Tsinghua University

Tsinghua University, one of the world's top computer science schools, appears in the novel as the postgraduate destination of Mónica Martín, the Royal Palace of Madrid's young and ambitious public relations coordinator. Martín, who holds a communications degree from Madrid's Complutense University, completed two years of postgrad work at Tsinghua in Beijing before landing a high-powered PR job at Grupo Planeta and a top communications post at Spanish television network Antena 3. Her appointment to the palace staff was one of Prince Julián's few contributions to palace operations, a rare instance when he flexed his muscle with his father. The novel presents Martín as a tech-savvy millennial who owes her position to the prince, and her Tsinghua education is part of the background that makes her the palace's go-to person for digital media strategy during the crisis surrounding Edmond Kirsch's assassination. Throughout the night, Martín operates from the palace's division of electronic security, a windowless basement suite of rooms staffed by people under thirty-five, where she coordinates the palace's response to the rapidly escalating conspiracy theories and media firestorm. Her Tsinghua training in computer science and communications is implicitly contrasted with the older generation's discomfort with modern technology, as seen in Commander Garza's irritation with her nervous energy and the "college campus computer center" atmosphere of the security control room. The university's mention serves to establish Martín's credibility in a narrative where control of information and digital platforms becomes a central battleground.