I don't think he's evil but he isn't a good person either. He took everything for granted. He didn't need to chase or work hard for anything (he even admitted this in the last few chapters). He was given everything because he was a prodigy and the heir to the dukedom. He basically was a narcissist. He became obsessed with Reese because she was his first challenge. Even if the author's powers didn't exist, he would still chase after Reese because she's the unattainable flower or the "prize" and the love triangle between him, his brother and reese only made it more fun to him. He wanted to beat his brother in a way. I think the ending for Cliff and author is sort of realistic. Because the version he is now is his real self when he doesn't have his title, his wealth and status. So I actually like this ending.
oh i like your explanation. you're right, he's a narcissist and i see now why his ending strips him off his privileges. i still think the ending is a bit too rush tho.
Yeah I definitely prefer the novel ending for the characters, give it a read if you have time!
Well, they never mentioned it here because they changed a lot of things, but in the novel (meanin, like, the original story this is based on) From what I remember, Cliff was actually free from the author’s control. He actually collaborated with the Author in terrorizing Edith willingly, and he adored Author bc she was unhinged or some5ing. He actually didn’t care about anything else, neither his family, his responsibilities, just making Author happy bc he wasn’t obsessed with her. So .... he wasn’t good ^^’ they just cut that part of the explanation here in the comic for some reason.
I do like his ending here because I read the novel and I found him not him ridiculous how they let Cliff go off with a slap on his wrist. Originally, he never was kicked off his role as an heir to the dukedom, he even succeeded it - the parents even let him keep Lize (Author, not OG FL sweet) as a partner. It was insane, the ending of the novel was very unsatisfactory because of that. So I appreciate they actually gave the money a bad ending here lol
honestly i dont quite like the ending of the author and cliff. felt like it was rushed to give them a bad ending. is cliff genuinely a bad person tho? cus idk he seems to be heavily manipulated by the author and i thought it was the 'novel' power that makes him obsess over reeze. i wonder why he never broke from the novel character