Romeo finds Anselmo lying on the street and covered in bruises. Anselmo tells Romeo that he confronted Tachioni because he hates outsiders and wants to kick Romeo out of town. Romeo, full of rage, runs in search of Tachioni.

The carriage Romeo has sneaked into contains explosives that the robbers intend to use to blow up the police station and free their imprisoned friend.

After a long time, Romeo and Alfredo finally reunited and joined other young chimney sweeps to form the Black Brothers fraternity with Alfredo in command to confront the Wolf Pack. Romeo tries harder to learn to read inspired by Alfredo. Knowing that Alfredo only has one book and that it is in poor condition, Romeo introduces him to Professor Casella, who offers him to choose a book. Alfredo borrows one from Voltaire dealing with freedom and equality.

As retaliation for losing the fight at San Babila church, Michaelo was kidnapped by the Wolf Pack. To release him, their leader Giovanni demands that the Black Brothers hand over Alfredo to them. Alfredo decides to show up alone, but Romeo doesn't want to leave him alone and offers to go with him. A new battle between the two gangs is approaching.

Romeo and Angeletta meet the old puppeteer Teo and little Nana. Teo has a sad secret: Leon, his son, left him and his granddaughter after a quarrel. He would rather be a doctor than a puppeteer. Now Teo wishes nothing more than to see his son again. Angeletta asks Romeo and the Black Brothers to find Leon. Also, Matteo is about to reveal a secret about Angeletta to Romeo while talking with Rossi.

In Milan, a wedding of the nobility is taking place and all rich and noble people of the area are invited. Even the king of Italy is expected to come. Then Romeo accidentally meets Bianca, Alfredo's sister who was believed to be missing. When he conveys the good news to him, he learns Alfredo's mysterious story.

Professor Casella discovers that Alfredo's illness is worse than initially thought. Alfredo also knows that he will not live much longer. Nevertheless, he firmly intends of showing up before the King of Italy with his sister Bianca to expose his aunt and uncle by showing the king the authentic royal insignia. To achieve this, he thinks up a plan with the help of the Black Brothers to sneak into the duke's wedding banquet.

Alfredo and Bianca are still trying to show in front of the King of Italy and expose the damage that has been done to their family. The Wolf Pack has temporarily allied with the Black Brothers and they help carry out this plan together. They have to deal with the bodyguards of Alfredo's uncle so that Alfredo and his sister can sneak into the banquet.

Romeo suffers greatly from the sudden death of his friend Alfredo. He sinks into a deep sadness and distances himself more and more from reality. The Black Brothers try to cheer Romeo up again. But even when Dante tries to force him come to his senses, Romeo remains withdrawn.

While working one day, Romeo falls from a chimney and breaks his leg. Professor Casella agrees to have him at his place until his leg heals. So that means that Romeo and Bianca will spend Christmas together. Romeo challenges to read Alfredo's favorite book, Moby-Dick, while his leg heals. The professor interests them both in many subjects, and Bianca begins to see Professor Casella as a father. They want to thank Professor Casella for his kindness, so they prepare a special show in Christmass Eve.