The empress was also a victim of opportunistic and superiority-driven adults. Yes, but due to her desperation to free Etienne from that possibility, that she could've still avoided through different means, she later on misconstrued her projection as protection. Etienne was right, it wasn't love, she was projecting her grief and fear towards her son, a dominant omega like her. The longer she had to exert power and dominance, the more clouded her judgements were, to the point of causing pain and trauma on her own son. Like a double-edge sword. She's a complex villain but whatever her past is, Etienne was definitely right to let go of her. With all the lives she took and bad decisions she made, she's irredeemable. There's no excuse to anything.
How about asking why the heck the emperor doesn't even know his son is an omega to begin with? Talk about negligence. There won't be any secrets if only you were transparent right from the start. But no, you had to cherish the kid that who looked like your first love. What a hopeless romantic you are. Imagine feeling betrayed when you never once looked at how Etienne was growing up. Now he's making a scene over his son's pheromones that he doesn't know. Guess what, dumb emperor, you were never a trustworthy father to begin with. You're an opportunistic prick who would definitely use your son to gain leverage over his mother. People be realizing Etienne is an omega, but not his own father. That's why Rishar called you a coward ╮(￣▽￣)╭ the way you handled the situation compared to Rishar shows how you are as an emperor.