beta
I feel like the main thesis of this manga is parents failing their children.
Perez is a special case and I have an extreme hot take, so just put a pin in that.
Astana and Bellesac are both driven by the desire to impress their parents. They act prideful in front of strangers, but continually humiliated and insulted behind closed doors. Although they're obviously cruel and foolish, their motivations are the same as Florentias: protect their family. The Angenas family has left behind a legacy of bloodshed and if Astana doesn't seize power, both of their mothers (and Astana himself) are put in extreme danger.
The emperor and the empress are no exceptions to this. He's the most powerful man in the empire, yet he's still haunted by his abusive father. She's desperately clinging to whatever power she may have in her role as matriarch of her family.
The Lombardi are better, but not by much. To Tia, her grandfather is a kind old man, but his children don't know him as a father, but as a patriarch. Florentia's father was forced into a submissive role in the family and the eldest was allowed to dominate and abuse others. They share blood, but they clearly don't have any close relationship to each other.
While Florentia's father was obviously always very kind, he was rather weak, to the point that had Tia nod had experiences of an adult, she would've been ousted from the family. However kind they are, under the grandfather's and father's supervision, Tia spent her first childhood being bullied.
Bonus points for the aunt for being strong and kind to her sons, who grew up to be strong and kind. Though obviously there was a struggle with the cheating husband.
So.....the hot take time. While the author obviously made them meet as little as possible while they were children, it's obvious that Florentia's experience as an adult and his inexperience as a child shaped their relationship. She took care of him in a way only adult would have enough autonomy to and that he wouldn't have been as impressed with as the adult he was in his previous life. I'm not calling Tia a pedo or something, there is point to this:
The only reason why Florentia can change her fate and the fate of others, is because she doesn't have to rely on these adults to take care of her. She loved her family, but she doesn't trust them (rightfully so!) to protect her without her intervention. She knows that if she let others take care of her, she'd die a tragic premature death.
She has so much agency, because others around her are still trying to navigate their families, while she has already decided to shape it to fit her. Perez also doesn't have to navigate his family, because it's dogshit and they hate him.