Baby Edward and his asshole parents!
His mama; Cecilia (husband calls her 'Cecil' jokingly...it annoys her...but he thinks it's charming)
She hails from Italy and seems to have either been born without a funny bone or lost it some time during her youth as the mantra of "perfection" was drilled into her skull. She never dealt Edward any lashings (physically) but since he never had any sisters or nannies and the boy was kept so isolated, his mother was really his main frame-of-reference for "what and how a woman should be and act like". Even though they had a very strained and sometimes confusing relationship. Cecilia seemed to make it her mission to constantly keep Edward walking on eggshells as sometimes she'd be kind and caring towards him; reading him stories, giving him hugs, taking him on "relaxing and quiet" walks through the courtyard on sunny days, and giving him sage life advice...to acting completely erratic and hysterical. Though she only showed Edward this darker more unkempt side of herself, and played it off(once she calmed down) as it being "our little secret". Honestly Edward wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel burdened or lucky that his mother was willing to be "vulnerable"* around him.
*vulnerable: as in having 'unladylike' fits of rage
His father; Alden Hayes
A German man, he appears to be a typical goofy dad on the surface, cracking little jokes here and there. Though a LOT of them are on the VERY passive aggressive side. He's a wonderful entertainer at banquets and dinner parties, quite the social butterfly with a friendly smile and hardy laugh. No wonder he managed to snag "Cecil" when they were barely 20! He's a respectful man and a gentleman through and through. His smile alone has awarded him more than enough financial income and trust among his peers. Multi-lingual and highly intelligent,
it's only natural his only son would greatly admire him and also feel deeply inferior. And Alden could read him like a book. He'd crack "harmless" jokes rather often at his son's expense.
"Perhaps being teased will not only give him a tougher skin but also make him less of an embarrassment." is the thought process.
Edward sorta got the message and just closed himself off emotionally so the jokes would stop hurting but embarrassingly, he still couldn't help idolizing his father(he was a self-conscious teen at this point). So all he could think to do was to just copy his dad to the best of his ability, absorbing himself in his studies to boot.
The self hatred instilled into him by his father, combined with the conditional love his mother provided, made him both want to desperately leave but also far too guilty and fearful to do so.
(how he became physically abusive as a husband and father was a sort of "now I have the power!!")
