>>5378118>>5378124>>5378135"Why are you comfortable with sharing this with me?" You wonder why he suddenly blurted that out to you. "Farnese is the one who you owe an explanation, not me."
"Well, you wanted some dirt on The Vandimions, didn't you? There you have it. Besides, with Lady Farnese and the others already opening up to you, I could only hope that some of your magic worked on me."
"What am I, a confessionary?"
"A confidant. Should you find it too bothersome of your time, you can pretend that this conversation never happened."
"You just dropped a bomb on me! How can I forget this? I don't even know what to make of this information."
Serpico sighs feeling hurt and questioning his trust in you.
Not meaning to offend you, you attempt to shift your composure before he leaves.
"You have been easing Farnese's burdens more than I could, Vlad. It's only natural that you came to learn a secret that she doesn't even know of..."
"I rather let you be the one telling her the message yourself."
"I'm not sure it would be fair to reveal that, given her neglected feelings... Or what came after I found that out."
Serpico then explains what happened to his mother, being dragged into a sanitorium as her condition worsened to the point where she mistook him for her lover. The closest she would ever receive from a visit from Frederico.
"Is she still alive?" You ask, though already knowing the answer.
"..."
Groaning, you become too curious to cease your probing, looking for an answer by entering his mind.
"Well done, Lady Farnese. We've managed to finally strike at the headquarters of those devil-worshippers. Who would have thought their den would be a sanatorium?" His mind wanders to the same year your parents disappeared, when they were still eagerly burning heretics at stakes.
"Sanatorium?" Serpico uncharacteristically walked over to the victims about to be cleansed, hoping he didn't find any familiar faces...
"...Mother?!" Serpico's torch trembled as it's flames grew short, lighting the face of a smiling old woman."
"Serpico? What's gotten into yo-"
"She's..."
"Did he just say something?"
"I believe he said, 'Mother'?" The inquisitors interrupt Farnese's interruption as they overhead his fearful voice.
"I-Impossible! A relative of the Holy Army, a heretic?"
"But he said it so himself!"
"Yes, but..." Farnese attempts to defend her knight as he approaches the insane elderly victim of persecution.
"Oh! My dear husband, how long has it been? Was our son of use to you? He did not disgrace the family, did he?"
Despite how much his mother brought him down and he wished death upon her for the abuse and pressure, to do so in this moment felt like a betrayal of what Serpico stood for, an ironic way for her take revenge for ever thinking he could stray from his past."
