DitoDitowski

He is only good father to Phil, to his sons he is more like a teacher. Emperor and Phil could be more closer but since the real(!) daughter came and their relationship became weird, emperor and Phil now are struggling with communication. So both fathers are doing their best for Phil.

I mean yeah, but I'm thinking abt how Phil was indifferent for emperor, while Leguin quite fast acknowledged her

That's bcs their personalities and circumstances are different. Emperor is colder and he found his real(!) daughter out of nowhere and if i remember right he lost his wife while giving birth (?) so it was hard for him to move on and starting to care for his baby. And for the magician father he got a daughter suddenly after having 3(? i forgor) sons. So maybe somethings changed for him and wanted to know what being a girl father, besides he is in more of a carefree situation. I hope you get what mean . I believe (at least hope) both fathers will gonna support her in the future, against the real daughter situation.

Emperor is a bad father, leguin not being a "dad" for the other 3 is not true, he was always there if they needed him they just never sought love from him as he doesn't know how to give it. But Emperor knew how to give love yet he chose not to give it to child that sought it from him for the a crime of "killing" his wife or not being up to par to his standards, so he's actually not just a worse father but also ad a human being

Emperor doesn't know how to give love properly either and it not true that he didn't give love to her he changed so much through out the story. And he showed that he cares about her multiple times. Just because you don't like him doesn't make him worse father and a human being just like that. You can't degrade one person just to make another look better. Magician father was nonchalant about her when they met too. Now Phil is the one who doesn't get closer to emperor because she knows who her biological father is and doesn't want to be 3rd wheel between real(!) daughter and father. I'm not defending emperor here but I'm not degrading him either. Both fathers are not so good at their job obviously.

The emperor being a bad father is not entirely true. When Phil was young, he did say some horrible things because he was still mourning his wife, but with that he came to see how much an idiot he had been. To this day he regrets having said that – and that truly the only "bad" thing that he did. No matter how the novel says he was uncaring, as time goes on he very clearly puts effort into being a part of Phil's life, he gives her anything she asks for because he genuinely thinks she deserves rather than being "something to calm her down" (the gifts are always rewards for something she did well), and very clearly has always seen great potential in Phil to be his heir. He still loves her and considers her his daughter, loathes the thought of her leaving because they have no blood relations, and always takes Phil's side whenever the "real daughter" tries to make her look bad.

Sayings he "knows how to give love" is also a veeery big stretch. He knows love, for sure, but has always had trouble expressing it. There are a lot of scenes where he asks his aid what he should do or gift Phil because he doesn't know how to be a outwardlt caring father; he loves and cares fo her in his own way, but he is aware that this love isn't exactly outspoken... still, when his aid tells him to say all that embarassing shit just to show he is worried, he goes and does without a second thought. It might've been out of character for him but the fact ge tried to do it is what shows he truly cares.
I think you're taking the things the novel said about him hating Phil at face value, even when they have been shown to not be true.
The emperor and Phil have a shaky relationship since Phil deliberately tries not to see the love he shows her as love, as a way to protect herself, but even then he is still trying his hardest to care for her in ways she will allow.

And as for Leguin... I'm not gonna say he's a bad father, per say, but his sons have made it very clear he is uninterested in them as has smacked them more times than they can count. And the three of them HAVE said he never felt like a father, which I don't think needs to be corrected; he is learning how to act like a parent right now, just as the emperor is. They're both in the same boat rn in that sense.