Roberto is the husband of Jessica. He is also the father of Romeo and the twin brothers Carlo and Pietro. A long-standing drought struck his home village of Sonogno and Luini, the "God of Death," came to the village during this time to search for boys that he could buy and sell to become chimney sweeps in Milan. Roberto's son, Romeo, unluckily became Luini's interest. The "God of Death" asked Roberto to sell Romeo to him, but Roberto refused. When Luini learned that Romeo's father, a farmer, had one remaining cornfield, he set fire to it. Roberto, accompanied by Romeo, went to the burning cornfield. While trying to save anything from his burning field, Roberto got a head injury. Later, the head injury led to the blindness of Romeo's father. Roberto's family could not afford to get a doctor because their livelihood was destroyed. In order to get a doctor that can treat Roberto's illness, Romeo was forced to sell himself to the "God of Death." After Romeo signed a contract with Luini, a doctor from Locarno named Baregi was brought to Sonogno to treat Roberto. In the last episode of the anime, it is shown that Romeo's father completely recovered from his illness.

"His father taught him to be brave and strong, and do what is right. More than once, Romeo makes difficult choices based on what he believes his father would do."

(Source: ex.org)