The Patina of Virtue

In the decaying, gilded city of Moravia, a suave predator named Lothar Vance refines the art of emotional larceny, coaxing lonely heirs into ruin and suicide through calculated tenderness. His flawless system falters when he targets Iris Calder, a woman who has already seen the abyss and chosen to live in its shadow. As their duel of manipulation unfolds across orchid conservatories, crumbling estates, and velvet-draped gambling dens, the story reveals that true heroism is not a grand gesture, but the quiet, absurd, and slightly obsessive refusal to let the world’s rot touch the one clean corner of your soul.