MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

"Please, mom. Tell me the truth. The whole truth."

Hearing his words, Cecilia sighed out loud and slowly the two of them separated from their hug.

"They say ignorance is bliss. I wished with all my heart that you would live all your life in ignorance of the truth but it seems that Fate is inevitable."

She sighed once more and her eyes focused on the horizon through the window that was dyed in a faint reddish glow. The night had already fallen. But the city did not sleep. Neon lights could be seen everywhere, illuminating the busy streets.

"Will you tell me everything, mom?"

"I will. But even I do not know the full story regarding your circumstances. I can only tell you what I know."

She continued in a helpless tone, "Honestly, there are many things I need to teach you and things I need to tell you. But first, do you have any specific questions?"

"Are you trying to determine exactly how much I know in order to determine what kind of information you can share with me?"

Adam joked lightheartedly to which Cecilia chuckled out loud, "If my plan had succeeded, you would have never needed to learn anything about this side of the world. But since I failed, I would rather tell you everything that I know than give you half the information that may possibly cause you harm. I never want any harm to befall you, my dear child."

She squeezed his arms gently. Her expression was one of immense regret. She truly hoped that Adam lived his life without ever having to face the other side of the world. It was not a world one would want to live in.

"Is my father Cain?"

"If you already know this much then you must have met the Librarian."

Adam was a bit surprised at the knowledge she wielded. He had summarized that Akasha was some sort of secretive figure that only the Primogenitors had knowledge of and no one else.

"I can see that you are confused. Sigh, I understand."

She swept her hair to the side before continuing her speech, "Let me give you the information that you'll need to know right now and we can go from there.

"Cain is indeed your father."

Her eyes blazed with unbridled rage and hatred but in the end, all she could do was sigh once again. There was nothing she could do about it, so she felt quite a bit helpless, "Let me start from the beginning."

She closed her eyes, reminiscing of a past she cherished deeply, "I have a sister. The two of us became orphans after our parents were murdered by a cult of fanatics who worshiped a devil of hell. We would have followed in their footsteps but we were saved by an old man— Musashi Kaminari."

She chuckled, "The Kaminari Family is a very powerful and respected family on the Supernatural side of the world and Musashi is the strongest member and the Head of that family. So him choosing to adopt two foreigners in the family was a pretty big deal, you know? But the old man is pretty stubborn and no one could reject his orders anyways.

"Long story short we smoothly became a part of that family. Trained, became stronger, and gathered our own fame in the supernatural world. It was then that Musashi asked me to take care of his daughter."

She smiled and caressed Adam's head with unbridled affection in her eyes, "You should have already put two and two together by now. Indeed, it's as you think. It was your biological mother, Lady Mei.

She closed her eyes, "Mei was… She was simply incredible. A genius of the likes never seen before in history. A true monster of the Supernatural world. She awakened the 'gift' by the age of 10 even though the awakening generally happens at 15. She obtained the title of the Lightning Blade at the age of 13 and was bestowed the 'Kusanagi no Tsurigi' at the mere age of 15. The time when most people just start on their path.

"When she finally reached adulthood she had already surpassed the level of a Director and became one of the Twelve Generals. The highest level possible to attain in the Asian continent."

The more she spoke the more excited she became but she was forced to stop as she began to cough out loud.

Adam immediately helped pat her back and brought her a cup of water, which she drank in one shot. She was feeling quite thirsty it seemed.

"I don't have any references to make a comparison with but it seems like she was pretty awesome, huh…."

"Haha. Your mom was one of the strongest humans in the entire world. Tell me if it isn't awesome?"

She seemed so proud of his biological mother… Seeing his mother so happy made Adam also feel happy and fulfilled.

"You seem to have really liked her."

"Hah… I did, huh… Adam you see, people only see the success of others without caring about the grueling road that was walked to reach there. Of course, Mei was born with an incredible amount of talent that could be said to be practically unprecedented. But she would have never reached the place she did without having put forth everything she was able to and then some. Hours and hours of non-stop training. Sweat, blood, and tears. Your mother was as straight-laced as imaginable and some of us even thought that she just might be asexual. But then…

"Imagine my surprise when she came to me, after having vanished for a few months without a semblance of where she was, with a big belly and a body covered in wounds."

Adam stayed silent, keenly listening to Cecilia's words.

"I wondered what could have possibly happened to her. Had she been forced? Did she fall in love? Was it just the result of a casual fling? She never gave me an answer no matter how I asked, she just needed a place to hide."

"I was beyond appalled by her condition but more than anything I could not understand her decision. No matter how bad it looked, Musashi would have never rejected his daughter because of her early pregnancy. So, of course, I refused but it was then that she revealed to me who your father was."

She gave a bitter laugh full of melancholy, "Cain the Cursed. Cain the Sinner. He is like the bogeyman. The one whose name is used to scare children. That man is the number one enemy of the world. The most wanted man in all of history."

She took Adam's hands in hers and looked at him deeply in the eyes.

"Adam. You must swear to me. No matter what happens. You must never let anyone know your true origin. We will need to think of an excuse for any power you might have. But, never…ever…let anyone else know that you are a Primogenitor. At the very least not before you are able to stand on your own feet and fear no one in the world."

The intensity and the desperate feelings laced in her voice were like nothing he had ever heard from his strong and invincible mother. Adam understood then that he had been right in being cautious and waiting to speak with his mother before doing anything else.

"Just how bad is it?"

"The world has changed, you know. There are laws and regulations and even hunting innocent supernatural creatures is frowned upon in most places and outright forbidden in others. But a new Primogenitor is different. Many will try to kill you. Others will try to manipulate you. A smaller percentage will try to experiment on you."

A new Primogenitor meant the possible advent of a new race. The status quo that had been barely attained after many sacrifices and uncountable years of bloodshed would be nullified like it never even existed in the first place.

"Is this why you wished that I would never awaken?"

"Promise me first."

He closed his eyes. In the first place, would revealing his identity give him any advantages? He believed not. At least, as of now, he did not have the information necessary to make that judgment.

But he did not wish to close all avenues so easily. As such, his decision was inevitable, "I promise that if I ever want to reveal my identity to anyone, I will come to ask you first."

Cecilia hesitated a little before finally relenting and taking a step back. "You really became cheeky, haven't you? Even going as far as to negotiate with your own mother."

"Heh, I learned from the best."

"You did, didn't you?"

The two smiled. Even though so many things were revealed, Cecilia was happy to see that there was no sense of distance between the two of them.

Still, Cecilia felt sad and tired. Her explanation had been extremely disjointed. Jumping from one topic to another without a clear correlation.

She had so much she wished to say and share with him right now. But it felt like all her thoughts came to a screeching halt and all she could do was speak gibberish.

Still… There was one thing she needed to say no matter what.

"Adam…"

"Yes?"

"I am sorry."

"Why the sudden apology, mom?"

Adam was quite surprised. Cecilia was a very proud woman and she was not the kind to put herself down like this.

Furthermore, he felt no anger towards her. Doing so would be the height of hypocrisy.

Cecilia had been a young woman herself when she suddenly had to raise a child that wasn't her own.

The child of a monster that was chased by the entire world.

She could have killed him while he was a baby and she would have still been hailed as a hero. She could have also simply abandoned him.

But she did neither. She raised him alone. Went into hiding, leaving everything behind her. Gave him love, food and a shelter and always treated him like he was her own flesh.

Adam could not even begin to imagine how much she must have suffered for him.

She might not have been perfect but she was the best in his eyes and would always be.

Cecilia looked up at the scenery through the window with melancholy, "If I had been more courageous, I would have accepted your other side and trained you sooner rather than try to fight your true nature. I vainly thought I could change your Destiny."

"Haha. That woman was right, in the end… I simply pushed back the inevitable."

Shd gave a bleak laugh and looked at her hands, "I taught you how to fight and also forced you to learn some basic mythology. Half-assed measures that showed my hesitation. But this ends now."

Her eyes were filled with determination. "In order to make sure you survive, I will teach you everything I know. I hope you are ready for that, my dear son."

Seeing her fierce smile, Adam had a foreboding that he would not like what was about to follow. But did he really have a choice?

"...I am ready."

What didn't kill you made you stronger… Right?

(AN: Welp. Not everything was revealed. But I hope you liked the information given now. The rest will be slowly revealed over time by Cecilia as Adam asks more questions in the incoming training arc. I want to avoid one mass info dump in one chapter that most readers would likely forget fast.)