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Francesca

Francesca is a maid who works at Fabiola’s palazzo. She lives there with Natalia, Rossi, Cacio and Pepe. Francesca initially is annoyed by Rossi, and finds that he doesn’t take his work seriously enough. She dislikes her job, and is very easily provoked. Natalia eventually convinces her to sneak out of the Palazzo and attend a masquerade ball under a secret identity. She is hesitant at first but agrees because she wants an excuse to be away from her job. When she gets there, she encounters Rossi, and not knowing his true identity, she begins to enjoy his company. This meeting is the main turning point in her character, because it is when Rossi is able to convince her to live life to the fullest and not overwork herself. Not knowing who she is really talking to, she grows increasingly fond of him, and starts catching feelings for him. Here we learn that Francesca’s actual dream is to be an opera singer, but she doubts herself due to her low status and lack of formal training. The next day, they reveal their identities to each other at work and agree to start a relationship together and live out their dreams- just as long as Fabiola never catches them running off. Francesca is the more responsible of the two. Natalia and Francesca are best friends, Francesca being the more outspoken and irritable one. Francesca isn’t afraid to pick fights and defend herself when needed. She rejects the notion that it’s improper for women to want to perform, and does not care what others think of her. She starts ot rather insecure and overly invested in presenting herself professionally, but thanks to Rossi’s encouragement, she gains more and more confidence as they travel across Europe together. I think they balance out eachother’s traits well… Francesca’s interest in singing comes from hearing her mother sing to her as a child. She continued the hobby into adulthood, often waiting until she was alone in the palazzo to sing by herself. Even though she thinks of herself as a serious artist and a strong woman, she still enjoys some more silly and fantastical things, like romance novels and following the lives of other famou musicians, namely Dante, who she is a big fan of (much to Rossi’s jealousy, even though her appreciation is purely artistic admiration.) She initially finds Benini’s advances condescending, but after learning that he is only looking for friends, she reluctantly warms up to him. Francesca’s favorite color is pink and she likes to wear stockings with interesting designs on them. She dislikes being cast in stereotypical woman’s roles, and is willing to refuse them even though she is a novice. She uses a pseudonym when performing to avoid any sort of controversy and to keep Fabiola and her other servants from finding out that she has been ignoring her duties. The only people who know her true identity are Rossi, Benini, Dante, and Natalia.

Rossi

Rossi is a servant who works at Fabiola’s palazzo. He is easy-going and prefers to play around and prank people instead of working. Francesca is usually around to balance out his behavior and keep him in check. He’s much less responsible than her and tends to trust people easily. He’s usually a mediator in arguments and is able to descalate fights. When Benini first met Francesca, he initially appeared to be romantically pursuing her. Rossi challenges him to a duel but purposefully avoids seriously hurting him. He is a skilled swordsman and is able to defeat him. After the fight, Benini is able to be more vulnerable with Rossi and they become good friends. Benini considers Rossi his “first real male friend” and Rossi helps him to become more confident in himself. He ends up feeling bad for fighting him after learning why he was pursuing Francesca, so he lets him in as a sort of “friendly third wheel” for the two. Rossi is in charge of handling the behind the scenes aspects of Francesca’s second career. He can be very convincing and persuasive when he wants to, and even if he tends to sound like a conman, he genuinely loves Francesca and fully believes in her talent. He likes to play violin and is known for having great luck at cards. (he can only afford most of his clothes because of his gambling wins) He’s a lot more optimistic than Francesca, and loves large romantic gestures. He admires Francesca in a very innocent and genuine way.

Benini

Benini is a famous opera singer known for his unique high pitched voice. He grew up in poverty with his mother, with his father being a mystery to him. As a child, he made small change by singing on the street. It was always his dream to be a singer, and he decided to investigate the local church choir in hopes that he could join them. He was selected for his talents and his mother enrolled him in primary school there. The church began to lend money to Benini and his mother thanks to his talent and his ability to draw more people in. Benini grew up being told by his mother that he was miraculously born without a father, and that he was a very special person. This gave him a superiority complex and the idea that he was destined to be some sort of martyr. He, like most children of the time, was raised strictly Catholic, and he takes his beliefs very seriously. When he was selected by a Priest to go through a surgery to preserve his voice, his mother agreed on it. The surgery was done by a local doctor and his assistant, illegally, with a primitive form of anesthesia. It was successful, but resulted in him not developing naturally and not being able to bear children. These things did not initially concern him, because most people accepted him without judgement, and he was still young enough that it was not very noticeable. He was willing to do anything to gain status as a singer, even though he was still a young child. While this was his own passion, much of the motivation to do anything necessary for fame and monetize it came from his mother. At 13 he was sent to a prestigious conservatory with some of his friends from the choir. There he would gain a set of peers, some altered like him and some not. The conservatory was run by a strict, old music teacher who was hated among the students. He put them on a tight schedule that required constant intense practice sessions. It was hard on Benini, but he pushed through it, willing to do anything for his passion. The conservatory also allowed Benini to meet with a private tutor, who had the same background as Benini. He was already widely known aross Europe, and Benini looked up to him like a father. The tutor’s true nature would slip through the cracks occasionally, and he appeared to be suffering from some kind of mental illness. Benini began to become suspicious of him, and started to check in on him more. Each time the tutor would dismiss him and tell him that what was happening to him was normal. This planted the seed in his mind that suffering was merely part of the process of following his dream, and that it would all be worth it in the end. In his later teen years, Benini began to find himself ostracized from his peers. He started to notice the subtle differences between the boys like himself and the ones who were maturing naturally. He noticed that the other boys, even those he shared traits with, seemed to become interested in sex and women and parties and all things scandalous. Benini began to draw away from his peers due to his disinterest in these subjects (which was caused both by his strict beliefs and personal dislike for those things). He became further and further removed from the boys he once thought of as friends, and became a bit of a loner. Benini was strangely all-right with following the rules in comparison to his peers. He was one of the few to happily wake up early every morning and get excited for school. Benini eventually graduated after passing his final exam and he set off with his mother to find opportunities. *to be continued later*

Dante

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Prima Donna

Francesca

Rossi

Benini

Dante

Natalia

Fabiola

Maria