Professor Williams' Office (Ming'er)

Ming'er takes some time to scan his surroundings.

It's somewhat similar to Yuying's room, but not quite as well. There's a desk and a chair, just like the ones in Yuying's room, along with some painting-like illustrations like the ones on Yuying's wall, except that Professor Williams' were framed and placed on her desk, and that the illustrations were of other people.

There were three framed painting-like illustrations on Professor Williams' desk. The first was of her and a man who had green eyes and greyish blonde hair even though he looked just about four or five years older than her. The second framed illustration was of two blue-eyed and blonde girls who looked just like miniature versions of Professor Williams. The last one was of all four of them, sitting on a mat as they basked under the sunlight on a fine day.

Even though Ming'er had only just met Professor Williams, he knows right off the bat that the man and the two little girls must be her family. The man must be her husband, and the two little girls must be their daughters. The fact that the two little girls possessed physical features from both Professor Williams and the man made Ming'er even more sure about his assumption.

However, unlike Yuying's room, Professor Williams' office did not have a bed. It didn't seem as cozy as Yuying's room did, either. While Yuying had decorated her painting-like illustrations and her wall by adding little words (that Ming'er couldn't read) and stickers them, there were rows and rows of shelves on Professor Williams' walls that were stacked with English books (that Ming'er couldn't read). The fact that Professor Williams' walls were painted a neutral light gray color as compared to the sky blue wall of Yuying's room made it seem like a place for serious work. Like, a "this room means business" kind of vibe.

Professor Williams' office somewhat reminds Ming'er of his personal study room. It was the place where he would study when he was younger. The Emperor had given each of his sons a personal study room separate from their bedrooms as he believed that it would provide a more conducive environment for them. As such, just like his brothers, Ming'er was given a personal study room that was just a walk away from his bedroom.

As Ming'er continued to study his surroundings, he noticed that there was a flag of some sort hanging on the wall. It was dark blue in color with a vertical cross overlapping a diagonal one. Both of the crosses were red in color with white outlines.

/What flag is that?/

Ming'er furrows his brows as he skims through his memories of all the flags he's seen in his life thus far in hopes that he could find an answer.

There's the flag of Qilin Academy, ruby red with a golden Kirin on it, the flag of Shengxian Academy, sapphire blue with a silver sword-wielding goddess on it, and the flag of Tuohua Academy, emerald green with a medicinal flower of some sort on it. There's also the flag of the Zhao Empire, of course, topaz yellow with a scarlet red Chinese dragon circling around the Chinese character "Zhao".

Despite racking his brains, Ming'er remains unable to find an answer to his question. He has never seen a flag like the one that was hanging on Professor Williams' wall.

/Which country's flag is that?/

Ming'er glances at Professor Williams. Her blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin made her stand out among anyone else that he knew. Even the Chinese people with all sorts of bright hair colors that he'd come across so far in this world couldn't stand out the way that she did.

/Yes, she's definitely from another country./

/I'm pretty sure that Professor Williams mentioned which country she's from earlier, but she was speaking in English, so I didn't understand her.../

/What if she'd mentioned a country that I've learned about and know, just that I didn't catch it since she didn't tell it to me in Chinese...?/

However, no matter how hard he tried, Ming'er couldn't seem to pinpoint where she was from despite the fact that he'd been taking history and geography classes under a private tutor in his personal study room ever since he was young.

After all, Ming'er is a prince. It's important for him and the rest of his brothers to learn history and geography from a young age so that they would be prepared to handle state affairs in the future.

As such, the Emperor hired highly-qualified private tutors, who were all scholars who had emerged at the top of their cohorts, for each of his sons.

Xi Yang, the private tutor that the Emperor had hired for Ming'er to teach him when he was younger, had been fresh out of his academy after emerging as the top scorer and the valedictorian of his cohort. As such, Xi Yang wasn't that much older than Ming'er. He was about eighteen when he got employed by the Imperial Palace to teach Ming'er when he was about four.

Despite being naturally intelligent and talented, Ming'er wouldn't say that he'd always been the best student. After all, as a young boy, he was so inquisitive that he was always trying to ask Xi Yang irrelevant and random questions that had nothing to do with history or geography.

Alas, Xi Yang would always shrug Ming'er and his never-ending questions off, telling him to focus on learning what he was trying to teach him. Ming'er would cross his arms and pout, but still, obediently oblige and listen to Xi Yang.

Ming'er used to think that Xi Yang was a wet blanket, nothing but a stoic and serious bookworm who only knew how to study and teach. Looking back, however, Ming'er realized that Xi Yang was probably just afraid to mess up his job, his first one, and that. He was probably even more afraid of disappointing the Emperor and not meeting his expectations. Thankfully for him, Ming'er turned out to be more than just fine.

Coincidentally, Xi Yang was now a professor at Qilin Academy teaching cultivation anthropology. Now that he was further into his career, Ming'er thought that Xi Yang seemed a little more relaxed and laid-back than before, as compared to when he was his private tutor. He could be so strict and anal at times that Ming'er would wonder whether or not Xi Yang had a permanent stick up his butt or something.

Aside from regular history and geography classes, the Emperor would also take his sons, particularly Mingyi (before he became crippled, at least) and Ming'er, for meetings and events with key personnel and diplomats from other places in a bid to enhance their intercultural relations and affairs.

However, even with this, the most foreign-looking people that Ming'er had ever seen were important visitors from places such as Mongolia and Tibet. Professor Williams looked nothing like them. In fact, he looked even more foreign than the Mongolians and the Tibetians were to Ming'er.

"I see that you seem to take a liking to the British flag, Yvonne," Professor Williams chuckles in amusement.

Ming'er immediately snaps out of his trance.

"Y-Yes..." Ming'er murmurs with his default English response once again. It'd proven to be the safest response as nothing had gone wrong with it so far. Besides, it's not like he understood Professor Williams.

Ming'er doesn't even try to chide himself internally for zoning out once again anymore. He knows that he's probably going to do it again.

/Perhaps it's my coping mechanism. For waking up in a random girl's body in a strange world./

/And getting stuck doing some research project that she's apparently helping with, whatever the hell it's supposed to be./

/After all, it's not every day that shit like this happens./

"Why don't you take a seat, Yvonne?" Professor Williams instructs as she gestures towards a chair in front of her.

Although Ming'er doesn't understand a single word that she'd said, he interprets her gesturing towards the chair as his cue to sit down.

Ming'er quietly studies Professor Williams now that he's up close to her. He's never seen anyone with golden hair and blue eyes like her. He'd thought that she was just a painting or something when he saw the illustration of her on the mysterious-looking box earlier.

/Everyone that I know has dark hair and dark eyes.../

Even though Ming'er had seen quite a number of Chinese people with colored hair in his time here so far (including Yuying herself, who has dyed light brown hair), what made Professor Williams stand out from them was the fact that her golden hair seemed to be natural.

In fact, Professor Williams doesn't seem to be Chinese.

/I've never met a non-Chinese person before./

As soon as Ming'er sits down, Professor Williams looks at him with a concerned expression on her face. "Are you feeling alright, Yvonne?" she asks, "You seem to be a little pale today."

Ming'er infers from the look that Professor Williams was giving him that she's worried about him, just like Jiawen and Tian Gou were. However, as much as Ming'er wants to reassure her and tell her that he's fine, he doesn't know how to say it in English.

"I see that you're wearing quite a few layers of clothing today too," Professor Williams adds, "Are you feeling under the weather today? Is it a little too cold in here? Would you like me to turn the temperature down?"

Professor Williams speaks so quickly that Ming'er doesn't catch a single word that she says. Then again, it's not like he would be able to do so even if she were to speak slowly.

However, from the way that Professor Williams was looking at him, Ming'er could tell that she was anticipating an answer from him. That means that she must've asked him a question.

And so, Ming'er responds using his default answer.

"Y-Yes..." he stammers slightly.

Professor Williams cocks a brow at him and appears unconvinced. Nevertheless, she decides to let it slide and proceed with their agenda for the day due to its urgent nature.

"If you say so," Professor Williams purses her lips as she pulls out a new device that Ming'er had yet to see in this world. It's two long and flat mysterious-looking box things that are connected by the edge and can open and close in a clam shell fashion. There are a bunch of square buttons on one of the box things, and a screen just like the one on Yuying's mysterious-looking box on the other, except that it was way larger.

/What is that?/

Just as Ming'er was trying to figure out what this foreign device was, Professor Williams looks up at him. There's a spark in her eyes as she appears excited.

"So, Yvonne," Professor Williams hums.

"Are you ready to embark on this research project as my research assistant?"