Upon seeing them, Adrian had no words.
Only thoughts.
It is not my fault.
They were the ones who rushed into the crowd.
They were the ones who died.
I am at no fault here.
Just then, Adrian heard a voice.
“Don’t try to fool yourself.”
Adrian froze.
“It is your fault. You were the one who caused the bank run, knowing full well what would happen.”
Adrian slowly turned his head in the direction of the voice.
And when he looked there…
He saw the ghost of the girl who had just died.
Adrian couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes.
He was deeply saddened by the fact that they had died because of him, but he wasn’t emotional enough to cry over it.
So, he ignored her.
He turned around, got into his carriage, and returned to his residence.
Before leaving, Adrian ordered some of his guards to remain behind and secure all the papers and documents belonging to the Valewood Bank.
No one was to enter the bank without his permission.
He also ordered them to arrange the final rites for the family.
But the girl was going nowhere.
She followed him.
She boarded Adrian’s carriage.
And thus began a series of questions…
And evasions.
She looked at Adrian.
“Why did you do it?”
Adrian remained silent.
“Did you enjoy watching people suffer?”
“They worked hard their entire lives, and you destroyed all their hard work in a single day.”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Instead, he regained his rationality and looked toward her.
“I know you’re not a ghost. You’re just my mind playing games on me.”
He paused.
“And even if you are a ghost, you don’t understand where I come from, what I do, or why I do it.”
The girl stared at him.
Adrian continued.
“I don’t enjoy torturing people. I don’t enjoy eliminating their happiness.”
His expression hardened.
“I just wanted control.”
“Control over all of Valewood, which is mine.”
“And that bastard wanted me to share it with him.”
Adrian clenched his fists.
“I never give away what is mine.”
The girl looked at him.
“Are you happy now?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
“You got the control you wanted so badly. You took away what people didn’t wanted to share with you.”
“You now have people praising you for giving them at least fifty percent back, when you were the one who took away all one hundred percent in the first place.”
She paused.
“And you took control over the lives and deaths of innocent people.”
Adrian finally looked at her.
“I am supposed to be a King.”
His voice was firm.
“I am born to rule over people like you all.”
“Every decision I make will have unintended consequences.”
“I cannot always deliberate over what is good or bad, or what will hurt whom.”
“I take actions for the collective good of society.”
The girl immediately replied.
“And what was the collective good that happened here?”
Adrian fell silent.
“Sooner or later, his bank would have faced a bank run anyway.”
She continued.
“He didn’t understood the consequences of excessive lending.” You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Adrian tried to respond.
But the girl interrupted him.
“So you taught him the lesson.”
Adrian had no answer.
For once…
He was done arguing.
He had been arguing like a shameless idiot who refused to take responsibility for his own actions.
Finally, Adrian lowered his head.
“Yes.”
His voice was quiet.
“I am responsible.”
He took a deep breath.
“I never wanted this to happen.”
He paused.
“But it has.”
“There is nothing I can do about it now.”
He looked out of the carriage window.
“Now I have to live with it.”
As soon as Adrian said those words…
The girl disappeared.
Adrian continued his journey in silence.
Soon enough, he reached his residence.
He immediately went to his mother.
He tried to rest in her lap, just as he usually did.
But even in his mother’s embrace…
He couldn’t escape the images.
The dead bodies.
The family.
The little girl.
He could still see them.
He could still remember the moment they had walked into the bank, laughing and holding their daughter’s hands.
Adrian eventually got up and left the room.
He spent the rest of the day wondering…
Why?
Why had he allowed his ego to take control?
Why had he let his hatred for Aldren become more important than the lives of innocent people?
Why had he done it?
But he had no answer for himself.
Meanwhile…
On the other side of the town, Aldren had just escaped the crowd that had nearly taken his life.
By barely surviving the chaos, he finally reached his house.
He was exhausted.
His clothes were dirty.
His face was pale.
But his mind was still working.
Aldren knew one thing.
He was finished.
There was no way to save everything he had built.
Everything he had worked for was collapsing around him.
But Aldren Morcant was by no means an idiot.
Instead of running away with whatever properties and wealth he had left, he began calculating.
Who gained the most from my downfall?
The answer came almost immediately.
There was only one possible name.
Adrian Valcrest.
Adrian was the developer of the banking system.
He understood its flaws better than anyone else.
He was also the only person who stood to gain enormously from destroying Aldren both financially and politically.
Aldren didn’t need any more evidence.
He already knew.
And instead of fleeing Valewood…
Alone.
When Aldren reached Adrian’s office, Adrian was surprised to see him.
He had fully expected Aldren to run away with whatever he had left.
Yet here he was.
Still in Valewood.
Still standing.
Adrian agreed to meet him alone.
Neither of them was excited about the meeting.
Not after everything that had happened.
Adrian had destroyed Aldren just as he had sworn he would.
But he wasn’t satisfied with the method.
He looked at Aldren.
“I am surprised you’re still here.”
Aldren remained silent.
“I thought you would have run away with whatever you had left.”
Aldren sighed.
“Your Highness, it’s pointless.”
“If I ran away, you could have easily blamed me for being a fraud and destroyed everything I had built over the years.”
He looked at Adrian.
“This way, I can still save something.”
Adrian immediately replied.
“I will still destroy everything you created whether you had ran or not.”
Aldren smiled faintly.
“Well played, Your Highness.”
He paused and started clapping.
“Well played.”
“You destroyed your political enemy.”
“You made your bank the only monopoly.”
“You won the trust of the people.”
He shook his head.
“It’s your victory on every front.”
“You should be proud of yourself.”
Aldren looked at Adrian.
“You will definitely become the King.”
He paused.
“Now I am certain of it.”
“But…”
His expression became slightly sad.
“It’s a shame that I won’t be able to witness it.”
Aldren studied Adrian’s expression.
“But Your Highness…”
“Instead of celebrating, why do you look so down?”
Adrian remained silent for a moment.
Then he answered.
“I could have used this method to destroy you very early.”
He looked away.
“I wanted to destroy you.”
“But not like this.”
Adrian’s voice became quieter.
“In a sense…”
“It’s still my loss.”
Aldren smiled faintly.
“Don’t be sad, Your Highness.”
“A win is still a win. The people that got hurt in this are just ants who got trapped in between the fight of two titans. They were bound to lose no matter what.”
He paused and continued
“I just wanted to know…”
“What will happen to my family now?”
Adrian looked at him.
“Of course.”
“I’ll make it painless.”
As Adrian said those words…
The girl appeared once again.