hungry dogs are never loyal × fp

ø1 : cold

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francesco did not play well with others.

he was withdrawn and seemingly clandestine. a sense of unavailability followed him like a dark cloud—like a threat. the message was clear: francesco was not someone to be toyed with.

despite his prominent presence in the kingdom, the lower townspeople exchanged words about him in soft tones. when they talked about francesco, they had to check their backs twice.

he was the nephew of jacopo pazzi, one of the wealthiest bankers in florence. he had been orphaned at a young age and was raised alongside jacopo's sons, guglielmo and salviati.

it was commonly accepted among the townspeople that the untimely death of francesco's parents was what made him so cold. they rumored that he had grown jagged in the grief, like a shard of glass.

jacopo, the brother of francesco's late father, inherited what was left, including young francesco. he took in his nephew dutifully and lovingly, as any uncle should.

or at least in the public eye, he did.

behind closed doors, things were much different. jacopo, having been bred into selfishness and greed for generations, used francesco as a tool- a mere extension of himself. he aimed to groom the young boy to act as his loyal dog; he strived to use the boy to do his bidding when he was old enough.

as a result, francesco was raised in deprivation and neglect. he quickly learned to keep everyone at a distance and that the only person he could ever rely on was himself.

guglielmo and salviati were exceptions. he had formed such strong ties with his cousins that they could not be severed. the trio knew each other to a level that no man could ever hope to understand.

being the elder of both guglielmo and salviati, he could see the shadows of jacopo's grooming in them, but not nearly to the same degree he experienced. the difference between francesco and his cousins was that jacopo actually loved them; he only pretended to have a place in his heart for francesco.

and so it was that francesco had his own private agenda, one that differed from jacopo's. he played along with jacopo, leading his uncle on with the cloth pulled tight over his eyes. where his uncle believed he was the puppeteer, francesco mastered the strings and made him dance to his own tune.

jacopo tested francesco by asking small things of him that were relatively easy tasks. he was to follow up on unpaid debts to his uncle, oppose the de'medici family in all priori votes, and crush all attempts to undermine his uncle, even if it cost lives.

and francesco kept the act up for years.

although the nephew and uncle couldn't be any more different in appearance and agenda, there was a firm sameness in them that was undeniable. both men could play roles; they both could play roles to manipulate anyone they so pleased, down to a t.

jacopo was hellbent on using his role to bring unmatched glory to the pazzi name.

francesco intended on using his role to smother his uncle once and for all.

it was only a matter of time before the sand in the hourglass ran out and one man would gain the upper hand.

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