Adrian saw his bank idea as a bust, so he tried thinking of something else he could recreate from Earth that would help him take down Aldren.
But that, too, wasn’t working.
Adrian started thinking.
I can’t even destroy this insignificant man of an insignificant village, and I want to overthrow the King.
What a joke I am.
He left the bank and returned to his residence.
He had no idea what he was going to do to destroy Aldren.
He had sworn it to himself, yet he couldn’t do anything.
He was very much frustrated and didn’t want to do anything anymore.
So, for the first time since arriving in Valewood, Adrian sent a letter to his mother and asked her to come there and spend some time with him.
Elara was uneducated, so she didn’t knew how to read or write.
She never had any need to, because Ronald did everything for her and she trusted him very much.
Ever since Adrian had taken Ronald to Valewood, Talia had taken over Ronald’s duties for Elara.
She had even stepped up to take care of Serena.
As soon as Adrian’s letter reached them, Talia read it out to Elara.
Elara immediately wanted to go and meet her son.
Together with Serena and Talia, she left for Valewood.
Adrian was there to welcome them with open arms.
Nothing was working out the way Adrian wanted to.
Agricultural taxes were anything but efficient, barely producing any sensible income for him to use, and were riddled with corruption.
There was no reliable way to prove or catch the criminals.
Even the farmers themselves reported lower yields to save on taxes.
The bank was making losses too.
The salaries Adrian was paying weren’t even being covered by the revenue the bank was generating.
And the next batch of bankers had been put on hold, seeing as the first batch had only ended up benefiting Aldren rather than Adrian.
As soon as Adrian met his mother, he hugged her tightly.
He left Serena with Talia, much to Ronald’s joy when he saw her.
He thought she was the splitting image of Lady Elara when she had been a child of the same age as Serena.
Adrian took his mother to the garden.
He wanted to rest on her lap.
But as soon as he tried to do so, Serena started crying.
His mother immediately went to stop her from crying and fed her some food. This story is hosted at g.com.
Seeing this, Adrian became very agitated.
He looked at Serena and thought
Is she also mocking me?
Her eyes felt like they were saying to Adrian
Look at you, you arrogant bastard.
You want to be the King, but you can’t even have your mother to yourself, let alone the whole kingdom.
Adrian was getting failures from all sides.
He went out with a guard to enjoy the view of the village from a hill.
But he was shot again by the god of bad luck.
The whole of Valewood was a plain area.
There wasn’t even an elevated area from which he could enjoy the view.
Adrian was losing his calm.
Anything he wanted was being denied to him.
Even his mother had been taken away by Serena.
His bank had been taken by Aldren.
His happiness seemed cursed.
So, he sat in his carriage and went around the village, admiring the farmlands wherever they were.
As he travelled through Valewood, all he saw was crops.
Crops.
And more crops.
Even that started to frustrate him after a while.
He finally found a grassland that was unclaimed by those irritating crops so far.
So he laid down there while his guards stood around him.
But even that was unacceptable to the gods.
The place he had chosen to lie down was riddled with ants, and some of them began biting him.
Adrian finally snapped and shouted
“Goddamn it! Nothing! Nothing is going as I want it to!”
He pointed toward the sky.
“You bastards! I will take my revenge even on you, you hear me, I will make you regret messing with me!”
Angry, he got back into his carriage and returned to his residence.
On his way back, he saw Aldren Morcant laughing and talking with people happily.
It made his blood boil even more.
When Adrian returned, he thought his mother would finally be done with Serena.
But no.
It was Serena, Round Two.
Adrian finally sat down to eat.
And even the food tasted bland.
Apparently, the chef had forgotten to put salt in it.
Instead of shouting at the chef or punishing him, Adrian simply started laughing manically at his luck.
He didn’t even bother to make the chef realize his mistake.
He simply shoved the food into his mouth and ate it without bothering himself about the taste.
He was completely grief-struck by his bad luck.
He had no idea and no plan as to what he would even do the next day.
Somehow, Adrian reached the terrace of his residence to gaze at the moon and stars for the night.
But as soon as he reached the top, clouds covered the entire sky.
Then it started raining.
Adrian didn’t even try to get under shelter.
He simply stood there and let the rain soak him from top to bottom.
Lightning began flashing across the sky.
Now, Adrian was not suicidal by any means, so he obediently got down this time.
When he tried to clean himself up, he started sneezing.
His only thought was:
Oh, great.
Now a cold was all that remained.
He then tried to retire to his bed, only to find it occupied by Serena and his mother.
He didn’t even have a bed to sleep on that night.
He had called them on a whim without making any arrangements for his guests, and now he was paying the price for his spontaneity.
Disappointed in every aspect of his life, Adrian went to sleep on the sofa.
But Serena cried throughout the night, not allowing him a peaceful rest.
The next morning, Adrian was sleep-deprived, angry, ill, disappointed, yet powerless and completely planless.
Only in the afternoon was he finally allowed the rest he wanted so desperately.
In his mother’s embrace.