It’s interesting that apparently the rumors of Carcel being a womanizer who slept with e...

Ines actually based all of her knowledge of Carcel on the rumors from her time as the crown princess. She didn’t actually know Carcel very well and she admits this around the time she invited the crazy lady into their home to seduce Carcel. Manhwa just simply cut all of it out. Quite frankly, she still has a lot to find out about Carcel and lots of it will shock her.
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Novel excerpt when Carcel left the room to get a wash cloth and Ines reflects on her actions to the incident she plotted to get him to cheat:

….She briefly scoffed at herself. 'Come to think of it, I didn't know anything about Cárcel Escalante who could've married anyone.' This was why it was dangerous to draw conclusions that were never experienced.

Of course, if she thought about it a little more, she didn't even know that 'original' Cárcel Escalante very well. A playboy with many followers. Words that could've been used to devalue him were not as varied then and now. Everyone only sees the loudest aspect of others.

Not getting married was considered a major flaw, regardless of gender, and he, who was considered to be the most handsome man in the world beyond borders, was too conspicuous wherever he was. When Cárcel did one thing, ten stories were created the next day. Later on, she got to the point of being sick and tired of the loudness just from hearing his name.

Of course, only Inés had enough of the noise that had no sign of abating. Yes. He was always noisy.

It’s interesting they decided to cut that line out because it makes everything a lot clearer. It feels like the manhwa either intentionally or unintentionally decided to take a more show-don’t-tell approach instead of both showing and telling like in the novel.
Because for the most part, the manhwa does a decent job of visually conveying Ines’ thoughts. But a lot of it is not verbally stated so those who don’t read into the visuals in front of them might not make those realizations.

To add to the above, Carcel is actually an anti-social person. He doesn’t have close friends and he doesn’t particularly like to attend social events. Women chased him in this current timeline as well as the previous timelines. He didn’t chase them.

Ines already realizes that a lot of those rumors were probably made up by both women and men. Women who lied that they slept with him and men who bore jealousy towards him. There is a lot that Ines reflected on immediately after the crazy woman incident. She remembered seeing Carcel in the court during the timeline when she was the crown princess and he would be surrounded by nobles who wanted to ingratiate themselves with him and then talk behind his back. Ines described Carcel as a tall, impenetrable fortress that no one could get close to. She even observed how he would look at her and he never smiled at her and often looked troubled when she appeared. In other words, Carcel stayed away from her and mostly everyone like a loner.

That’s why when his eyes became cold during the crazy lady incident they reminded her of the version of him from the court back in that timeline and she grew nervous in the current timeline. The reason why she began to cry after he came back into the room with the wash cloth was because she was relieved that he didn’t abandon her after he looked so cold after she pulled that stunt. Manhwa made a mess of the story flow during this arc.

thank god i read the comments bc this just makes me love them as characters even more. so many people dropped this bc they thought cárcel was an awful man who fucked any woman that threw herself at him and ines deserved better but so wrong they were. at the end of the day, cárcel has loved and respected her in many timelines and they truly belong together.
also, i’m not surprised that rumors were exaggerated since he’s of such high status and a incredibly handsome man. people love to talk, more so when is about such people like cárcel.

Yes, Carcel’s character is revealed over the story. Some think he got character development but what he really got is character revelation. The fact that his character is consistent from timeline to timeline makes Ines realize she was ‘wrong from the start’ about choosing him for her original purpose. Her plan was always going fail because as the story progresses, she realizes what an amazing husband she has to the point that she genuinely believes that she doesn’t deserve him. It takes Carcel’s mother’s advice to help her realize all that matters is that Carcel loves her and she’s completely worthy of that love.

The manhwa too cast Carcel as the only one worthy of criticism but the beginning of the novel story had readers criticize both characters. The manhwa mostly covered up the actions and thoughts that made novel readers criticize Ines. Some say it’s because it’s important to have readers root for FL because an unlikable FL is detrimental to the manhwa story for Koreans.

Another thing is, Korean novel readers asked the author in her Q&A, why did Carcel sleep with others in this timeline. This question was asked because readers had finished the entire story and they already saw all of his character and thought it was unlike him to sleep with others. Well, it’s because a lot of psychological issues were involved. Carcel spent 9 months out of the year in Calztela. He lived a celibate life there. It’s only when he went to the capital Mendoza that he slept with others. It seems that he felt pressured whenever he went to Mendoza and the end result was rebellion. Author said that rebellion also protected him from the assassination attempts of the crown prince at a younger age.

Wow, they really cut off a lot. That sounds like at least a whole chapter’s worth. I hope they don’t continue that pattern because it could make characters come off as inconsistent even when they’re not.