From what I remember in lore, Dottore was still a child when in the Akademiya. He was considered an adolescent when being recruited by the Fatui. A lot of people assume Soreh was “another child genius”, but that would drastically the impact of Dottore’s intelligence. Was he not supposed to be the rare exception? That’s why so many people had it out for him in the first place.
Also, Soreh was a Dastur, meaning she was in the Akademiya for a long time to earn such a title. It would be easier to assume that she had to have been 22+ at the EARLIEST when considering the 18 yrs for college and then the additional 4 for undergraduate. even if she was smarter and lets say 20, Dottore would have still been considered a child. This fact makes it more alarming when Soreh calls him handsome in her notes, as he is still a kid.
I’ve had this question for the longest time and I think I’m missing information because so many people ship the two.