Moonbird- "Ah, yes. This old quandary. I know it had name before this, but I'd always heard it as the Deceleration Problem, a loathed sim scenario among officers, raiders, and fledgling captains everywhere. A starship is coming in system, and, for some reason, the deceleration budget has been drained unexpectedly. So they can't slow down, and to make matters worse the system's laser array is offline, which sounds improbable but does happen. The starship is moving at speeds entirely inappropriate for a populated system, and there's the real chance the vessel is going to do some damage when it blazes out of control past the habitation swarm. Oh, and all of your friends, compatriots, and even some copies of yourself are on said starship, which you are responsible for stopping. Occasionally there's a third ship carrying some bauble that can rescue civilization, save that and destroy the other two if you can handle such a contrivance.
"It's an absurd scenario, I know, and one clearly invented for the aims of philosophers and not soldiers or travelers. But everyone faces this sim at some point, and, like it or not, how you choose to handle it ends up as a permanent point on your brag sheet. They come up in Real too, but each of them are unique, and what kind of person thinks they're smart being tested in the hypothetical with such unwinables? Who enjoys these meaningless trials, or thinks it improves their tactics when the situation is real and pressing? Who can perceive the real meaning behind such tests, where the intent of the tester and their agenda is always a third or fourth layer that must be accounted for. Who finds them funny? If the problem comes up in a crisis, my choice is to deal with the situation as necessary, makes the decisions I think best at the time, and deal with the consequences. Otherwise it's just some idiotic game wasting useful memory.
Sorry for playing with the question, Moonbird is trying to make sense of it as much as she can understand it in her context. And she refuses to answer it straight on because she's a little defensive about it and is the kind of person that would trying to save everyone, every time, no matter how stupidly that turns out.
Your MC gets some money to build a modest palace. The palace must have a lavish bedroom, big hall, and spooky basement where the MC keeps something secret. Plus whatever else you want, and define 'palace' as loosely as you desire.