gye and Seo‑ri argue at the end of episode 10?

Their fight stems from love and fear colliding. Se‑gye is furious that Seo‑ri keeps getting entangled with Mun‑do and hiding how dangerous he has become, especially after Grandma is dragged into the mess. Seo‑ri insists she’s only enduring Mun‑do to protect Se‑gye and his family, but his harsh words hurt her; she walks away in tears, leaving their relationship in a precarious state.

Q6. Why does Seo‑ri disappear in episode 10’s ending?

Episode 10 closes with Se‑gye unable to reach Seo‑ri after their argument — she simply vanishes from contact, and the drama doesn’t immediately clarify whether she left by choice or has been pulled into another of Mun‑do’s schemes. It’s a deliberate cliffhanger meant to set up episodes 11 and 12, tying together the reincarnation mystery, chaebol feud, and the couple’s emotional rift.

Q7. Where can I watch My Royal Nemesis episodes 9 and 10 with English subtitles?

My Royal Nemesis airs on SBS in Korea on Fridays and Saturdays and is distributed internationally as a Netflix title, where episodes 9 and 10 are available with English and other language subtitles. Regional platforms and local streamers also carry the show with subs depending on your country.