Exactly what you said - it is a minor element...which is taking waaaay too much time for what is offers in return.
I don't mind it, in fact I wish it was more common for your heroine to be able to "actively" whore herself as a side activity in many more games. I do have an issue with how "lazy" it feels though at the moment. Income, mechanics, animations - nothing gives me any reason to even attempt it in a normal gameplay session.
Probably the only good "whoring" animations are the ones we had for a good while - big guy in the castle and animation sets for barbarian and thug guys.
Aaaanyway, you've also mentioned another important thing - "the game is trying to appeal to a wide variety of players."
This is the Downfall, the Doom of All Projects.
You
NEVER try to appeal to everyone because in the end, no one is going to be happy.
A lot of games and movies are succesful because they don't attempt "people pleasing". They have a specific target audience and that's it. Baldur's Gate 3 was never meant to be a game for everyone and it shows with how some snowflakes are getting their panties in a twist. I'm afraid that Kairi is going to dilute the theme of the game (which is still a dark rape fest, that much should be obvious!), making it mediocre just to satisfy all niches with small favours.