MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

Once he finished with his story, Adam had to admit that he felt incredibly refreshed. Having been forced to lie to everyone had been incredibly hard for him and was taking a toll on his mind. He was glad that he now had someone he could share his troubles with.

Of course, he omitted the part about working as a Gigolo. Lying by omission was not really a lie, after all… Right?

He also did not talk about what happened with Sae. This was a personal event that transpired between two consenting adults and he didn't feel the need to share it with anyone else.

Cecilia meanwhile pondered after hearing Adam's side of the story. Soon she nodded before speaking, "Good job not telling anything to the police. Now we can work on another version to give to them. In fact, ideally, just talk gibberish. Anyways, that's Shuri's job and she is far better at this than me."

"As for Yui. I wanted you to keep your distance from her but well I guess this is also fate. Either way, the Feng family is pretty renowned in the Hunter world. Smaller than the Kaminari family, of course. But still not bad."

She nodded to herself as if coming to a sudden realization, "If I remember right, you are also friendly with that girl from the Hanekawa family, right?"

It seemed true at this moment that Adam had really been destined to never escape his fate.

"Well. Let's see. I will give you a proposal and you will tell me what you think about it. After all, it's your powers and the final decisions are ultimately in your hands."

Cecilia realized that she had been used by the Librarian all this time. Clearly, she needed someone to push away Adam's awakening for the last 21 years and she had been the perfect pawn to make that happen.

Even so, the power of Genesis and the access to the library were simply too useful to throw away.

What Adam lacked the most currently was time and that Book he wielded gave him the time he needed.

'Once again, it seems pretty intentional.'

But the reason she did not feel any hostility for the Librarian yet was because…in the end…everything was her own fault.

If she had talked to the Kaminari family.

If she had told Adam the truth.

There were so many possible ways the current situation could have been changed and even might have been made better.

But it didn't matter right now. There was nothing wrong with thinking of the past but one should not forget to move forward in the end.

"Firstly, when facing anyone from the supernatural world you will present yourself as a Shaman. I believe this is the easiest way."

"Shaman?"

"Saints, Apostle, Witches, Shamans, Spiritualists, Demon Summoners. No matter how you name them… They are simply people who obtained power from celestial supernatural creatures by signing a contract with them and paying an adequate price for it."

Cecilia waved her hand and showed the number two with her fingers. There were two types of humans who handled supernatural powers.
Hunters were humans born with the gift and the power to open the Heart Chakra.

But some humans could obtain power by signing contracts with powerful entities.

"Honestly those guys are a pain in the ass to handle and they caused many wars to happen because of the different doctrines they preached but whatever… What matters is that we have all the elements we need."

Cecilia may have retired but she knew the rules of how the supernatural world functioned. Since a crazy vampire was going around, soon many others would act to put him down for good and they would inevitably make contact with Adam.

"You survived an attack against a supernatural being. Opened your eyes to the Veil and signed a contract with the spirits or gods."

"If they ask for a name?"

"They won't. Most people don't give the name of the entity they signed a contract with since it would give others the opportunity to make research and understand their powers. Of course, that is only for those who signed with minor deities."

There existed thousands of gods, spirits, and the like.

"Thankfully, despite your power, you do not exhibit any particular inhuman trait. Shining eyes are not something special. Though things might become problematic when your physical body starts surpassing the human limit. We can still bluff a little here and there."

It wasn't the most ideal case, however. Spiritualists were not particularly well appreciated by hunters in general. Many considered them to be traitors to humanity or even whores as they sold their bodies and souls to unknown entities.

It didn't help that most spiritualists ended up causing great problems after they lost their minds.

Humans could not comprehend the mind of celestial beings and trying to do so generally ended pretty badly.

It was only after the Christian church started signing contracts with some angels that the stigma calmed down a little. But it never really died down.

She had hoped to hide until Adam became a full-fledged human and bring him to his rightful home as the Heir of the Kaminari family. But the reality was what it was and now she could only adapt.

Since her sister was in the vicinity and Adam had seen the new inheritor of the Lightning Blade title, Cecilia knew that she could not flee anymore nor did she even wish to flee once again.

It was time for the reckoning and she would accept her punishment, whatever it may be.

But not before making sure that Adam would be able to stand in this dangerous world without her presence.

She stood up. "Let's go to the basement."

They had talked enough. It was time to train.

She already had a good plan in mind.

"We lack time. The training I gave you in the past is not really adaptable for your current strength and you obviously have no experience dealing with supernatural beings."

There was so much they needed to do yet so little time to spare.

"So this is where the Library will play a role. Ask that book if the bronze section contains anything that can create skills related to Martial arts or weapon manipulation."

"Genesis."

[The bronze section contains most information that can be easily obtained in the current time and with the current technology of humanity.]

He explained this to Cecilia as they began walking down the stairs.

"Perfect... The next time you enter, try searching for any skills that can be useful for your current situation. You should focus on obtaining more eye techniques or more martial art techniques. You don't need to learn everything. Just enough to engrave them in your book and come back to reality."

"I see. So you want me to abuse the time dilation as much as possible."

"Bingo."

"But…"

Adam frowned a little but then shook his head, "Forget it."

"Adam…" Cecilia stopped and looked him in the eyes.

"I know what you are scared about."

Adam had not delved too much into the details but clearly, the longer he stayed in the Library the more his physical body was affected.

"I have been training all my life like I was about to die the next second. Broken bones and visits to the hospital were commonplace. But I have never died. I cannot even begin to imagine how it must have felt and how scary it must be for you every time you go through that scenario."

She could certainly give some grand speech about him gritting his teeth and holding on for a better future.

But she hated uttering such light words.

"Everything I say is nothing but my own advice. I realized that you are not a child anymore. You have the right to make your own decisions. But every right gives birth to a corresponding duty."


She pinched his nose. She could still remember the toddler who would giggle when she played with him like this. But now that small toddler was a young man who could think for himself and make his own decisions in life.

"For every choice you make. You must be ready for the consequences. Just be sure to never regret those decisions."

She gave a smile but inwardly what she thought was totally different from what she showed.

It didn't matter what decision Adam took and what consequences came from them.

As long as she had the strength to do so… She would always be on his side and even if the sky itself was falling, she would hold it for him. All for her beloved son.

This is what it means to be a mother in her opinion. Without such resolve, no one is allowed to call themselves a mom.

"Now then Adam. Show me your power. Show me [The World]..."

(AN: Heh, what do you guys think of Cecilia? I wanted to go directly for the training but I really wanted to properly introduce Cecilia. I hope I made her wholesome)