Carolina’s story is one of knowledge and truth. Her tale starts with a quest to secretly follow up on questions that most citizens of Vienna have never dared to ask. But although her will is made of iron and she has a true sense for the no-nonsense,she starts to seriously question herself when she realizes there might not be such a thing as the truth and nothing seems certain any longer.
Carolina Romanova's story starts with her being in one hell of a hurry to meet Marie von Arx, her best friend, and lifelong soulmate. All Carolina knows is that the meeting is most urgent; the rest remains a mystery. As her thoughts wander off as to why, she almost gets overrun by a tram, were it not for Gottfried to pull her away last second. After Gottfried tends to her wound and escorts her to her destination, Café Landtmann, she meets a frightened and disillusioned Marie von Arx.
Marie tells Carolina about a devious financial scheme she uncovered surrounding the upcoming monetary reform, to which Carolina feels she can only call Marie out on the absurdity of her outlandish beliefs.
At the height of the tempestuous conversation between Carolina and Marie, two of the reforms' key players, Wenzel Goldbach and Reinhold Lehner, unexpectedly join in. The men threaten not to interfere.
To reconcile her conflict with Marie, Carolina has decided to visit her by surprise on Monday. Upon arrival, however, Carolina discovers Marie hanging dead from the ceiling. While Carolina is about to cut Marie loose, she notices people approaching, to which she decides to hide.
Two men by the names of Nico and Francesco enter and start to ransack Marie’s place in search of a journal. The men find nothing, but Carolina does. When reading the diary, Carolina happens upon clues that could lead to more answers. Hoping to learn the significance of the notes, Carolina feels obligated to get to the bottom of it and decides to take matters into her own hands.
While pretending to be a house maiden, Carolina makes her way to an investor party at the address she found in Marie's notebook, a party for high and mighty hosted by one Nathaniel Goldschild. After she bluffs her way into the servant’s quarters, she is allowed to serve drinks, though she nearly blows her cover due to a lack of skills.
When sneaking around the palace, Carolina overhears a conversation between Nathaniel Goldschild and Michael Splindegger in an adjourning room that explains how gold is bought from Barberton Witwatersrand, brokered to the Austro-Hungarian central bank, hypothecated to the treasury, and rehypothecated under the name of the gold standard. Carolina steals the documents and the ledger from Nathaniel’s desk and leaves as fast as she can. She is then detected but manages to escape.
In search of more answers, Carolina heads to Palais Ferstel pretending to be Marie for a meeting with David Guggenheim, the Austro-Hungarian Banks’ financial genius. With Carolina realizing she is way in over her head, their conversation soon escalates. Then Nathaniel walks in, calling her bluff.
Nathaniel makes a proposal to Carolina: she can ask him anything, as long as she confesses her identity and all she knows, knowing full well the unspoken repercussions. In a confrontation full of fireworks, Nathaniel tells her about the hypothecated collateral and how it is used to secure new loans for the government to free up endless amounts of capital.
In an ultimate showing of hubris, Nathaniel takes Carolina down to the gold reserves, only to be arrested by Manuel Kronenberg, the corrupt and highest-ranking official of the k.k. Gendarmerie, now conspiring against Nathaniel. In the ensuing chaos, Carolina is left behind.
To dig deeper into the case, Carolina steps into Reinhold’s office, where she finds a letter appointing him to the position of president of the National Austro-Hungarian Bank, a position supposedly promised to Michael.
Reinhold catches Carolina reading the letter and tries to prevent her from sharing the undisclosed knowledge with the world. At first, he threatens to ruin her career but soon resorts to brutally raping her. Carolina grows obsessed with having him atone for his deed and confess to his sins.
After Gottfried has come to her rescue, Carolina begins her long quest to make Austro-Hungary debt-free once and for all, along with the assistance of Rocco and his fellow mercenaries. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare Carolina for the wild and unpredictable ways of gunslingers.
After Mitterlehner is violently forced to sign the debt amnesty, he gets beaten, bonded, and stripped of all clothing, exposed to the eyes and jeers of the population, until murdered publicly.
Fear and violence escalate as the rebellious students start to claim their justice. Carolina starts to seriously question the motives of the revolutionary movement.
Although against her better judgment, Carolina joins the rebels on their way to Palais Ferstel, only to find that the rebels are as avaricious as the clandestine members. After a mass panic breaks out, she tries to escape and fights for her life, but many are trampled to death and start suffocating to the fire that breaks out. Horrified by the violent nature of human greed, she suffers a complete mental breakdown and dies as the result of psychosis.