The chap­ter “Ten Years Lat­er” fol­lows June Iparis on her 27th birth­day as she reflects on the past decade of her life. She recounts cel­e­bra­tions from pre­vi­ous years, includ­ing qui­et din­ners with friends, inter­na­tion­al trips, and mile­stones like becom­ing the youngest lead com­man­der in Repub­lic his­to­ry. Her rela­tion­ship with Elec­tor Anden evolved from a roman­tic part­ner­ship to a mutu­al sep­a­ra­tion, though she remains fierce­ly pro­tec­tive of him. Despite the joys and sor­rows of adult­hood, June acknowl­edges that noth­ing com­pares to the tragedies of her teenage years, par­tic­u­lar­ly the loss of her broth­er Metias and her com­pli­cat­ed bond with Day.

June spends her birth­day over­see­ing Anden’s secu­ri­ty dur­ing diplo­mat­ic talks with Colonies del­e­gates, proud of his progress in fos­ter­ing uni­ty between for­mer ene­mies. Lat­er, she vis­its Metias’s memo­r­i­al, where she emo­tion­al­ly con­fronts the fact that she has now reached the age he was when he died. She shares updates about her life with his ghost, find­ing solace in the imag­ined com­fort of his pres­ence. The vis­it under­scores her endur­ing grief and the weight of out­liv­ing her broth­er, a mile­stone that leaves her feel­ing both vul­ner­a­ble and reflec­tive.

After leav­ing the memo­r­i­al, June recon­nects with her dai­ly life, antic­i­pat­ing din­ner with friends Tess and Pas­cao. She mus­es on how Tess’s updates about Day—once frequent—have dwin­dled over the years, though she still cher­ish­es the mem­o­ries. Her thoughts drift to Day, won­der­ing about his hap­pi­ness and where­abouts, reveal­ing her unre­solved feel­ings. The chap­ter cap­tures June’s qui­et resilience, bal­anc­ing duty with per­son­al long­ing, as she nav­i­gates the com­plex­i­ties of adult­hood and loss.

The chap­ter takes a sur­pris­ing turn when June receives a cryp­tic mes­sage from Tess urg­ing her to check the news. A small head­line reveals that Day’s broth­er, Eden, is in Los Ange­les for a job inter­view, imply­ing Day’s return to the city. June’s com­po­sure wavers as she process­es the news, her heart rac­ing at the pos­si­bil­i­ty of see­ing Day again. The chap­ter ends on a note of antic­i­pa­tion, leav­ing June—and the reader—eager to dis­cov­er what this reunion might bring.