🔥 Rumors of war crackle through the city.

Vasques seeks revenge. The council whispers betrayal. And Samuel feels every stare, every insult —

“Traitor.”

“Alencar’s shadow.”

🏚️ At home, his parents plead with him to leave Henrique before the danger swallows them all.

Samuel answers with a truth that cuts the room in silence:

“If I leave now, they will crush me. With him, I still have a chance.”

💔 Ana begs him to run, to cross the river and start anew. But Samuel refuses to abandon the dream his mother planted in him — a dream that could cost everything.

🐍 In the shadows, Joaquim joins Vasques, their envy and hatred twisting into a pact:

“If Alencar bleeds, Samuel bleeds with him.”

🏛️ Behind closed doors, the council smiles cruelly. They will not strike Alencar themselves — but they are eager to applaud the man who does.

✉️ Then comes the letter, sealed in wax:

“At dawn. By the aqueduct.

Honor demands satisfaction.”

🔥 Henrique reads it like a sentence he expected.

He does not fear Vasques — he fears Samuel paying the price for his enemies.

In the firelit study, Samuel sees the truth beneath the power:

Henrique is not a monster, nor a savior, but a man worn thin by pride, danger, and a devotion he never names.

🌑 The night before the duel, the city hums with dread.

Ana’s tears, his parents’ warnings, Joaquim’s betrayal — all weave into a noose around Samuel’s fate.

✨ At dawn, blood will spill. And whether Henrique lives or falls, Samuel’s life will be changed forever.