Luzia arrives at Hualit’s house expecting soldiers, but finds Vctor de Paredes waiting in the courtyard with a pale companion called Santngel. Vctor appraises Luzia with open disappointment, while Hualit insists Luzia’s value is her obedience and intelligence. Luzia realizes they have come because of the milagrito she performed at Doa Valentina’s party.

Vctor demands that Luzia repeat the trick he says she did for Prez’s spy the night before, confirming the red-bearded man was watching her. Luzia stalls, frightened, claiming there is nothing else she can do, while Santngel bluntly calls her scared and useless and urges Vctor to stop toying with her. Luzia notices Hualit is tense and, unexpectedly, more afraid of Santngel than of Vctor.

Pressed by Hualit to show them, Luzia wonders if her aunt is trying to protect her by letting her fail or if Hualit has set this meeting up as a bargain of her own. Choosing to gamble for safety and patronage, Luzia sings to the dead grapevine with a refrn meant to coax growth. She expects a small miracle—a few grapes—that might impress Vctor without endangering her.

Instead, the magic surges far beyond her control: green shoots burst forth, grapes ripen rapidly, and vines spill across the courtyard, climbing columns, walls, and the roof and choking the fountain. Luzia stops singing in shock, feeling a larger, stronger song echoing inside her, as if her magic is hungry to expand. Vctor is startled but quickly turns eager and possessive, tasting a grape as he takes in the scale of what she can do.

Regaining composure, Vctor gives Luzia an order: an invitation will come through Doa Valentina, and Luzia must accept it. He tells Hualit to make Luzia presentable and leaves with Santngel, who gives Luzia a fleeting look of pity before hiding his face beneath his hood.