This is from SpicyRamyun in the comments below.
— Michael had fallen for Irene the moment she had asked him to be his pair......(it was like a love at first sight. so he already fell for her in the first timeline) since he grew up in temple, he had a hard time understanding his own feelings and he tried to stay away from her to sort out his feelings and (to prevent Irene from getting corrupted as well since he was without a purifier for a long time, he thinks he's dangerous for Irene.) But everything he did only made Irene the eyesore for everyone and Cecilia took advantage of it.
After Michael got injured, he lost his mind and spent the night with Irene. He was disgusted with himself after waking up (because he thought he forced himself on her).
He got himself excommunicated, and he gave up being a Paladin to marry her. By the time he returned home to propose to Irene, she was already dead.
Only after her death, Michael slowly came to know about all the hardships she had faced. And after confirming Cecilia deliberately sent her to the dungeon, he brutally massacred the royal family, Knights, her maids and including Count Rhodium (Irene’s adoptive father) and everyone in his estate.
After which, he went on to massacre every single monster because that's the condition for the artifact to create a new world. The artifact doesn't deal with time reversal. It creates an alternate universe; he did it to find a world where Irene is alive. And he did it a thousand times, I think. BTW that artifact is the main villain. But Michael never once blamed or hated Irene. That man is just obsessed with her.
Because of too much killing, he became so corrupted. In the new timeline, Michael is already the king of all monsters.
the real rojas is handsome and cute at the same time! he really looks like the emperor! they could pass as twins. i just hope he doesn’t fall for carolina. i don't want him to get hurt. ╥﹏╥