
If after all of this fiasco Shuli didn't ignore that stupid attention seeker prince, I swear!! Atvleast be cold to that stupid prince if you can't ignore him cause of his stupid position ヽ(`Д´)ノ

I think he only wants to see a mother's smile.. He wanted to know how it feels to have a mother but he misunderstands that feeling as a feeling of affection and love.. In short, he wanted a mother to smile and care for him like Shuli does but he interpreted that wrongly probably because Shuli is young and around his age

He's a product of his environment. It looks like his mother died early in his life and his father remarried and both parents neglect him. The servants try their best but they're still required to take orders from him so it's not exactly a balanced guardian/child relationship. This, in turn, has given him a deep seeded need to find a parental figure befitting what he wants: a mother's unconditional love.
Because of a lack of a stable emotional foundation, he's dealing with his feelings the only way he knows how, trying to wedge himself into someone else's family and become the child of his ideal mother. But he's also mistaking it for romantic love or he's probably deluding himself into thinking it's love because that's the only opening he has to make her his. The Empire needs a crown princess. And it has already been stated, he has the power to choose whoever he wants irregardless of the Emperor's decision. It's the best way he can think of to keep Shuli to himself.
That was the shortest chapter I've ever read here