What does 殿下も決してリリアーヌ様を嫌ってはいなかったように思えます。 mean?

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Source: http://ncode.syosetu.com/n5708cr/40/

This sentence is from this paragraph:

それからすぐに、殿下がリリアーヌ様に対して婚約破棄を言い渡したのだと知りました。

　これには私だけでなく、屋敷にいた全員が驚いたと思います。リリアーヌ様は殿下に対してはとてもしおらしい態度をしておりました。それも殿下に自分を見てもらうためだったと思います。

殿下も決してリリアーヌ様を嫌ってはいなかったように思えます。

それが、まさか突然婚約破棄を言い渡されるなんて……。

It really confuses me. I get the general gist of what it means, but I can't figure out what exactly it means.

Also, I'm pretty confused by the はいなかった part. Why does the sentence use いなかった？Shouldn't it be なかった？ Because the character is talking about the existence of an inanimate object (i.e. whether His Highness harbored any dislike for Lilliane), I figured it should have been using 「ある」, not 「いる」.

Does the sentence mean: "His Highness didn't seem to dislike Lilliane-様, either."

This is my understanding of the entire paragraph:

"Immediately after that, I learned that His Highness called off his and Lilliane-様's engagement.

This came as a great shock to not only me, but also everyone else in the estate. Whenever Lilliane-様 was in his Highness's presence, she adopted a gentle, sweet way of being and speaking, no doubt in an attempt to gain His Highness's favour.

For his part, His Highness never showed that he harboured any ill feelings toward Lilliane-様.

So, to suddenly announce that he was breaking off his engagement with Lilliane with no prior warning..."

Thanks in advance!