hate his mum's guts but i hate his father even more, the emperor knew what the empress is ...

While I mostly agree with you, I don't entirely blame the father. He has was r*ped by the Empress and the child is an everyday reminder of that. People who who children through r*pe can have very mixed feelings on their children. Those children are innocent but also can be a reminder of a highly traumatic experience for them.

It's takes a lot of self-reflection, mental strength, and being able to work through the trauma to be able to accept the child as their own. Add on to it, the political intrigue and I can see how it could be hard for the emperor to get to know his child.

Still, at this point he might be over whatever trauma was inflicted given he is able to interact with the prince. Maybe it's easier for him to see the prince as an accomplice for the empress, then accept that the prince is also a victim.

This is a wild take. Love the fact you're ignoring that he is ALSO one of her victims. Also how is the father worse than the mom? She's a murderer and a rapist while he's at fault for abandoning his son. The same son that's a constant reminder of his trauma. Not only did she rape him, she killed almost his entire family. He can't just ban his wife from seeing her son. Especially when she had so many on her side at the time. How do you think she's managed to kill so many people? She had to have help. Plus it's a lose lose situation. If he bonded with his son she would have taken advantage.

I have to agree. Although I can understand the father’s behavior from his perspective, I can’t help but hate the father more. I might say he’s very hypocritical. It was obvious that MC is also a victim of the queen which I assume the father might have noticed too, but he continues to feign ignorance, takes MC as if he were on the mother’s side just to justify himself while acting like he is a good guy and did nothing wrong. In comparison, mother is just outright villain so she should just die.

I know the complexities and understand the nuance of what rape does to its victims. Had this been a story about then I would have taken this into account. But how do I explain this, okay, I did not touch on that because uhm, yeah, THIS IS FICTION. And I know I will soind like a horrible person, but what the empress did to him was his payment for becoming emperor. Right now he's nothing but a spineless emperor who acts like he has no power to do things on his own (the empress made it so he'd be emperor, not the other way around) and a neglectful father who openly shames his son in front of other people. So yeah, he's a victim in his own right, but he still pisses me off. I understand your concerns, but they're not necessary.

If he bonded with his son he would have known right away that the child was born an omega and he could have made Rishar crown prince without any problems. Her killing his family also put him in power. I get what the empress did to him and he's scared of her but, he's not powerless. He wasn't then when the monster he allowed in the palace killed his brothers so he can have the throne. And he's a victim in his own right, I'm not denying that, but his complacency has enabled the empress for years and it's partly due to his own greed. Honestly I'm just really pissed at how he treated Etienne that one time. Maybe he can redeem himself.

This is a piece of fiction, people are allowed to feel differently from you and that's okay because no real persons are harmed first hand. I'm just clarifying because it seemed like I was dismissive of heavily serious topics but I'm not, I just don't like the emperor and that's okay.

Logically, they're equal shits.
Emotionally, I share the same sentiment.

I understand the hate and reluctance to be kind to Etienne, given the situation.
BUT
If he were a competent emperor, i think the logical thing to do was to sound out if he can manipulate etienne to either side with him/ work against his mother.
THAT WAY, he can lessen the bitch's power by depriving her of a tool.
Rather than going, woe is me, I'll just pin all my hopes in this other kid and wait (in a way)

But then again,
I find that most engaging stories need a villain. Guess, given how much we hate him (as a person), he's serving his role well (as an antagonistic character)

*i mean a villain who's not entirely "black"

And he didn't even need to bond w/etienne directly to manipulate him to a side.
There's lotsa ways to do so (like make him have a confidant with a political ally)

You're so right about him being a good villain (or at least a foil on the hero's path) He's not inherently evil but being a bystander is his biggest sin. He's got room for growth, but the fact that he makes us mad is just proof that he's written well. I think I just want to see his attempts at atonement, as father and as king. The mum could go choke somewhere though.