I have a THEORY

But gena didn't love the empress. You can tell with the conversation between Enoch and Gena's in the chapters of their flashbacks.

I would like to disagree though?? Correct me if im wrong, but isnt that the reason why he cherishes his younger brother so much because his blue eyes and silver hair remind him of his first love?? Even the empress mentioned something about the ML being the son of his first love

No, I don't think he loved her, he actually just likes Enoch as a younger sibling. they developed a sibling relationship and it seems to be the only familial relationship genas got in that family. The empress is just assuming from her own delusions since she herself is obsessive and possessive. It seems she only went on all the rumours. But your theory sounds fun. Can't wait for more chapters to know what's going on.

I thought this theory might be true at first and i agree with u that genas loved ML’s mom (and its sort of implied that she ended up loving him back at the end since she wrote in her will to leave her heart for him after her death) but the condition for surviving the fevers was marrying the person in ur dreams. Since her fevers stopped after she married the emperor, he’s probably the person in her dreams after all.

Nope, that's just the Empress's misunderstanding. She doesn't know the history between them and thinks he loved Enoch's mother and treats him like a son. The reality is that Enoch's mother was mentally ill and was raping Genas because she thought she was having sex with the Emporer (Genas's father at the time). He tells Enoch straight up that he didn't want to have sex with her, which shocks Enoch and makes him ask why he does it then. It's because she's pitiful. She's the saddest things he's ever seen and he can't bring himself to push her away. And her saddest moment is dying pitifully while begging him to protect her son. He doesn't love Enoch so much "because of his blue eyes", which she thinks is because he loves Enoch's mother, it's because they both survived her mental illness and bonded. Plus it's the last thing she asked for.

Thanks for clarifying. I might need to reread this again because I missed the part where they had sex lol

It's implicit, they don't actually show it. One of the nobles mentions that Genas has been seen coming from the empress's room in the mornings. The only thing we the readers see is when Enoch stumbled upon them kissing and runs away before returning to grab the book he dropped and getting caught by Genas. He asks Genas if he's doing that with his mom because he loves her and Genas says no, that there's just no point in trying to stop her because nothing would change. This is because she is mentally ill and gets worse and worse till she can no longer even tell Genas and his father apart.