Quick analysis of various instances I noticed over the course of the story
Contains mild spoilers from the novel, so be warned.
In the chapter 119, we saw how Penelope was actually worried that Winter might die. This terrified her since it ‘broke’ the logic of the game and its mechanics. Her inner thoughts were something like: “But he’s a love interest. Surely he can’t die, right?” Showing how Penelope is very much convinced that it is all a game, and uses this notion to reassure herself whenever she’s feeling anxious/apprehensive.
This happened before, in the hunting tournament (chapter 69), when Callisto was knocked down from his horse by an arrow and briefly lost his bearings, (no I don’t think he actually lost consciousness, instead I believe he was ‘playing dead’ and decided against it when Penelope started to panic and call out to him worriedly, realizing that the assassins might want to get rid of her too since she was a witness).
This to say that despite her better judgement, the game is starting to feel a little to much like reality, and this belief is backed up by the appearance of the system windows (that later on will be revealed to be the Ancient Wizards’ doing to help her).
It’s all an excuse that Penelope clings to, so she can prevent getting too emotionally involved, but unfortunately for her, she’s inevitably doing so. She’s somewhat aware of it, and every time her worry subsides, she ‘reprimands herself’ mentally:
“What am I thinking? They can’t die. They’re love interests.”
“This is only a game, so why am I feeling like this?”
(Or something amongst those lines).
Her subconscious already recognizes the targets not as characters, but as actual people. It’s still too unbelievable for her, so even if their actions are considered ‘out of character’ from what she remembers their personalities to be, Penelope doesn’t question it much, merely brushing it off as the game’s fault for not elaborating further in the male-leads’ descriptions, (like she did in the cave scene after finding out more about Callisto’s sad childhood).
This will later on change; during the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet, Penelope comes to the shocking realization that she indeed has feelings for Callisto. She always admitted of not viewing him as a target, despite the favorability score on top of his head, but now she’s even less prone on seeing him as a in-game character due to her feelings for him.
More down the line, after exploring the tomb of the Ancient Laila, and getting a clear look through the mirror of truth at the true nature of this strange world she got stuck in, Penelope will come to the conclusion that it was never a game to begin with, (this still does not stop her from occasionally referring to this reality as ‘crazy game’).
As Winter comes back, we can see how Penelope’s earlier worry is replaced by irritation and perhaps anger too. They’re now safe, and she has a chance to actually process the feelings that were previously put on a backseat.
Penelope is assumably very angry at what he did. Not only did he show how careless he can be to prove a theory, but he put her and different sorcerer kids in great danger, all for his dumb ‘test’ to see if Penelope was a follower of Laila. It is understandable that he’s very weary and has his reasons, but he’s purposefully endangering the very kids he swore to protect, by literally thrusting them into the cultists’ hands (the very people the children need to be protected from).
At least someone (Raon) is happy that he’s back. Penelope looks like she’s about to sucker-punch him into oblivion.
Jokes aside, I think that after Penelope confronts Winter about his actions, the season will come to a close, considering that each season is around 40 chapters, this one will be the same too, plus it’ll be the perfect opportunity to end it with the conclusion of the island arc.
I can’t wait for the next season, since it will have Yvonne’s appearance, Callisto’s birthday banquet, the greenhouse scene, and maybe the long awaited coming-of-age ceremony, (we’ll also get to see Cedric again! ^^)
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