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Nah I'm with you. I've been reading the novel and it goes into a lot more depth with the emotions of all the characters.
I like Derrick in that he's a complicated man. He's been holding onto the guilt and shame of losing his sister all these years, and has just now been realizing that Penelope is a whole person that he does care for on some level which drives him deeper into guilt. Not to mention he's the 1st son of one of the most powerful houses in the empire, I know Calisto said it before but it also applies to Derrick "I must always be perfect."
I hope he can be saved. I don't think he's a bad guy at all, he feels he is the only barrier between his bonkers family and the judgement of an entire empire.
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I don't see how Derrick is good in anyway. At most he is just a creep who wants to keep Penelope locked up because I think he feels guilty about Yvonne for leaving her hand and losing her in crowd. He is just directing his guilt to Penelope and in wrong "creepy" way.
Bet all his childhood he was like having "hate to see Penelope taking his sister's place but then coming to care for her and also wishes to not lose her like his sister so he will take all control of Penelope's life and discipline her and make it so she's at his mercy so she does not dare to rebel." He thinks Penelope as an object to elevate his guilt which infact perfectly labels him as bad no need for deeper discussions on a character like him cuz manwha has portrayed it quite obviously that he cares for her but is a shitty character who wants Penelope to act submissive even if she's going through torture. Kind of like men in some typical male dominated society who wants women to always stay low which infact aligns with thought process of men of that period but since it's magical world prejudice against women is less but Derrick here, still tops it cuz he is "the wannabe alpha man of the family" and no one is above him except his father(who is pretty much not going to live forever)
I’m most definitely going to get dislikes and angry replies, but I’ll say it: honestly disappointed to see the shallow reactions to Derrick. This manga is so good and complex. To just see the characters as bad vs good feels like the readers read the manga in a surface level way, but I guess most readers are teens or kids here so it’s not anyone to blame.
The legitimate discussion by paid Korean readers is much better, for those looking for better discussions. This manga is crazy popular. There are some theories that when Derrick breaks free from the mind control he will have a severe mental breakdown based on the glass shatter background, and they’re discussing why Yvonne made her personal maid (who’s still under mind control) confess to the crime when it implicates her