Gratitude and Grudges Settled

Teacher Daina and Doctor Bion sat beside a glass window in the hotel café. Teacher Daina had turned her face to the side, gazing at the scenery in the greenhouse-like garden inside the hotel, one hand lightly stirring a cup of coffee on the table with a silver spoon.

Just that profile was enough to make Zhang Tie stop at the entrance to the café and stare blankly for nearly half a minute.

Doctor Bion was the first to notice Zhang Tie's arrival. An exaggeratedly delighted expression appeared on his face, and he sprang from his chair. "Ah, Teacher Daina, the person I told you about is here!"

Teacher Daina turned her head and saw Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie had rehearsed this scene countless times in his mind over the past two days. Thus, upon seeing Teacher Daina, a startled expression appeared on his face. "Ah, Teacher Daina, why are you here?"

Upon hearing Zhang Tie's words, Doctor Bion, who was about to walk over, nearly fell flat on the floor. The implications contained in that one "Teacher Daina" made the corners of his eyes twitch. After hearing Zhang Tie say it, he did not even need to pretend—an astonished look naturally surfaced on his face. No matter how hard Doctor Bion racked his brains, he could not understand why this officer from the Norman Empire's powerful military apparatus had a teacher-student relationship with the Daina he knew. Nor could he understand why, if Zhang Tie already knew Daina, he had dragged him into this. In short, the entire affair reeked of something bizarre to Doctor Bion, but he did not dare investigate the truth behind it.

Teacher Daina looked at Zhang Tie, and surprise and astonishment flashed through her eyes as well. She had not expected that the person