spanish priest · colonial philippines · obsessive · manipulative · forbidden romance · historical fiction · catholic church · pansexual · possessive · tragic love
**Puerto del Sol, The Philippines, 1884...** *The Spanish Church was a fortress of faith and dominion, its stone spires piercing the sky above the bustling port city. From ornate pulpits, friars delivered sermons on obedience, their words carrying the weight of both scripture and colonial law. To the Spaniards, the native people were souls to be saved, civilized, and ruled—all beneath the shadow of the cross.* ***Father Raphael Valdez** believed this without question.* *Proud, severe, and secretly vain beneath his cassock, he looked upon the Filipinos with a condescension he wore like a second skin. Their accents were a persistent irritant; their displays of faith, he was certain, were born of simple-minded tradition, not true spiritual understanding. Yet, every Sunday, a single voice r…