The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

That little princess is only eleven years old this year, can you, you unicorn, please stop being so monstrous?

"That will definitely take a few years."

He wiped his sweat and thought to himself that female drivers are definitely better.

"No, what I mean is—did you do this on purpose so that Gawain would take a liking to you and decide to have the princess have a child with you, so that you could interfere in Victorian politics?"

Qiao Yelan: ?

No, do I look like the kind of man who's good at seducing young girls?

Or is it that my surname is actually Habsburg?

“First of all, I don’t think Gawain is as clever as you; secondly, I never even thought of it that way—I just hope that Gawain can see me as a neutral force that can be won over, so that when he’s letting the princess come into contact with the Steam Knights and Cumberland’s royalists, he won’t care so much about hiding it from me.”

Qiao Yelan defended himself righteously and eloquently.

"Finally—if I want to get involved in Victorian politics, why do I need to have a child with someone else? Why should I go through all this trouble?"

Clovisia nodded in satisfaction.

"I just wanted to see if there was a chance to become that prince's teacher. After all, cultivating a suitable successor is much better than—"

"Why did you lift the stool up?"

-------------------------------------------------- ------

In the end, Qiao Yelan was rescued by Ace and the old angel.

"I have no idea what's wrong with that woman. She just said she wanted to take on a student, right? If that's the case, then Aldebaran is already my student—"

"So there's another one named Allarde, right?"

The old angel asked quietly, with a hint of mockery.

"Uh... what's wrong?"

"It's alright, Doctor. My feelings for you are currently limited to respect, so I don't care how many students you take on."

Outcast gave a mysterious smile, like a cat's, that only appears when satisfied.

“I’m just happy to appreciate the feelings your students have for you—every single one of them.”

Qiao Yelan felt a sense of familiarity with this expression, as if she had seen it frequently recently, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen it before.

This puzzled him somewhat.

It wasn't until Qiao Yelan returned to the delegation's residence that she remembered what that smile meant—

Because when the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial came out to greet him, he had the same smile as the old angel.

"grown ups--"

"...Wait a minute. Before you greet me, tell me what's being said outside these days?"

"Uh... When the nobles of the Victoria Council were holding an uninhibited meeting at the mansion, you, in order to win over the lady you fell in love with at first sight, deliberately ordered your guards to break through the security and rush into the meeting venue, forcibly taking away that 'Lone Beast Speaker'."

亻尔女马.

Qiao Yelan's face twitched.

"Of course, we all absolutely believe that you have encountered danger, which is why this situation has arisen—the Imperial Guard has been fully mobilized, and if you want to leave Lentinium, we can set off now!"

Damn it, you even mobilized the Imperial Guards to come and watch the drama unfold, huh?!

Qiao Yelan slapped her face.

Damn it, how can you do diplomacy with these bastards around!

"Cha Shaoqing."

"Hey."

"Shut up."

"okay."

---------------------------------------------------------

"This is the list of people I found for you. I should be able to find a few more in a few days, but the number probably won't be that many."

"It's okay. I never expected to find them all. I'm already surprised that we have this many."

Charles clearly didn't notice the apology in Qiao Yelan's tone. On the contrary, he was quite surprised that Qiao Yelan could find almost half of the people in such a short time.

It seems that the company called Babel Tower is really powerful and resourceful.

"We have also selected the people you hired—a company commander, leading two full squads, a total of seven people. Whether in individual combat or team combat, they are the best in the regiment."

Charles gestured for the seven men behind him to step forward.

"Battles involving fewer than a hundred men are our standard combat and command methods, so you can rest assured about their command capabilities—anything you need outside of combat, just give them your orders."

"Okay, there might be some additional needs, such as needing someone to temporarily act as my bodyguard. Is that acceptable?"

Qiao Yelan nodded and suggested a possibility.

"Just give the order, we're experts in this kind of thing."

Charles said nonchalantly.

"Thank you for your understanding, Commander."

Qiao Yelan also showed a satisfied smile. Ace behind him put down the two huge briefcases he was carrying and handed them to Charles's deputy for safekeeping.

After his deputy examined the specimen, he quietly informed Charles of the results, and Charles smiled with satisfaction.

"It's a pity I'm out of wine here—I've taken all the Victory Champagne to the black market to resell, otherwise I really should have treated you to a drink."

“That’s a real shame, but I’ve heard of that champagne house. Babel has had some dealings with them—I’m sure that soon you’ll be able to smash a bottle of champagne on a newly produced steam armor, just like the previous captains.”

Charles simply shook his head, taking it as a compliment.

After all, how could any new steam armor possibly be produced?

"Let's not talk about that. Just call me by my name. You probably also want to see Miss Aldera this time."

"Of course."

"This way, please, Your Excellency Qiao Yelan."

"Since we no longer need to use such formal terms of address, Mr. Charles, you don't need to call me 'Your Excellency'. Just call me Qiao Yelan, or by my code name 'Doctor'."

"PhD--"

Charles chewed over the two words.

Do you enjoy teaching others?

"I only teach what I'm good at—after all, the worst thing a teacher can do is pretend to know what they don't in front of their students."

Qiao Yelan explained with a light laugh.

During lunchtime, Qiao Yelan saw Alleide after finishing her training.

In just a few days, the timid and cowardly aristocratic demeanor that Aldebaran had previously displayed had completely vanished, replaced by sweat and exhaustion.

Since training has just begun, the intensity will be carefully managed, keeping it on the delicate line between exhaustion and the ability to persevere.

"Mr. Joe!"

When the girl saw Qiao Yelan, she was first taken aback, then smiled happily, all the fatigue on her face vanished, and she ran towards Qiao Yelan.

"Okay, good boy, slow down, slow down."

Qiao Yelan gave the girl a kind and gentle hug.

"How's the training? Are you tired?"

"I'm tired, but I can keep going."

Qiao Yelan took out a handkerchief and wiped the girl's sweat.

"That's good. I believe you can do it."

"Did you come to see me?"

"Yes—because I'm leaving Lentinium too."

The smile on Aleide's face disappeared, replaced by a deep sense of reluctance and unease.

"Are you... leaving so soon?"

"After all, I am an envoy of the Great Yan Dynasty. I have my own identity and responsibilities—just as I taught you before."

Qiao Yelan said earnestly.

It's not because I'm busy going back to harvest chives, which is a job that's anything but enjoyable.

Chapter 125 You still say you're not playing BA?

"Are you... really leaving?"

“Aldette, parting is a part of life, but it is because of parting that we can have the joy of reunion—you always have to lose something in order to gain something.”

Qiao Yelan smiled and patted Alede's little head.