MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

After subconsciously straightening up, Natasha replied to her with the sweetest voice she could muster. As if she was a spoiled child talking back at her favorite person in the world.

"Sasha! [1] You know that I am just a little flustered right now."

"Heh."

Aleksandra smiled at the affectionate way Natasha called her. She knew it was a way to appeal to the motherly instinct that was deeply rooted inside her and she was sad to admit that it always worked. Anyways, she walked up to her and directed Adam to a chair facing Natasha.

The dining room was well-decorated and worthy of the like that could be seen in palaces. There was a long, way too long, table placed in the middle of the fancy room. From a glance, one could tell that the table was made of expensive wood as its surface was smooth and shined as light perfectly reflected along it.

A never-ending set of chairs were placed perfectly apart in a synchronized fashion. Four maids occupied the four corners of the room and stood with perfect elegance, ready to arrive and serve them for any demand one may make. And in the middle of such a grand room, there was a chandelier that sparkled with iridescent colors and illuminated the room in its incandescent hue.

In such a room, Natasha sat along the seat at the edge of the table, and the seat Adam was directed towards was perfectly complementary to Natasha's.

"Thanks."

Once Adam took a seat, Natasha coughed a little and found herself calming down as she tried to go back to their more natural interactions as their relationship as friends.

"I hope Sasha didn't tease you too much. She can be a little too much sometimes."

Natasha knew that her Sasha, Aleksandra, could be quite hard on the men who approached her. Though the moment she noticed the name of the brand on his clothes, her eyes opened wide and she gave a look to the maid in question before looking down and blushing like never before.

Adam noticed the subtle exchange between the two and suddenly felt quite uncomfortable wearing this set of clothes.

He also noticed that the gazes of all the maids were fixed on him and never left since he entered the room. Furthermore, all of them were werewolves.

The quote, "Entering the wolves' den" had never been more appropriate than it did right now for Adam.

———

There was a strange silence in the air, but a simple cough from Aleksandra seemed to change the mode in its entirety.

The stares on his back vanished and for an instant, he even wondered if he had imagined them, in the first place, and Natasha managed to calm down and get her bearings back.

"Sigh. Anyway, I am sorry for detaining you for so long. I am truly grateful for the help you provided to me in my hour of need. I could have been in danger without your intervention."

Natasha couldn't use her full powers without restraint as there were limits she could not afford to cross due to certain circumstances.

The team of mercenaries had been quite competent and full of skilled individuals who worked seamlessly with each other. If the full team had gone after her from the start, she would have been unable to fight back for long and would have gotten captured or killed.

"Well, we are friends. So me helping you is a given."

Natasha smiled at his response, "If all my so-called friends were like you, I would never fear for my back."

Natasha once again reaffirmed that going to university rather than being home-schooled had been the best decision she ever made. She could have banter and raunchy talk with Sae and now she knew she could leave her back to Adam whenever she needed him.

Even Alberto, despite his nature and origin, was a precious friend to her. Well, at close as she could be to an Albertini without incurring any suspicions, that is.

Compared to this, the 'friends' she had made as the silver princess were quite flimsy, to say the least.

Adam shook his head, not willing to talk more. Truth be told, all his actions had been calculated from start to finish. He killed the first few out of a desire to not be killed and he protected Natasha with his body because this was the most obvious and logical choice for him in that scenario.

While some feelings might be involved, he didn't know how he would have acted if he wasn't an immortal, undying being.

"So, did you find out what was all of this about?"

Natasha looked at Aleksandra as she spoke out in a more dignified tone. She was also curious about the result. After all, she had also fainted like Adam in the end.

Her maid's answer was calm and composed, "We saved the man. But we will need a… Let's say… A rather strong way of interrogation to get the information we want. He is tough. But even the toughest ones always crack sooner or later."

She showed a chilling smile and an uncaring face as she spoke about torture like it was the most common thing in the world. In fact, Adam could even see a slight smile peeking out of her lips that was etched on her face when she uttered the last part of her sentence. Clearly, she even enjoyed doing something like this quite a bit.

This reminded him of all her aliases and he realized that while she could be a gentle and teasing woman with the aura of a big sister, she was never to be underestimated.

This woman was and would always be an old monster who witnessed the worst of humanity by living through two world wars.

Natasha was a little uncomfortable by her response but she was not so naive that she would offer complaints.

A powerful team had attacked her out of nowhere and for no apparent reason. It was necessary to find the truth.

Aleksandra had once worked with the secret services of the Russian Supernatural Empire and was a specialist when it came to torture and interrogation. She knew that the job would be done if it was in her hands.

"As for the ones who were sadly sent to the afterlife, we already came to an understanding with the LAPPD and there will be no problems on that front. After all, they illegally entered this territory and they acted in an unjustifiable way."

Adam felt quite uncomfortable with how easily the situation was handled. Even though he was the one who killed them and should be happy about facing no repercussions from the law. He knew that this was extremely hypocritical and quite contradictory of him. But that was just how the world worked.

After all, if the situation could be swept under the rug so easily, it also means that the same could happen to him or someone close to him in the future.

"Don't worry Adam. The LAPPD is very fair when it comes to this kind of thing. Their main goal is protecting the humans after all. As long as you don't break the rules of the supernatural world, nothing will happen. Trust me."

Natasha gave words of consolation to him. It would be a mistake to think they could do whatever they wanted.

Supernatural creatures were stronger than humans. But the ones ruling the surface world were humans for a reason.

This was the way of this world. The absolute rules. Whenever a great evil rose and try to change this rule, an even greater hero would appear and slay him.

But as long as they worked within the grey lines and never went too far, everything would be well and good.

"So Adam… I have a question for you. Of course, you are free not to answer and I am sorry if it offends you but…"

She hesitated a little before sighing and speaking to him in a determined voice. "How did you obtain your power?"

Natasha was very careful with this question. This was considered extremely rude to ask such a thing in the supernatural world as this kind of question could lead to people finding out about your weak point.

If Adam was just a stranger, she would not care. But he was a dear friend and he had saved her life not long ago. She wanted to at least make sure that he hadn't got himself involved in something shady.

While Natasha was clearly uncomfortable, Aleksandra took a few steps back and observed Adam carefully, increasing all her senses to the highest degree until she was able to perceive even his heartbeat.

The sound of his heartbeat, the smallest twitch, and expressions on his face, the direction he was looking at. She was capturing each and every detail and embedding it in her brain,

Ideally, she needed to create a reference base to better understand Adam, but it was enough for now.

She wondered what answer he would give.

[1]: Sasha is the diminutive of Aleksandra in Russian. Parents also use Sashenka which means "little Sasha.".

I also realized that Natasha is in fact the diminutive of Natalia. Though the two can be used interchangeably...

(P.S.: I am obviously not Russian so if I made a mistake don't hesitate to point it out.)