MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin



A serious air filled the room as Cecilia spoke with a lower voice than usual.

"From what I have seen and if my experience serves me right. that girl is an Alpha. Well, the fact that I have seen in a giant wolf form with red eyes also helped. *Ahem*. Anyway, I didn't hear anything about the Alpha of their pack dying so this means she is natural. Ugh…my throat is dry."

The atmosphere was broken as Cecilia stood up and went to her fridge. Adam watched his mother speechlessly, wondering if everything was going well in her head.

"I feel like you are thinking something rude, Adam."

"I would never."

"Heh. If you say so."

She chuckled and opened the fridge which was mostly filled with alcohol rather than food. The only reason it wasn't 100% alcohol was thanks to Shuri back then and Makarov now.

"Want anything, Makoto!?"

"Water."

"No fun. What about you, Adam."

"I am not a stranger anymore? Also, water for me."

"I finally recognized my son after he vanished for a week."

She gave a cheeky grin and closed the door of the fridge with her foot.

"I will take them myself."

Adam smiled as the three drinks started to float and came to him causing Cecilia's eyes to open wide.

"Oh! Neat. Forgot you could do that. I didn't even have to stand up."

She sighed theatrically and took her beer from the floating refreshments and went back to her place while Makoto drank her bottle of water.

Adam looked at her with a deadpan expression, "Mhm. Like how you 'trained' me by making me use the controller for you, do the laundry, and wash the dishes?"

"It was legit training. The fact that it helped me slack off doesn't make it any less of a training."

She gave a cheeky grin and jumped on the couch again, beer in hand.

Pshh!

The sound of air leaking from the can as it was opened followed by her drinking it greedily was interesting to witness.

"Sigh~I feel alive now! Anyway, where was I?"

"She is a natural Alpha."

"Hum yeah. Alpha is… Imagine it as a title. A king, a leader. Only it isn't normally hereditary. When the Leader dies, the second strongest in the pack automatically receives the power of the leader, unless of course the Alpha specifically transmits his power to a designated heir."

She burped a little after chugging in some beer, interrupting her story, "Sorry."

She chuckled, "So, the Alpha factor can be stolen, or transmitted. When an Alpha kills another Alpha, it can absorb some of the power of the previous Alpha. If they take the full pack, they would get everything. The larger the pack the stronger the Alpha becomes."

She grimaced visibly before delivering her next line, "Now here comes the natural Alphas. They have a great difference from other Alphas, you see? Normal alphas are limited by the size of their pack. But Natural Alphas aren't. In exchange though, Natural Alphas have low initial power but a higher growth ceiling. Furthermore, they can also grow through the ways other Alphas can grow. They are basically a cheat"

She had only met a natural Alpha once. But this one was not a pup like Adam's friend.

Rather, it had been a true bonafide Alpha with her pack in tow when she visited Siberia for a mission. The Alpha fought more like a hunter than hunters did.

For five days and five nights, Cecilia had been relentlessly chased in the white snowy plain of Siberia by an army of bloodthirsty wolves who stopped at nothing to kill her.

The fight had been one of the hardest Cecilia went through in her whole life outside of when she faced the Avatar of Surtr. It was one of the very few fights where she genuinely thought she might die and she still had the scars to show—

'Well. I don't have those scars anymore though.'

Her body had been entirely remodeled after she drank the blood of Medusa.

'I kinda miss them.'

They were part of her history after all. They were both the medals of honor she earned through years of training and the shameful proof of the errors she committed because of her arrogance.

'Then again, having nice skin feels pretty good. Ugh…What a dilemma…!'

The eternal choice between beauty and honor.

Cecilia continued to groan for a while as if she was making a difficult choice, causing Adam to ask with worry,

"Mom? Should I call psy?"

It was pretty ironic coming from him.

"Haha. Sorry, I was just arguing with myself."

"Oh. Yeah, I can definitely relate."

Cecilia gave a weird look to Adam at the way he answered but thought it was simply a way to go with the joke. "So, let's continue. Your girl is precious. She is a princess among princesses. An Alpha among Alphas and she will most likely soon have her coming of age ceremony."

"What will happen then—"

"Well… Chaos, I guess…?"

Her eyes flickered toward Makoto, keeping herself from speaking any further. Either way, she only had speculations for now.

But if she was right with what she was anticipating…

'Well. She is only 21, she shouldn't have her coming of age ceremony before one or two years if everything is normal.'

In one or two years, she couldn't even imagine how strong Adam would be. But in her case, she would either be dead or able to fight again at full power.

So it didn't matter.

"Well, enough of that. I will be careful Mom. Natasha is a dear friend and I am sure everything will be alright."

"I like your enthusiasm."

She finished drinking her beer and placed the now empty can on the table,

"Makoto, you have been quite silent. You told me you wanted to ask Adam something, right?"

Makoto, who had been sitting quietly with her hands on her laps in a prim and proper way nodded and stood up before bowing.

"I want to follow you for your mission."

"Oh?"

"I want to observe you."

Makoto was as blunt and direct as always.

This was her goal. She did not care that she might be stripped of her sword if Adam ever went back to the Clan.

She simply wanted to know him more.

Be it as a friend or her future Lord.

"As for me, I want some brand things. Ideally robes."

"Yes. I would be happy to have you come with me."

"I have been ignored by my son. Is this another rebellion phase?"

Adam's lips twitched as Cecilia climbed on his back and hugged him like she was some kind of koala in lack of affection and focused on Makoto.

"Having someone strong and reliable is always good."

"Understood."

Like this, the three of them continued the discussion. Or rather, Adam and Cecilia joked around while Makoto listened.

This continued for a few hours until the three of them turned to gaze at the door.

It seemed like the guests finally came.

———

(AN: So, I just came back to Morocco. Took my plane at 3 am instead of 2 because the plane got delayed. Truly a shitty day. Wrote those chapters at the airport. Just want to rest. Tomorrow I will perhaps write three chapters.

See ya everyone. I hope you liked the Alpha lore. Also, visit the main page on WN. You can see the new illustrations. Those have been made by WN for me. I think they are pretty good, except Makarov who looks like some noble rather than the Ultimate machine he is. Vote for your favorite chara.)