The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

"Here, you have shed sweat, but you will become a true steam knight, just like your father—I believe in you, you will definitely become a steam knight."

Alde lowered her head, her mind now filled with confusion.

She was very young when her father passed away, and she had few memories of him. When she lived in that cold mansion, her father was the only illusory but once-existing source of spiritual comfort for her.

So she became obsessed with collecting everything about her father, painstakingly searching through the ransacked mansion and among the scheming servants.

But she found nothing—not even a single painting.

The only thing she could find related to her father was a short sentence in a book.

[Grand Duke Cumberland accepted King Aslan's investiture, becoming a Steam Knight and assuming the position of Grand Master of the Steam Knights—he is widely recognized as the strongest Steam Knight in Victoria.]

That book was later burned.

Everything about King Aslan in Lentinium will be discovered by the nobles and then completely destroyed.

Therefore, she always kept the title "Steam Knight" firmly in her heart.

So much so that when Qiao Yelan asked her about her wish, she blurted out that she wanted to become a steam knight.

Then Qiao Yelan brought her here, showed her the real steam knights, and even let her stay here to receive training from Uncle Lin Qi and the others.

Although everyone here is kind to her, the sensitive Aldebaran can sense that their care for her is more of a sense of guilt than a reflection of their own father.

The title she heard most often here wasn't Allard Cumberland, but rather—

[The Commander's Daughter]

In other words, they were being so kind to themselves because they were remembering their father, not because they were truly looking out for themselves.

Mr. Joe is the only one who doesn't see himself that way.

He never confused himself with his father, and always affectionately called himself Alleide. This was neither out of guilt towards his father, nor out of any lingering shadow of the man he had been with.

He was just being kind and wanted to help himself.

Aleide wanted to say that she no longer wanted to be a steam knight; she just wanted to follow Qiao Yelan—but her experiences over the years had taught her many things, but none of them had taught her to be willful.

A Grand Duchess of Victoria and a Vice Minister of the Great Yan Dynasty, each of them has their own identity and can only stay where they belong.

Alder has neither the right nor the ability to be willful.

Her best course of action was to silently accept Qiao Yelan's help, stay in the Steam Knights, and receive protection from Lin Qi and the others.

"Mr. Qiao..."

Alde held Qiao Yelan's hand and pressed it against her head, wanting to hold onto this warmth as long as possible—a luxury she considered a luxury.

"I just... can't bear to part with you."

"I know, I will find a chance to come back and see you, or if you have the opportunity, you can come to Dayan to see me."

The man chuckled and continued to comfort her.

"Do I... do I really have a chance to leave Lentinium?"

Aleide suddenly raised her head, a glimmer of hope flashing in her eyes.

"Of course, don't forget your surname, Cumberland—it used to be the surname of one of the eight dukes of Victoria. The other dukes are now acting like tyrants on their own fiefdoms and planning to split Victoria. As a Grand Duke, do you think you can't do the same?"

The devil's sweet whispers are silently changing a girl's heart.

“Kester dares to use you because Cumberland has lost its fiefdom and its army, but if you regain these two things, you will gain power as dazzling as your title—to put it another way, if you can’t escape Londinium, why not make Londinium your territory?”

"Let Londinium...become my territory?"

Alde murmured.

The Duke of Caesars wanted a puppet representative, not an illiterate good-for-nothing—so although she was very strict with Aldée, only her intellectual education and mental training were always conducted to the highest standards.

"The Steam Knights are Victoria's most powerful fighting force. A mere squad is enough to destroy a high-speed airship. This is why the nobles are so wary of them, yet they never dare to act rashly—so they can protect you."

"Conversely, if you can command them to fight for you, it means that the entire nobility of Londinium is utterly vulnerable before you!"

Qiao Yelan tilted his head, like a caring older brother chatting intimately with his younger sister—but if anyone else heard what Qiao Yelan was really saying, they would probably only feel their scalp tingling.

This is Qiao Yelan's purpose.

Alde has no concept of loyalty to King Aslan or to Victoria. What Qiao Yelan needs to do is to actively encourage her to be independent, rather than having her be educated into a loyal and patriotic good girl by the twisted Victoria fans in the Steam Knights.

That's why there was such a conversation—he wanted to reinforce Allard's desire for "freedom".

A caged bird bound since childhood, a child forced to accept cold education when he needed love the most, hates being bound the most.

If Aldebart had continued to grow up in that mansion, and remained firmly in the hands of the Duke of Caesar, then perhaps she would have remained bound, bound until she lost the will to resist that bondage.

But now that Qiao Yelan has let her taste the sweetness of freedom, how could she possibly submit to the constraints of anyone else again?

As for Qiao Yelan, he never lets his chess pieces feel restricted.

He simply incorporated the "freedom" of those chess pieces into the plan.

“Once, those knights without land would use their swords and knives to carve out their own territories in the wilderness—Lentinium was the same. It only appeared vast. Those vulgar and incompetent nobles had no ability or means to control it. Therefore, it was nothing more than a wilderness made of steel.”

“Aldey, your father proved himself to be the strongest steam knight by relying on the sword in his hand, and you can do the same—use the sword in your hand to prove yourself.”

The girl listened quietly, her gaze fixed on Qiao Yelan, her eyes growing increasingly resolute.

“When you become the Duke of Cumberland again, no one will dare to take advantage of you, and no one, no rule, will be able to bind you to do whatever you want—because you are the rule itself.”

"Then, Mr. Joe, if I become the Grand Duke of Cumberland, will I be free to do whatever I want and fight for everything I desire with the sword in my own hand?"

A satisfied smile curved the corners of Qiao Yelan's lips.

"of course can."

Very good, everything is going according to plan.

The caged bird, once released, has begun to actively pursue greater freedom.

Cumberland Mansion – the headquarters of the Steam Knights – Londinium.

Every time Aldous escapes one cage, she finds a new one binding her, so she tirelessly tries to break through each one.

She will only find true freedom when she steps onto Qiao Yelan's chessboard.

“Mr. Qiao, no, I'd like to address you more affectionately…”

The girl held Qiao Yelan's hand tightly with both of hers.

She actually wanted to call Qiao Yelan "father," but her final restraint prevented her from acting rationally.

"In the Great Yan Dynasty, people are used to calling their teachers 'Sir'. If you want, you can also call me 'Teacher'. I really like it when people call me 'Teacher'."

Qiao Yelan smiled and let Alede hold her hand.

"is teacher!"

She flashed a radiant smile, a smile she hadn't shown in six years.

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

"Your Excellency Oren Messenger, I am sorry, but I think I must go ahead. His Majesty the Emperor of Great Yan has sent an urgent secret letter summoning me back to the capital. Moreover, I have completed all my business in Victoria, so I have no time to stay any longer. Therefore, I can only ask you to remain here and await the outcome."

Qiao Yelan said apologetically.

“There is no need for an apology. You still bear the responsibilities of your official position, unlike me, who relinquished my post and left Lateran. I only hope that His Holiness the Pope will scold me less. Moreover, I know how difficult it is to get Victoria to accept the proposal of the Messenger of Nations.”

Oren shook his head. He knew very well that Lateran was not a powerful nation like Great Yan, and its demands were not mutually beneficial policies like those of Great Yan. Therefore, it was inevitable that the council would discuss it repeatedly.

Of course, it's hard to say whether some woman with only one horn on her head was venting her personal grievances.

After all, Qiao Yelan had already instructed them to agree, but if it still hasn't been approved...

The man silently shrugged, indicating that he couldn't help.

"How have you felt during your time in Lentinium?"

"I have many feelings, but the biggest feeling is that we Sakorta people are so lucky."

Oren gave a wry smile.

“I’m not some hothouse flower that only lives in the holy city of Laterano, but many things can’t be seen clearly in a fleeting glance during a mission—even though I’ve tried my best to downplay the image of Terra and exaggerate the image of Laterano, I can only realize that I still underestimated the gap after truly experiencing it.”

"I...I can't imagine that in the capital of a powerful country, in what is probably the most prosperous mobile city in the country, there are so many people who live worse than pigs and dogs, so many people who live like pigs and dogs, and so many pigs and dogs who live like humans."

"Evil is something so far removed from Sakorta..."

The man let out a sigh.

The Sarkaz, who possess empathy, are both fortunate and unfortunate. This unity makes them invincible, yet it also keeps them away from the real Terra and prevents them from understanding human suffering.

If it weren't for the fact that everyone in Sarkaz, from men and women to the young and old, was a qualified gunslinger and truly achieved universal mobilization, it would be hard to imagine that Laterano could still exist on Terra.

What do you want to do?

"I'm looking for some Sarkaz who haven't lived in the Holy City."

Oren revealed his plans.

“When I was still a Cardinal of the Seventh Hall, I did some statistics in private—I found that Sarkaz who grew up in Laterano could live comfortably in Laterano or other cities, but Sarkaz who grew up outside of Laterano could not live in Laterano for long.”

The man recounted this investigation report, which was virtually unknown to anyone.

“I also asked these people, and although their answers varied, the logic was almost the same—they preferred to return to where they grew up and live with their poor neighbors and friends rather than to the fairytale-like Lateran.”

"why?"