As far as I can tell, his father didnt commit treason. He was just in the way of the grand prince bc he was in the then-king's faction trying to prevent the grand prince from amassing power that would threaten the then-king (the grand prince's nephew). And as the grand prince's dog, he did everything his master wanted him to do so he massacred MC's family without a second thought.
So yeah, MC's family is innocent and ML /IS/ a villain. But ML tries to justify that it's for the greater good as they were able to at last get rid of the threat in the North after the grand prince was crowned king and now they're set on taking care of the repercussions brought by the long-term conflict with the northern tribes (as in, the northern region and it's lords were allowed private armies in the name of self-defense and in order to fight off the northern tribes, when it's not usually allowed, and now that the northern tribes have been eradicated, they now have no reason to have private armies but they refused to dissolve their armies that's why ML was sent there to create a scenario that would make them give up their private armies and especially that the Hojok, with no enemies now, have turned their oppression towards the citizens). It's an interesting story politics-wise bc it's like, does the ends justify the means. Their means are immoral and crass, harming innocent officials but at the same time, they're able to actually help the regular civilians bc they are a competent faction despite it all. But for ML, his motivations are more selfish, but his actions, in one perspective, can be seen as an effort to uphold the greater good.
Thanks for clarifying. I was so confused
No problem! It gets quite complicated if you look past the smut and romance.
Thank you for the good analysis!
Did his father actually commit treason or not? Because the people with him said he brought peace but then the falsely accused theory doesn't work there