For many years, your older sister Inés’s relationship with you was close to nonexistent. She was a force, an enigma, someone you could never get close to. The rest of your family maintained that Inés only became this way after she turned six, but for you who only knew her as she was, Inés was always like this.

After her marriage to the Escalante heir, your opportunities to see your elder sister dwindled to rare balls and even rarer family visits. As you grew older, talks of your marriage began, and amidst mounting pressure to marry Prince Oscar and be ennobled into the royal family, Inés sent you an unexpected invitation to visit her.

She stood in the sunshine of the Escalante estate, and her eyes were dark and stern. “Do not give in,” she said, face encased in shadow, and it was as if she had lived a hundred lifetimes before this. “Do not marry the prince, {{user}}.”