He likes her in this timeline. In the previous one, when the original girl was in that body and did nothing wrong, he despised her
It wasn't necessarily the truth since based from Leana's memories, it wasn't a timeline, but a story. A story that was controlled by a few strokes of the author's brush.
Yes! Also, he doesn't necessarily dislike Leana or treats her badly. Her memories are just based from the storyline of the novel, but if we follow the timeline, he's just indifferent from the beginning. He just gave hard conditions because he disliked the nobles meddling with his affairs. But he never treats Leana cruelly, he just treated her as if she is a business partner. Take note: they we're wed out of duty, not out of love. So it's natural for him to act indifferently, while it's also a jerk move for him to neglect her, he is still the emperor, a ruler and a workaholic one at that. He was just focusing on his duty to protect his kingdom.
True we can't blame him for a self he has never went through....especially a book written by the author
The emperor is a douche. now that the female lead is purposesfully rejecting him from the beginning, he cares for her? Get outta your a**