In the novel Reeze's ending wasn't freedom. She was sent away to a monastery. Cliff took over the duchy and a year later remarried another woman. Still a softhearted ending for both and not so much justice, but not near "freedom" either. I don't know, to be honest i dislike the ending of reeze and cliff endings in the novel, but surely i hate this manhwa deviation the most. Like what the hell is with this new system crap for cliff?!. The duke trying to make Killion the new duke?! Totally defaming the hard work Edith would've put on their new territory if killion accepts the tittle!!. Nah, the manhwa has become crap the moment they deminished killion's redemption arc.
Yes I know she ends up at the monastery but she still gets to do more evil things before she gets sent there. I like the webtoon, I mean the whole thing that he really loved Lize and ends up marrying someone else just cuz he needs to didn't really seem real. So I like this that he just said fuck it to everything and will look for the Lize he loves.
In his defense, not that I'm really defending him, but at the end of the day in the novel Cliff was also a victim to the brainwashing, it took him awhile for him to overcome the brainwashing because he truly loved Reeze. All the evil things he did to Edith was all in the scoop of brainwashing plus his love for Reeze. And even after killion and Edith moved away for their territory and Reeze showed her true greedy and nasty personally; Cliff (annoyingly) still stood by Reeze side and loved her. It wasn't until Reeze fucked up by giving and having that wrong child pass as the lost prince that Cliff started to downplay his feelings and slowly started regaining his mind. And he took a year before remarrying a new girl (not only because he needed a new duchess) but because he started falling in love with the woman, and he genuinely apologized to Edith for all the things he did to her. (Again not much justice for his evil deeds but he overcame the brainwashing).
While here in this manhwa, they genuinely made him out to be a physchopath who is madly in love for the 'author' and hinting that he was never brainwashed because he was 'truly in love' to the point where he was able to see a new system? And go after the author?. Like what? And now they probably going to make Killion be duke?, demolishing all the efforts and work that both Edith and killion (more Edith) did/put into their new territory? Naaaah man, thats not good. I can now say 100% that i definitely prefer the novel more than this shitty manhwa xD it was superb at the beginning, it became great in the middle but now it fucking sucks thats reaching its end. Now that i get a feeling that killion will have no other choice but to become duke I'll be dropping this manhwa.
I am looking forward to how the webtoon differs from the novel. I didn't like that in the novel Lize was still free and scheming and Cliff tried to still stand by her. It just didn't feel like justice. But now I feel like it might be better. I mean Cliff here knew from the start that she was conniving and still stood by her and it makes sense that he leaves to find her.