Honestly don’t remember much about the first husband but I do remember she wasn’t happy with the marriage proposal or the marriage.
As for rutger yeahe did runnawa6 but dads obviously involved why else did she think her husband will marry her half sister and he is the only one powerful enough to imprison the empress while the emperor is away.
Not that the first was an ass, but he was definitely weak and he did nothing to help himself for it. He groveled in order to get Leoni out of prison and he didn't make an attempt to secure support even when he knew he would most likely die first. He just warned Leoni to be happy once that happened, which sucks so bad. Imagine someone you love just being okay with being treated like shit and knowing he's gonna die by his family's hands.
This go around at least he's trying, cleverly, to gain support from the people and his father.
Eh idk. Leoni herself said that the charity event were ideas she got from the first prince before the regression, so this may mean that the prince did try to garner support from the public back then. He just wasn't able to overcome his enemies because they're more ruthless and fierce while he had a more pacifist approach, which usually never works out in brutal royalty shenanigans. So while he did foresee that he may be taken out by the monsters around him, it's not for the lack of trying.
It seems like this story is filled with misunderstandings with her ex hunsbands ( ・_ゝ・)