So did he or didn't he? O_O

That confused me too. Because the current Empress is convinced that he killed them. Tho maybe he is ignorant to his actions...

Maybe because the readers felt like he was more of a dilf than a villain so now they want to make him a redeemable character so people can thirst over him without getting the ick

He is definitely the one who killed them. Its just that Now he is regretting it because Laurence is incompetent and the only one competent enough to take the throne is not his child but his brothers son the very brother he falsely accused and killed because he wanted to secure his own throne.

I think the emperor's sibling was the sister, Cedric's mother, not the father, because Roygar referred to him (when seeing his head) as "brother-in-law".
But yeah, that's what I believed too, but since the story never stated outright that the emperor ordered to kill his children, there was a chance I was just making it up.

If i remember correctly, the empress child was not killed by the emperor but died in misfortuned disease. The reason why the empress resent the emperor is because he blamed on her closest friend who was taking care of the child and force the entire family to suicide while she was grieving, also the emperor destroyed her family and gave her families power to a traitor(pet dog of emperor) so he can take full control of the salt

I could be wrong about this.

You are right about all that except the emperor did kill his children. I think he had 3 with the empress. Even if one died of disease (which is doubtful) there should be two more. He has one more daughter who is alive but I believe she was from a concubine. And probably only left alive because a) illegitimate lineage. B) since it’s a daughter she can’t inherit the throne (because old society logic).
That’s why the empress secluded herself. She literally lost everything and everyone she loved to the emperor and that’s why she hates him.

Yes, they had three legitimate children, it is shown in a recent picture and also maybe in someone's memories?
I'm not sure about females' inability to inherit the throne, though. The emperor himself has said/thought a few times already that if Artezia had been his daughter, he would have bequeathed it to her. Or now, he by all purposes intended to appoint baby Leticia as his successor as if "following the divine will", calling to his side the faith's favour.
So, countess Eunice was indeed not up for the throne due to being illegitimate, not because she is female. There was a rightful princess among the empress' children and she could have being the crown heiress, I believe.

Could be. In Leticia’s case though it’s special because of “divine will”
Story is complicated so I could be wrong but I believe Skyla had to get married before she could inherit. And if I remember right there was opposition when Tia took the marquis state as well - not simply because of her brother and mother but because she is ‘a young girl’. There question about Camillia estate too. Like why the late father never allowed his competent daughter to take the title instead of making her an advisor (the whole thing that upset Skyla and made her jump ships). And that journalist lady whose father was opposed to her passion because he thought he wasn’t competent enough because she’s a girl.

Generally this gender bias is a running theme in historical stories and probably the only thing actually historically accurate (￣∇￣")

Actually the clear killer of the empress's children is never really outright mentioned but the emperor definitely had a hand in it, another person that would have had a more direct hand in it would be the greedy Duke Reagan because this is the dude who killed rest of the direct descendants of the Reagan family to get the title, Now the Empress herself had a pact with the Emperor when she married him that she will hold her legitimate rights over the Reagan duchy and can't take them from her which basically makes her children the Heir of the Reagan duchy especially when the direct line dies so it won't be out of character for the greedy Emperor to turn a blind eye to the Greedy Reagan duke's killing of emperor's children if he gets more power and control of it. Emperor has never really cared about any of his children beyond how he can use them, some he uses to feel like a family man which is a feeling he likes and other he uses for greed.

Also while gender bias is definitely at play in this story too I don't think those are the best example for gender bias, the main reason Skyla couldn't inherit Camilla was because Ian Camilla had a better claim to the title due to lineage. Also Camilla estate comes from Skyla's father rather than her mother, she married into it, Skyla's mom is Ruden's illegitimate daughter while her father was like the 2nd or 3rd son of Camilla, usually the eldest always inherits but in this case Skyla's father did because Skyla's grandfather basically killed the direct hair's family of which Ian is the only survivor. Though I do agree that Skyla's mum was thorough exploited by her own father till the end something that skyla absolutely detested.

Tia definitely faced opposition due to being a girl but her main obstacles was her maybe not being the Marquis actual daughter and rather being his granddaughter because Tia's mum slept with her technically step-grandson and her mum thoroughly cleared any evidence of it and kill all the direct descendants for good measure and those that still remain in Rosan know what her mother did but are the type that are powerless to to stop Tia anyway.

Regarding the first thing. It was emperor that killed off the actual inheritors of the Reagan duchy the empresses home. You are right about the deal. But the emperor was afraid of the power Duke Reagan held. Also if one of his 3 legitimate children held the title they can easily pressure Laurence to ensure their sibling takes the throne. Remember when I mentioned the empress lost “everyone and everything to the emperor”. That’s quite literally true. He killed her family (I think it was the same running theme of false accusation of treason) and promised her that she can hold the rights to it. But he went on to kill all her children then stated someone needs ti inherit so he “appointed” the last duke Reagan. It’s true that he may have moved the guy to actually kill them off and yes he was definitely greedy for the title. But it was definitely the emperor holding the strings. Otherwise the former duke himself wasn’t powerful enough to kill of the actual duke Reagan and face no consequences.

You are right about the illegitimacy being a problem for skyla’s mom. But Skyla being unable to inherit because of Ian isn’t right. Because he himself was in hiding most of skyla’s life. And only stepped forward with Tia’s help after Skyla was already old enough to inherit but wasn’t really allowed to. Maybe there are other factors that I may have missed and gender bias wasn’t the reason. But honestly this story is too masterfully spun to not contain a culture that was so prevalent at the time of the setting. There are little tidbits. Like how skyla’s grandfather slept around without consequence. Or how Tia’s mother was married off to a guy as old as her father when she herself was very young. Or how the duke Reagan was considered a unique man because he loved and respected his wife.

Honestly don’t remember much about the last bit so maybe I am wrong. It was too long ago. And Tia’s mother did ALOT of wrongs….

This discussion is part of why I love this story. It can spark so much positive debate!

I'm quite puzzled about what you said of Rosan estate affairs. Where did you even get those ideas? O_O? Is it mentioned in the novel? Because in the webtoon nothing of that has ever been said.
What we were shown is that emperor Gregor made marquis Rosan to marry Miraila in exchange for a gemstone mine. Miraila then had a daughter in order to seize Rosan's estate wealth and assets.
So yeah, we know that the marquis was quite older than Miraila, but where are you coming from saying that Artezia wasn't her legitimate daughter? Where is this step-grandson you mention? Even the empress herself stated that Artezia resembles Michael, the old marquis...

It's right there in your comment, the marquis was too old to help miraila birth an heir hence she got creative and sleep with a direct descendant and killed them all off
https://www.mangago.me/read-manga/the_villainess_lives_twice/uu/mpn_chapter-2324585/pg-1/

I think the grandson or could be some other direct heir that Miraila slept with was mentioned in the manhwa itself, maybe it was when Tia met the other Rosan relatives but I am not 100% sure about where it was mentioned in the manhwa.

Being old doesn't automatically mean being impotent or sterile. If that was true, no old geezer creep would exist in the world. He could have lay with her just once and do the deed during her fertile period.
There has never been a mention of this grandson you refer to, at least in the webtoon (can't speak for the novel). The few people who talked about Artezia's parentage always considered her the legitimate daugther of the previous marquis.
And what other direct heir? Only second-hand relatives remain in the family, Miraila poisoned everyone else.