it kinda was him, he went crazy too after everyone started hating him because of what the thing in him did, in the flashbacks he's definitely not in sane state, and in first chapters you can see he never quite understood what caring about people meant in the first place, except for his Empress, and even her he kept forcefully. He wasn't perfect from the beginning, he puts a lot of effort in becoming better now
Yeah ur right i might've worded that A bit wrong. I feel like sometimes we see emperors that are assumed to be inherently evil or one's with a terrible backstory. But either way, I personally haven't seen many where they try to change on their own. There've been ones here the heroine intervenes and saves them, but not where they realize their mistakes and actively try to become different people on their own. That's one of the reasons I love him so much
ughhhh my babyyyyyyy. they're really showing how bad circumstances can turn inherently good people into villains At first i thought he just turned into a tyrant because he was never shown love BUT ITS NOT EVEN REALLY HIM!!! he needs help and some TLC ASAP. i can't wait to see him have his happy ending bc he's so sweet and he deserves it.