MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin
Chapter 531: CH 515: SHADOWS ARE MOVING

Adam held no desire to lecture Makoto regarding what is right, what is wrong, what to do, and what not to. In no way, did he consider himself to be a master of virtue. Certainly, he did not live long enough to be able to offer life advice to someone of Makoto's stature.

Still… he had his fair share of experience and some of them were of the kind that only a select few people in this world could come across, so it wasn't like there was nothing he could offer her.

"You know… One of the things I realized is that life is too short and fragile to care for the feelings of people who have nothing but your demise in their minds."

This might seem weird coming from him but Adam genuinely understood how flimsy someone's life could be. One could even argue that an immortal like him could never understand the significance of a life but they were wrong. It was the opposite. His immortality was the sole thing that enabled him to get a further understanding of life than any scholar to ever live.

His immortality allowed him to explore the very depths of how fragile someone's life could be.

He doubted that there were many people in this world outside of Cain himself who were as intimate with death as he was.

Makoto chose to remain silent while she listened attentively to Adam's words. It wasn't as if it was the first time she had heard such words from someone.

Her teacher, Theresa, had always made sure to make her understand that she was not inferior to anyone. And that she should learn how to ignore the words of the jealous ones, those who would want nothing more than her failure in life.

But those words had never hit home so much as they did now. After all, Adam was the true heir of the family. The legacy she was holding onto so dearly right now… was something that rightfully belonged to him and him alone. And she believed that Adam was definitely perceptive enough to realize just how important that legacy was.

Furthermore, with the talents and power he had shown her to this date… she did not doubt that the very moment he was recognized by the main family, that would be the date when all her titles and rights would be handed over to him— to the one they rightfully belong to.

She was afraid, Makoto had no choice but to admit that fact for what it was. She was terribly frightened of the prospect that… all of her life's hard work would be met with nothing but loss and misery. She was shivering at the possibility of losing everything she built up to this day, crumbling away into ashes.

And due to those fears, her feelings towards Adam were mixed, complex, and out of her hands. A part of her admired the man for all he was. Definitely the indoctrination was the reason for those feelings. The doctrines that sang of the supremacy of the main family above all.

Another part of her found him interesting. She had fought alongside and against him toe to toe. And she had to say… after everything, she had come to respect him even beyond his identity as an heir.

The final part of her, the one hidden in the furthest depths of her soul— feared, hated, and resented him to the very core. It was irrational, incomprehensible, and irredeemable. But those were her genuine feelings.

It was interesting that one man made her feel so many different emotions at the same time. Even more so for someone like her who had an absence of emotions from a young age.

Now though,

"Thank you."

Silently, she bowed before her man.

If the master himself told her that it was alright. Then… Did she really have to care about people who didn't even have the right to butt in?

"Heh. You don't need to thank me but alright, I will accept it. Now then. Enough introspections. I received a message from Mark."

Adam chuckled slightly before adding, "It seems like Elysia and Luvia already got one of those tickets. We need to get ours too and then we will finally get to enter the auction. And… the shadow twins were sighted."

Adam twirled his phone in the air. The shadow twins were definitely an important target of their mission. Even though they weren't their main priority, there was no way for them to let those dangerous individuals slip. And… the fact that they were found so suddenly after vanishing and hiding from everyone for so long could only mean one thing.

———

"What a blatant trap. Interesting."

A golden-haired woman commented as she sipped on a glass of wine. Her expression was the epitome of nonchalance… a look that seemed to be projecting that she was someone happy with the simple things in life.

"Charlotte…"

Sitting next to her, Detective Smith pleaded in a low voice. And her words inevitably caused Charlotte to frown visibly.

"You wish to capture them even though it's obvious that it's a trap? You are quite reckless."

"Criminals should be apprehended. But this is not only because of that."

She may have spent a relatively short time with Charlotte but Themis knew how this woman's mind worked. It was hard not to know.

Behind her exterior of a reckless woman was a cold and heartless monster who only cared for her own amusement, dancing in tune with her own logic and beliefs.

Charlotte had no interest in the shadow twins at present. So she could only move her with logic to act on this criminal duo.

"Firstly. As you said this is obviously a trap. But then, who are the targets of the trap? Who set it up?"

"Oh~ Continue, continue…"

"Firstly. Even without solid evidence. It's clear that the target should be the hunters. I believe that whoever is setting up this trap is either trying to catch as many hunters as possible or is trying to stir and spread chaos."

"Reasonable."

"Going further back… Why was the news about the auction even disseminated so easily and why did they wait for so long? If they really wanted to sell it, there were hundreds of possibly less risky ways."

"So?"

"I have studied the book on demonology and otherworldly summoning you gave me. I believe that someone is setting up a ritual. A large-scale ritual and that person is either trying to lower the number of variables now or simply wishes to cause even more blood and chaos."

Smith gritted her teeth hard, "If I am right, tonight will be one very important step in their plan and many Hunters will meet their demise."

Charlotte clapped with a bored expression, "This was a very easy reasoning. But you still did not tell me why I should care about anything in that."

"It's simple. Moriarty is without a doubt in cahoots with the twins. They are either his subordinates or subordinates of someone working with him. Either way— don't you think destroying his plans would be beautiful."

"You should have started with that reasoning."

Charlotte grinned, "Moriarty would never do something as boring as demon summoning. He knows very well that a game cannot be played if the board is destroyed. Still, he is undoubtedly related to this situation."

She nodded to herself, "Very well. Let's go. But— unless civilians are affected. We will only observe. You heard me?"

"Yes!"

That was more than enough for Smith. This would be the very first time for her to actually participate in a supernatural event and she hoped that she would be able to prevent any dangerous situation from arising with her involvement.

'America should have also sent hunters, right? I wonder who they are…'

Her knowledge of the supernatural world was still relatively flimsy but she was learning and was slowly developing it at a fast pace.

Only by doing so would she be able to arrest even the supernatural criminals.

No one should be above the law and justice. Not even those with supernatural powers.

———

It's available here: /dp/B0CTTX7LL1

But honestly, you just have to type Son of the Hero King Book 1 on Amazon and you will replace it.

Currently, only the ebook and Kindle versions are available but in two weeks or so the Paperback version will also be available and the Audiobook version is starting on Monday. This is admittedly another reason I was busy as I had to create a guide for the characters and their voices for the two Narrators. I will also closely work with them during the creation of the audiobook.)

(EN: Congratulations on the creation of your books, Red. This is just the first step toward your dreams, and I pray for your continuous success going forward. Cheers, brother…)