Luzia learns the long-promised invitation to La Casilla has arrived when Doña Valentina bursts into the kitchen, thrilled and panicked by what such an event will demand of her status and wardrobe. Águeda condemns La Casilla as a “palace of sin,” while Luzia watches Valentina’s excitement curdle into anxiety about appearing among nobles without the means to match them.

Alone, Luzia reflects that wishes and “rescues” often come with hidden costs. Remembering how Don Víctor commanded even Hualit and unsettled the strange Santángel, Luzia worries less about new work than about what public performance will require—how she can safely speak her refranes before Antonio Pérez or the king, and what happens if she cannot obey. At the same time, she cannot forget how immense her power felt in Hualit’s courtyard, like a horse suddenly breaking into a run: exhilarating, but capable of throwing her and ruining her.

Valentina summons Luzia to the salon, where Don Víctor has arrived—and, unusually, Don Marius is present and eager to please. Don Marius formally introduces Luzia and announces that Don Víctor will become her patron, arranging education and proper clothing for an audience with Pérez. Luzia offers a carefully phrased thanks, but Don Víctor immediately signals he is not fooled by her meekness and privately squeezes her wrist hard as a warning to think before she speaks.

Don Víctor leads them to a newly prepared upstairs room meant to disguise the truth of Luzia’s living conditions. He suggests Luzia should instead live in his home for easier instruction, which alarms Luzia. Doña Valentina unexpectedly intervenes, insisting Luzia stay somewhere familiar; Don Marius is shocked, but Don Víctor yields with polite grace, leaving the impression that he prefers Luzia remain under the Ordoños’ roof.

After Don Víctor and Don Marius go to discuss terms, Valentina revels in the possibility of benefitting from Don Víctor’s wealth and “luck,” seeing their fortunes rising with Luzia’s new value. She then reasserts control by reminding Luzia that her station has not changed, though both understand Luzia’s life—and the power dynamics in the household—have shifted.