However, we're talking about time and budget here, and there is NO DOUBT that drawing the ENTIRE narrative would take MUCH MORE time AND budget, as then the artist would NOT ONLY have to dedicate a panel that showed the duke buying slaves and Siyeon being uncomfortable at the thought, but then they'd ALSO have to retain it in their character for the rest of the story, otherwise it will look like it was forgotten about despite being brought up.

THAT is why it was cut out.

While details like these are important in FLESHING OUT the characters, they AREN'T essential to the MAIN story, since - as we can see here - the RESULT of Siyeon's progress (she got into the auction house) was fine even without it.

That is why their characters are reduced to their 'main' personality, or the developments (from the romance, to worldbuilding, etc.) are rushed compared to the novel. Since, rather than to consistently treat them as fully-fledged characters, it would be easier to just treat them as plot devices and ONLY save the truly important scenes in, such as the attic scene with Reynold (which was so important to the plot that barely any detail was changed from it).

When you think of it like that, it makes sense why Siyeon's more sympathetic and emotional aspects aren't going to be shown UNLESS it serves the MAIN plot, presenting her to be more logical in order to avoid needing to draw more scenes that overall won't contribute too much.

Simply put, in this 'dish', while the sides put more flavor and depth into the taste, they aren't 'needed' in the main course, and since the chefs don't have the budget to prepare them, they just make do with the time they were given.

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As for how often I think Derrick blamed Penelope for her mistakes, I think he did it THROUGHOUT their time together, much like Reynold's case. Both of them were clearly hostile to her ESPECIALLY when the duke ISN'T around.

For WHY he blames Penelope, it's because his low opinion of her makes him genuinely believe she is guilty.

Penelope had a "wicked behavior and terrible manners" and spends a lot of the money he (and Reynold) thinks she had "NO RIGHT to spend so lavishly." And so he thinks so LOWLY of her.

The entire REASON why Derrick is SOFTER to Siyeon compared to Penelope is because Siyeon was acting like a civilized person, instead.

Also keep in mind that while he knew he doesn't like it when she refers to him as 'brother', he didn't even know WHY that is.

Derrick doesn't shift blame to Penelope with the intention to make others hate her or make her miserable. He doesn't think of things from Penelope's perspective, only about what the CONSEQUENCES of her actions on the Duchy are.

When he DOES belittle Penelope, it can either be to protect the Eckart name's reputation, or to vent out his frustrations about her.

It's NOT about "making her suffer for being a shameless replacement," like Reynold's intentions are, he's too prideful to ever stoop to being so 'childish.'

As for if Derrick belittled Penelope for the 'purpose' of making her dependent on him, that COULD be part of the reason, but it's more likely he did it for DAMAGE CONTROL; to be able to control how the narrative goes and make it easier to clean up another 'stain' on his house.

Derrick was RAISED to be the next Duke, and so the damage to Penelope's reputation automatically goes to the very duchy. He couldn’t have 'wanted' Penelope to be hated, since if that happens, then the Eckart duchy would be damaged along with her.

It was just like in the court trial.

What he wanted most WASN'T to disgrace her, rather, to just get through it as fast as possible.

The reason he didn't listen to Siyeon's accounts was because it was the "best and most efficient way," to protect his house, which, while she IS part of (hence, making her part of who he has a duty to protect), that DOESN'T mean he'll put her OVER the duchy.

After all, he scolds EVEN Reynold and the Duke, putting the Eckart name over them. It's not JUST Penelope that he prioritizes the family reputation over.

He's not like Reynold who goes out his way to bully Penelope in a "Serves you right for trying to steal my sister's place, bitch," manner. Derrick addressing Penelope is more of a "I don't hate you, but the House of Eckart comes first. Stay in that cell until I fix this and don't cause more trouble until I bail you out."

I CANNOT stress enough just how many people mischaracterized him on this part. He is NOT sadistic like Callisto, people!

Like yall, I don't like him either, but if you're gonna hate, can't you do it ACCURATELY instead of PROJECTING your own "bad guy" idea onto him?? If there was ANYONE among them who ACTIVELY antagonized Penelope, it was REYNOLD.

But at the same time, BOTH of them are highly loyal to their family name, and are capable of genuine care (I'm looking at you, cringy-ass gachatubers that swap their personalities to make Reynold the passive one while Derrick is the childish one when it comes to Penelope).

In conclusion, while Derrick wants Penelope to depend on him, that's NOT his reason for belittling her. He just thinks it's 'REASONABLE' to compromise things to protect the Eckart reputation, and THAT is his justification for not defending either Siyeon in the trial, and Penelope in all previous incidents.

He genuinely believed it was the best option for his house.

---

On another note, I DO think ALL of the Eckarts wanted Penelope to be dependent on them, NEVER allowing her to leave on her own, NOR allow her an allowance despite agreeing to buying her extravagant things (even if they don't like it).

While none of the Eckarts cared enough about Penelope, they still DIDN'T want her to leave.

After all, while it IS true that she spends a lot, what difference will there be if she spends it by herself versus if she gets permission to have it bought FOR her?

The difference is that they'll KNOW and be able to STOP her if they wanted.

NONE of the Eckarts (before Yvonne returned) wanted Penelope to ACTUALLY leave. The duke literally BUILT HIGHER WALLS when she tried to sneak out before.

At first, I thought it was for safety purposes, but no, they just didn't want her to leave.

Penelope is always kept in the manor and only allowed to go to events that she was explicitly invited to.

It wasn't even Siyeon asking for money that triggered them. They only got outraged AFTER they get the impression that Penelope was planning on 'LEAVING'.

While none of the Eckarts cared enough about Penelope to see how she's doing, or give her proper care, ALL three of the Duke, Derrick, and Reynold WANTED Penelope to remain DEPENDENT on them.

Because they don't want her to leave.

And regardless of whether Derrick's 'love' for Penelope is true or not (or if it was EVEN Penelope he 'loved,' seeing as he treated only Siyeon better), one thing for sure is that he WASN'T consciously aware of it when it was Penelope.

I think of it in a similar way as to how the affection scores work and hint at. Just as how the 5 target leads or literally everyone ONLY liked her when she was Siyeon, it's because WHO they like is Siyeon, NOT Penelope.

Callisto loves Siyeon, not Penelope. Vinter loves Siyeon, not Penelope, Eckles loves Siyeon, not Penelope, and so on.

As nice of a thought as it is that Siyeon's husband would love her even when she was FULLY Penelope, that just ISN'T true; because the traits he loved about her was Siyeon's.

(I reached the 10 pic limit, damn you Tumblr.) Here's the specific parts I meant in chapter 134:

[In the beginning, it had been nothing but a passing amusement to Callisto. He’d found it amusing, the way Lady Penelope had lied through her teeth and did her best to keep the obvious deception alive.

He’d looked forward to seeing her, wondering what clever little pretense she would think of next, and it had made his horrible existence in the capital mildly bearable. His amused interest in her had not waned even after the hunting tournament. If anything, his curiosity regarding the girl who seemed to shudder at the mere sight of him had only increased.

When Penelope had appeared caked in makeup and put on her silly little act, one he would have been able to see through from a mile away, he’d even thought her cute. He’d believed the rumors at first and expected that she was just an arrogant commoner who’d been lucky enough to be adopted by the duke, but now he couldn’t seem to forget about the way her tiny lips timidly talked back to him every time they met. And that had led him to act impulsively…]

I brought this up because it HAS to be made clear that Siyeon's very CHARACTER is the REASON why 'Penelope' was 'loved' by the end of the story.

We ALL know Penelope would NOT have acted as 'cutely' as Callisto thought Siyeon did. She would have acted EXACTLY like the "arrogant commoner that was just lucky enough to be adopted by the duke," he believed her as, and he wouldn't even be able to force her to spend time with him like he did to Siyeon because Penelope would NOT have cared about keeping up appearances and following etiquette.

Callisto wouldn't have liked Penelope because she wouldn't have been 'interesting' and 'amusing' to him like Siyeon was, and given how Penelope grew up, she WOULDN'T have liked Callisto, as well, because the way he thought lowly of her was EXACTLY the same as how everyone around her treated her.

And just as Callisto wouldn't have liked Penelope if she didn't act like Siyeon, this sentiment would have applied to EVERYONE else, INCLUDING Derrick who ONLY started treating her well AFTER Siyeon transmigrated to her body.

Yes, the Eckarts might have 'cared' about Penelope, to an extent, but NONE of them GENUINELY and wholeheartedly loved Penelope. Not like they did Siyeon. Because it was ONLY Siyeon they TRULY loved.

It's a common occurence in nearly every visual story to make sure the readers feel what they're supposed to feel; ex. are if there are particularly scrumptious art, the reader is usually supposed to feel positively to the presented character, or if their expressions aren't pretty, then the reader is supposed to dislike them.

Pretty privilege as a way to show who you're supposed to favor, basically. NOT ALL do this, btw, it's just something worth pointing out.

This scene is a DIFFERENT case, though, it's more of an interpretation choice since the narrative changes the ACTIONS itself from 'Siyeon being sexually attracted' to 'Siyeon being disinterested' instead.

It just means that the manhwa removed Siyeon's sexual attraction towards Reynold. She saw him as a brotherly figure later on in both manhwa and novel, of course, but while it's not a 'major' change, it definitely removed a bit of Siyeon's complexity.

You cannot tell me that it didn't make the scene more of a "haha, he's back lol" moment.

Why did it put her like this? The way they put her thought bubble as "He's completely psychotic! He's doing it on purpose!" made it seem like she's overreacting. She isn't. She was nearly killed by the man.

Not just that, but the way the panels are framed set it in a more comedic effect, no?

They completely removed Siyeon's desk scene as well to instead make it seem like the maze scene wasn't a big deal, again. It was IMPORTANT that scene was shown because it not just puts into readers just how SERIOUS the situation is that Siyeon ACTUALLY loses her cool, but also on WHY she avoids Callisto.

"Callisto almost slit Siyeon's neck, yeah, that was bad, but you still can't just blame the manhwa for not drawing it, you're looking at it so deeply that you think they're pushing romance too much-"

BITCH, they just reused a scene from previous chapters, would it REALLY kill them to choose the most important one?? (I mean, if romance was considered MORE IMPORTANT than Siyeon's life, then the manhwa did right).

They could have very much just shown a flashback of him holding that sword to her since that's what Siyeon was mainly recalling anyway, and it made sense to show just WHAT she was so afraid of. What she was RISKING again in just being within his vicinity.

But instead, they ONLY put THIS:

??? Siyeon was thinking about how her NECK was nearly SLIT, NOT about the damn confession she gave.

Now why do you gotta make it look like she's bitching about the lie she gave? Or ACT like she WASN'T afraid of him anymore?

Literally, the recap went from 'Callisto nearly kills Siyeon' to 'Callisto looks forward to why Siyeon likes him'.

Narrative just DIDN'T give a brief reminder on why exactly she didn't want to go see him. It put more emphasis on "hey, he's looking forward to fl's justification to liking him" and ignore that Siyeon was STILL TRAUMATIZED from him nearly killing her.

Notice how, in the manhwa ver. they didn't mention ANYTHING related to DEATH. "Must have been the wind" ahh shit.

When it HAD the chance to recap the previous meeting, it CHERRY-PICKED how he was 'interested in her love confession' and NEVER mentioned how he almost KILLED her.

It was already trying to make the readers FORGET and was starting to SET him up as a love interest. And it WORKED because most manhwa readers usually don't read the novel ver. first.

The novel highlighted how dangerous Callisto was, and Siyeon's reason for not wanting to see him again was because she could never survive with him in-game, so it's natural she'd be afraid and associate him with death (reinforced when he DID try to kill her in that maze).

Meanwhile, the manhwa once again just pushed for the romance aspects, putting more emphasis on the "you must give me a reason as to why you fell in love with me" and CUT OUT the brief reminder that he nearly killed her.

The manhwa narrative not only REFUSED to acknowledge that Siyeon was LEGITIMATELY AND JUSTIFIABLY AFRAID because CALLISTO WAS ORIGINALLY GONNA SLIT HER THROAT, and instead reduced it to her being NERVOUS about a LIE, instead of her literally FEARING for her LIFE.

The manhwa can put comedic effects, OK, fine, I get that, but did it REALLY have to cut out about some scenes just to DOWNPLAY Siyeon's trauma and the fact Callisto tried to kill her??