CHAPTER 67: TAKE YOUR TIME

Kevin chuckled. "But she didn’t. She won. Quite brilliantly, might I add. That Qin blood really shows."

Eros’ expression darkened slightly at the mention of her surname. "So it’s true?"

"Yes. She’s the youngest of the Qin family. The only daughter. Her eldest brother, Alexander Qin, is in the imperial research corps. While Amiel, her third brother, is in business. The family has been... quiet about her existence for years." Kevin hesitated before adding, "I suppose they were preparing her for the military academy."

Eros leaned back, silent. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the desk. "And the engagement?"

Kevin sighed. "Still valid. The Empire arranged it two years ago as a political alliance. You know that. The Qin family’s influence and your military position make a perfect match for the crown’s long-term plan. Your union was predetermined, and the imperial oracle has set this in stone."

The Marshal’s amber eyes narrowed. "I told the Emperor I had no interest in a political marriage. I will annul this binding."

"And yet you can’t. Unless you can convince the imperial oracle that she made a wrong prophecy."

Eros exhaled through his nose, rubbing his temples. The faint glow of the monitor reflected in his eyes as he stared at the feed again, Ahce washing her hands in a small stream, tying her hair into a loose braid. She looked utterly unaware of the storm she had created back home.

Kevin broke the silence. "She’s older than you, you know. Seven years, if I remember correctly."

"Then she’s also more experienced in surviving dangerous situations, apparently," Eros said dryly.

"Are you finally willing to enter this marriage with such an outstanding partner?" Kevin teased lightly, though his tone carried genuine curiosity.

Eros’ gaze remained fixed on the girl on screen. "Do you want me to get married to a freshman student?"

Kevin laughed under his breath. "Eros, she’s older than you and has been away from home for years. She’s not just some student, she’s the Qin family’s hidden card."

The Marshal didn’t answer. His expression hardened again, the soldier’s mask sliding back into place. "I’m a busy man, Kevin. I don’t have time for this... spectacle."

Kevin shrugged. "Busy or not, she’s your fiancée. And half the Empire now ships you two together. Starnet is filled with edits of your battle footage side by side."

Eros raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "I don’t even know her. I don’t need this marriage. She’s a stranger."

When Kevin finally left his office, the room fell into silence again. The only sound was the soft hum of the monitor and the faint tapping of Eros’ fingers against the desk.

On the screen, Ahce was sitting under a tree, sharpening her saber with calm focus. Her expression was serene, but her movements were precise, fast. She didn’t fidget, didn’t hesitate. Every action had a purpose.

Eros’s amber eyes narrowed slightly. Something about her drew his attention more than he cared to admit. There was a quiet strength there, not the kind born from training, but from solitude. She wasn’t trying to prove herself. She simply was.

He reached over and turned off the audio feed, muttering to himself.

"I don’t even know her..."

But his gaze lingered for a long time before the screen finally went dark.

Meanwhile, in the galaxy-wide network, Ahce’s name dominated every feed. Discussion threads speculated about her family, her training, even her rumored engagement to the Northern Marshal.

[Wait, is it true she’s engaged to Marshal Yin?]

[No way! The youngest marshal and the Qin heiress? That’s too perfect!]

[No way! The marshal is an extraordinary existence! I won’t agree to this marriage!]

[She doesn’t even know he’s watching her, does she?]

[Duh! The marshal is busy, don’t assume he will watch such a broadcast.]

[Poor girl. Imagine surviving monsters just to get political marriage drama.]

[But this union was already published by the military two years ago!]

[I remember this post, too! But he wasn’t a marshal back then.]

Memes, edits, theories, her name was everywhere.

But on Planet Rhino, Ahce remained blissfully unaware of her fame. She was too busy tightening the last ropes on her bamboo hut, wiping sweat from her forehead, and thinking about how to make the walls more stable against the night winds.

-

When Ahce woke up the next morning, the sunlight spilling through the thin bamboo slats painted golden lines across the floor of her small hut. The air smelled of damp earth and salt carried from the distant sea, hinting that she was close to a coastal area. The previous week had been an unending blur of labor, cutting, hauling, and shaping materials by hand.

Now, her home finally looked like a true shelter.

The bamboo hut, though small, stood firmly on its four thick posts, elevated slightly above the ground to keep moisture and crawling insects away. The walls were tightly woven with dried bamboo strips, reinforced with a thin layer of mud that dried into a pale gray color under the sun.

Inside, she had built simple furniture, a sleeping platform covered with broad leaves, a low table, and a few storage racks crafted from the smaller bamboo poles she’d gathered earlier. It was minimal, but it was hers.

Outside, she began working on the final part of her little sanctuary, a fence.

At first, she wasn’t sure what material to use. The forest around her offered plenty of wood, but wooden fences would burn easily or be broken by stronger beasts. She needed something more permanent, something natural yet solid.

After scouting nearby areas, she found a patch of stony terrain by the hillside, where rough, palm-sized rocks lay scattered. Ahce spent the entire morning carrying them back in bundles, her muscles aching and her shirt clinging to her skin with sweat.

Each stone she stacked was carefully placed, the gaps filled with the sticky mud she mixed using water and crushed leaves. To her surprise, the soil here had strange properties, almost as if it contained an elemental trace of metal and earth. Once the mud dried, it hardened into something like cement.