@Dragou
I agree with your sentiment of forcing a character to do the plot.
George R. R. Martin explains his writing style by making a very rough outline of where he wants the story to go and then writing chapters by getting in the head of his characters and running free as them. If they don't end up where he wants them to be, then that's just how it is. He never betrays the character. What a lot people have pointed out about the last few seasons of Game of Thrones has been that the characters started to act unlike they did previously. There were a lot of other things wrong but one of the issues is that David Benioff and D. B. Weiss were pushing the characters to a predetermined ending.
The mother arc felt a bit forced for me. The early chapters were so sweet and heartwarming and after the wizard tower arc, it seems like danger and suspense are the new style of the story and the author is forcing that change.
If I were to compare this to a similar story, The Monster Duchess and the Contract Princess, that story had danger and suspense from the very beginning but also was very sweet and heartwarming. It also involves an obvious trap arc, which was was more to highlight the MC's naivete while this one was to highlight the MC's cunning or inexperience? I'm not sure what the point was. It also involves a childhood romance between an older protective character and the young MC, except I'm much more accepting of Contract Princess' ship because it looks like they would be far more of complements of each other.