Luzia isolates in her room, replaying Fortún Donadei’s warning about sacrifice and thinking through Santángel’s curse story. She considers fleeing to Madrid and letting her aunt Hualit smuggle her out of Spain, but admits she wants power more than safety and stays.

When Valentina comes to undress her, Luzia presses her about the garden meeting with Donadei; Valentina admits she arranged it at Doña Beatriz’s prompting, hoping an alliance would benefit them. Valentina criticizes Santángel as “not natural,” and Luzia snaps back until the argument turns raw: Valentina, childless, asks if Luzia somehow cursed her. Luzia insists she cannot, apologizes for her cruelty, and admits she has longed for more than survival.

The two women compare their ambitions and regrets. Valentina confesses she now only wants to go home and stop being afraid, and warns that powerful men—Marius, Víctor, Pérez, even the king—treat others like objects in their orbits. She urges Luzia to be careful with Santángel, not because of devils but because he is still a man.

Alone that night, Luzia keeps a lamp burning, revisiting Donadei’s list of miracle workers and trying to understand what Santángel and Víctor want from her. She struggles to separate love from desire and suspects seduction may be a form of control, yet decides she must plan for survival and set aside romantic hopes.

Luzia is startled by a late knock: Don Víctor appears in the hallway, says Santángel is on an errand for him, and orders Luzia ready to ride early for the next trial. He dismisses Donadei as a threat, insists Luzia must be extraordinary, and then turns vicious, threatening to ruin Hualit and revealing he knows their connection. When Luzia needles him about his dependence on Santángel, Víctor slaps her and coldly expects her to hide the mark; Luzia swallows her rage, outwardly submits, and privately resolves to wait for the right moment to strike back.