...Sorella di Messalina: Romanzo

A bored, anonymous advertisement in a small-town newspaper lures two friends—Alberto, a cautious bank clerk with a poet’s heart, and Piero, a reckless thrill‑seeker—into a game of curiosity and bravado. When they decide to answer under a false name, the note promises a rendezvous that seems absurdly simple: bring a single rose at nine o’clock in an elegant garden. Their differing attitudes—Alberto’s reluctant caution and Piero’s daring impulsiveness—set the stage for a comical yet tense decision that pushes them out of routine.

At the appointed hour, Alberto arrives, rose in hand, to find two women waiting: one in black, the other in light, each masked by quirks of hat and smile. The stranger who finally invites him to sit is neither traditionally beautiful nor youthful; she carries an ageless, unsettling poise, eyes that have glimpsed both misery and delight, and a demeanor that feels both childlike and serpentine. The encounter crackles with unspoken expectations, leaving Alberto—and the listener—wondering which mask she truly wears and what the night might reveal.