from what I can understand, it seems like the fl father told the duke to keep reina lonely for the rest of her life, and this probably included keeping her child from her too. The ex being the one to raise him was also because of the father, he forced to the duke to keep her around so that reina will be even more miserable. The duke complied bc her father said he would kill reina and their son if he didn't, so the duke thought he was "protecting" his family
Because he realized that FL was unstable so he took Elle away and was planning on giving Elle back when she becomes stable enough to take care of Elle but then the whole war thing happened and the dad brought that bitch to make FL suffer more
Thanks it makes a bit of sense now
Can someone explain to me why the baby had to be taken by the ex-wife again? Was it actually explained in the flashback? Did the Duke actually believe Reina was cursed so he separated them? That would also explain why the Duke didn't tell her father to back off in the first place like he did in the new time line.