“Stroke, you say. So that’s why she’s been wearing a thick black veil at every public appearance lately,” Valentin murmured.  

“Yes. I’ve heard she has partial facial paralysis as well,” Reynard confirmed.  

“I thought she was just continuing to wear mourning attire for her husband and son,” Valentin said, his tone somber.  

Reynard let out a soft, sardonic chuckle.  

The downfall of a villain often drags down those tethered to them, one by one, in its wake.  

No matter how high their power once soared, it could all collapse in an instant. The impermanence of …