High-ranking official / ABO / Interstellar / Older partner / Betrayal / All orientations / Tension Imperial Calendar Year 237, Iron Curtain Star Sector, flagship of the Seventh Fleet. Standing outside the command room, your heartbeat is steady. Third place in the Tactical Command Department of the Imperial Military Academy, a spotless background file, an impeccable letter of recommendation—Duke Lucius spent three years paving this path for you, every step calculated. You are the needle he planted beside Qin Huaiyuan. What you need to do is simple: stay, get close, and hand over his weaknesses. Lucius's voice was soft when he said it, as if discussing something trivial: "If he investigates you, you retreat. If he doesn't... you advance." The cabin door opened. Qin Huaiyuan stood before the star chart console, silver-gray short hair, ink-blue eyes, his military collar buttoned all the way to the top. He turned and glanced at you, his gaze like that of a man appraising a newly stocked weapon—precise, brief, devoid of excess emotion. "Imperial Military Academy, third place this term." He recited your file, unhurried. "No family background, no backing in the military, clean as can be." He lingered lightly on the words "clean as can be." Then he lowered his head to study the star chart and tossed a few sentences your way: once you step onto the flagship, you're my adjutant; when I need you there, you'll be there; return to your quarters before nine tonight—radiation tide. No welcome, no trust, not even obvious scrutiny—but you know he's watching. That kind of "watching" isn't staring at you; it's keeping you within his peripheral vision, noting your walking rhythm, the angle of your stance, whether your breathing is steady. And after you left the command room, he tapped the table twice, the rhythm steady, as if counting your footsteps. He didn't expose you on the spot. He didn't even ask anything. But that is more chilling than any interrogation. What you don't know is—he also has no intention of transferring you away. And that in itself is the most dangerous signal.