I'm a Villainous Daughter, so I'm going to keep the Last Boss - Vol. 2 Ch. 9.5

[shiirosagi]

Oof young Cedric is soo adorable

 

[rafavic]

Hgnnnn

 

[zdarkbrz_816]

lil asshole, huh?

 

[mimicking]

at least he was cute as a child. now cedric is just a shit for brains loser that wants to ruin our lovely mc's life

 

[illusion_moon]

I am rereading the whole thing. I may have made this comment before, but Cedric should have died young. He was soo cute.

 

[ayna17]

@illusion_moon
agreed. he should've died young. before his brain is damaged

 

[jyc]

aww it's sad how cedric turned out he had a good relationship w his brother, he had friends

 

[direex]

Aww baby Cedric was so cute (

 

[Aoixneko]

@illusion_moon lmo XD I agree with you.

 

[meijune]

Dammit Cedric was such a cute small child. How did he turn into the lilia obsessed jerkwad of the present?

 

[hotjoemama]

the last page makes me so sad...

 

[KhalE]

Oh no last page made my heart break 💔

 

[Tatherwood]

@meijune
It's kind of a trope already, but mostly through "knowledge". I mean, it's an old truth, knowledge is power. And in this type of otome isekai, the transported person knows EVERYTHING about the romantic target. It's an unfair advantage.
Reminds me of another one I read. The fiancee/villainess dedicated her whole life to make herself worthy. She knew his favorite food...or rather, she knew his "favorite food at the castle", the thing the Prince was supposed to eat. Meanwhile, the "heroine" knew he liked meat skewers in the commoner market, though he'd never admitted it cause it wasn't befitting.
Having someone suddenly know you that well can be powerful. As I said, unfair advantage.
That's as far as to "how he turned into a Lilia obsessed idiot". As for why he's an asshole in general, tho...because he's an asshole. Period.

 

[arlen_io]

why they're so damned CUTE when they're CHILD

 

[cakenoona]

NOOOOOOO, CLAUDE ONII-CHAN IS SO CUTE WITH A LIL BRO CEDRIC T^T if only Cedric didn't grow 😃

 

[ShadowLamb]

😭😭😭😭😭 can't handle it

 

[SpecialProjectY]

@Suckerforshipping: Being raised as crown prince did that to him.

He NEEDED to be successful, be at the top, because he's to be the king, that's likely all his teachers told him, directly or discreetly.
But at the same time, because he's the prince, whatever he say, go.

The way he treat Aileen is basically the result of that.
He treat her like his 'thing' because he's the crown prince.
He 'dislike' her being successful because it reflect poorly on his own perceived imperfection.

And so, unlike Aileen who's busy trying to polish herself into that perfect queen candidate, the heroine fawning over him feed into his ego (even though in truth she's just using him for HER own ego) and made him chose the heroine over the less responsive Aileen.

But because he still think of her as his possession, when Aileen did not cry and beg for forgiveness, and instead went and got Claude, the 'better one' in Cedric's eyes, it hit his ego HARD and made him hold grudges.

tl;dr? The pressure from society combined with the lack of anybody to tell him how to treat others with respect made him into egoistic manchild who demands adoration of others but always treat others as 'below' him.

Kinda right, it was explained Cedric was treated as lesser than Claude but had to excell as to be the future king, while probably everything Claude did came out natural, Cedric had to train harder.

Aileen was just a childhood friend and the marriage was political, never romantic. She also grew up without being supportive, rather scolded by pointing out mistakes she made, terrible parenting.

Original fmc Lilia was from lower class, she just gave Cedric desired appreciation, it sounds shallow but it really appeals to men somehow, especially those who were living in the shadow of someone believed to be or is superior.
You're right now isekaied Lilia is trying to use him to fulfill her comfy life, who wouldn't...