Her adoptive parent in absentia is essentially part of the Primer for most of Nell’s pre-adult life with the two of them not meeting in any serious way until Nell is already a Monarch. Nell’s actual parent alternated between abusive and neglectful and she brought men into her home who abused Nell sexually. By any measure, even the Primer the mouse army had is better than that, and Nell’s copy also linked her to a human who actually gave a shit.