"I would have done as Caterina asked," Lucanis says, and that's the sad truth of it.

He didn't want it, at all. But if she'd told him to take it, he would have. It was entirely possible her favor would have shifted to Illario anyway with Lucanis now being an abomination. It probably would have been. That would have been the ideal scenario - everyone got what they wanted, more or less. Illario might be happy then. Him and Caterina could finally come to an understanding.