
That’s an interesting theory. In my understanding base from the novel. You can imprint base on several reasons..
Imprint at first sight… extremely rare, you guys have to be super compatible. Pheromones cause this mutation (it’s been long)
Long relationship.. this applies to widow alphas and omegas. Which shows after the death.. but this is years of long relationship (so this is a ‘no’)
If you read s1… Kloff is already imprinted before the birth of Rapiel Jr. After Aeroc tried to commit suicide.. when Kloff found him.. his eyes are violet which is indication of the imprint. The fact he keeps finding Aeroc when he tries to commit suicide is his instinct telling him to save his omega… it’s hard to pinpoint when exactly they were imprinted… was it during the five years he was obsessing over Aeroc? Was it during their meeting its weird how obsessed they were of each other…

In omegaverse stories (even hetero ones where werewolves are involved), there is actually a way for the omega to curse their alpha because only the alpha takes the suffering from an imprint which is basically the omega “marking” the alpha and it cannot be broken.
a bond however takes the worse toll on an omega. and yes bond and imprint are different in that sense.

the eyes being purple is an indication of a bond or a rut of an alpha (again, just a common thing I see in some omegaverse stories and kiss me liar and one other bl i forgot the title had them)
it is a bond not an imprint. but yes you could be right in the part where it could be when they spent so much time together, thats possible too

It’s more of obsession than love.
In the second life… it started as this irritation and growing obsession with Aeroc. He does grow to love Aeroc, but it wasn’t exactly love what he did at the beginning… when Kloff realized about the imprint in world 2 he coerced Aeroc with marriage and children. When Aeroc avoided him.. it literally almost drove him insane.. it was more for Kloff at the beginning. Instinct and realization that he needs Aeroc. In the novel.. he didn’t want to mention the imprinting because he feared that he’ll be inferior to Aeroc. When he saw the damage of what he did force on Aeroc… he learned be an understanding partner and supportive. It’s kind of a journey for Kloff.. to learn it’s not just about him…
World 3 realized it’s imprinting. But he was obsessed on Aeroc due to longing of almost two decades of him just wanting and missing Aeroc. He was selfish at the beginning how he coerced Aeroc to have a relationship with him… he did fell in love with his Aeroc as he got to know him. But it’s too short when they got together for us to gauge if Kloff really changed and love his Aeroc fully

I think it was more he wanted Aeroc… it wasn’t love. My speculation is it’s love first sight imprinting… because he did say there was attraction he just denied it repeatedly and sought to marry Rapiel to quench his thirst for Aeroc… but it didn’t happen
he kept getting into fights with Aeroc… so yeah… it wasn’t love (╯°Д °)╯╧╧
I made theories about it with my fanfic… imprinting as whole with Winter’s theory but it’s still just hard to say what really happened because there isn’t really a lot of material to make a proper analysis

Kloff is sadly a hypocrite… he wanted Aeroc, but pride and inferiority complex got in the way. His obsession with hierarchy and power dynamics really weirded me out. He didn’t like that Aeroc was out of his league… because he’s the Count and wealthy.. so he kept looking for things to hate about Aeroc.
He lusted and wanted Aeroc so he associated it with negative feelings, thinking of it as something dirty. He grew up in a traditional household so it’s understandable he felt strange about his feelings.. what was wrong was how he handled it.
Honestly… the guy loved himself more. I know it hurts to say that. But that’s just how I see it. If he truly loved Aeroc in world 2.. he would have courted him first, but instead he secured his position by having a baby instead. And seeing that Aeroc has this strange insecurity about Rapiel.. a good partner would have talked to him about that.. instead he thinks that just being with Aeroc is love and support. In vol 4.. the kids notice the strange tension whenever it comes to Rapiel.. it says a lot. Which is sad.. Kloff in his way is trying, but he obviously has so much to learn. Hopefully as they both grow older.. they would have a better relationship. It’s the only thing I like about world 2 Kloff… he kept trying and learning
Kloff of world 3 who is overcompensating it from what I see in vol 4. I believe the story before Jester was born was world 3.. due to certain clues. Kloff W2 is ignorant about Lenoc’s feelings for Sioux.. but W3 Kloff knows about it and is finding it similar to how he handled his feelings. He lets Aeroc’s overspend. Something W2 Kloff doesn’t allow, he gives Aeroc’s allowance and never allows him to buy statues (junk). But W3 Kloff is pampering his Aeroc… i wish we got more world 3 stories because it would be fun to see if Kloff did grow and handled his emotional baggages well. A new life doesn’t make it automatically better..
Sorry for crushing your faith

W3 Kloff is OG and Aeroc who doesn’t remember. He doesn’t even dream of the brutality of world 2…
I call them Alternate Universe (AU) in world 2 it’s AU kloff and OG Aeroc, in world 3 it’s OG kloff and AU Aeroc.
The difference between AU… OG Aeroc who was more at peace with his passing didn’t pass his trauma and memories (in dream form) to AU Aeroc. Just weird feeling of attraction towards Kloff. While OG Kloff who had more resentment and grief strangely passed his memories to AU Kloff like a warning.
It’s just little things I noticed

Nope he doesn’t… but the imprint is affecting his brain in the worse way. The Rapiel he was seeing is their son, he was angry at Aeroc for approaching him and swears to kill Aeroc for approaching the child.
He tried fighting it but I think he was so lost in the illusion he actually thought he was punishing Aeroc and is back at World 1

As for the novel.. sadly it was dmca.. you can either pay kofi for the translation or read the spanish using google translate in ao3.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/44620807

Ao3 or ‘Archive of our own’ is a fanfiction site where people post stories. But sometimes people post illegal translations of novels usually in different languages.. if you want to read the whole novel of ITRG it’s available there
I actually write fanfiction of ITRG and post stuff there… I need more content hahaha. A lot of the BL manhwa here have fanfiction there so incase you want to explore more and a lot are written well!
I actually wrote a fic with RichardxAeroc (Viscount Derbyshire’s son) and AerocxLinus (the Marquis who likes Rapiel) I just want a world 1 that Rapiel didn’t die and an Aeroc who moved forward (sorry but screw Kloff) (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
not that nerd for omegaverse but ive been seeing a pattern in the imprint vs bond thing that I think people need to understand because klopp did not imprint on aeroc but aeroc imprinted on klopp?? maybe Im wrong
both need to be in consent in some form to make a bond(but it can be forced by the alpha if they induce the omega)
but usually its the omega that does the imprinting (even in hetero romances where they are wolves and even in the famous Blood Link bl) not the alpha
so in a way aeroc cursed klopp before he died in the 1st timeline
again, this one is on mere speculation