In true Japanese fashion, I don't have a lot to say about the mother right now. 🤔
I mean, she'd obviously have very little control over her life because of the setting, and I probably wouldn't go so far as to call her a bad person? It's more that her goals would be in total opposition to Mairō's wishes and that'd spark conflict. (so I guess she'd be the villain from his point of view, but not in an objective way)
But I think it'd be interesting to explore women's issues in this context so I might include some of her perspective on things, even if just as a subplot. So thank you for the suggestion. ^^