This is a spoiler, but the MC and the Emperor's love are one person. MC is that person's reincarnation. So, it's not a rebound. It's falling in love for a second time with the same person (￣∇￣")
It is when the emperor thinks so
TBH i get what ur saying but i really do think the emperor fell in love with the mc for he is. He just has flashbacks of his ex due to trauma and doesn't really have closure. So even tho the mc and his ex are technically just reincarnations, i think if they were seperate people that the emperor had to chose between he would pick mc
Well, about that... it is a big spoiler from the novel...
I'm glad I didn't read it all the way, regardless of how fluffy and inlove the current emperor, I don't think I can ever forgive him for using the mc as a rebound, not to mention the excruciating pain the mc might've felt when he knew he was just an option and he was never really loved, he was so ready to give up being a heav.. being and wants to live as a human to be with him, he was such an asshole and I wish to see him grovel and cry blood, not some avoidance contest, this is too painful to read.