Someone may have already had this take but uh.
Leo and Forrest right. Leo is deemed as phobic to Forrest by a lot of fans, BUT, I like to think that Leo just so happens to be projecting his childhood (ie mostly his relationship with his mother) and is struggling to overcome it. Like, guy doesn’t know what a good parent really is, for starters he was a child borne out of wedlock from a woman apart of a harem, who was competing with other women and children to become the next queen. Already at the lowest of the low despite having dragon’s blood in him.
Leo already has self esteem issues of trying to become better and or equal to Xander, likely stuck in his head by his mother so she could be recognized as the woman who raised him if he struck stardom with Garon. She very much held high expectations for him, and after she died he held onto them. It has made tension with his relation with his siblings especially Xander as noted for their entire support.
Because he had Forrest during the war - while he was still struggling with those thoughts - he embodied what his mother was to him; image and fighting skill is everything, surpass those that are higher in status and skill only then will you be recognized as someone of worth. Forrest just so happened to do neither, as he went against social norms with his appearance and chose to be a healer instead of a fighter.
Luckily, Leo snapped out of it at least some of it by the end of Forrest’s prologue, but he still has a long way to go.
Anyway that’s my two cents. Enjoy Ꮚ`ꈊ´Ꮚ
..