Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin - Chapter 521: FINALLY

Before Adam even opened his eyes, he could feel a gaze on him and when he finally did open them, he squinted quietly before looking on his side.

“Awake?”

There Tsubasa was looking at him with her usual smile.

“How long have you been staring at me?”

“Watching you sleep is fascinating. It makes me feel serene and happy.”

Tsubasa was becoming more and more shameless it seemed, and clearly, she was not even hiding her craziness anymore.

“You changed.”

“No. I simply stopped hiding behind a mask.” She shook her head, “In the past, I took my distance because you were humans. Nothing more. I am not ashamed of my obsession with you.”

This was definitely the most shameless stalker statement he had ever heard. Not like he had heard many of them.

“Furthermore…” She chuckled and looked at him with a mischievous light dancing in her eyes, “It isn’t like I am the only stalker. Hehehe. Two stalkers being together is such a beautiful thing don’t you think so?”

Adam was speechless. He opened his mouth, wishing to give an excuse, but realized that there was nothing he could actually do or say that would make what he did with Shuri any less Stalkerish.

Even if it was indeed for her own good.

“I have nothing to reproach myself.”

“I know.” Tsubasa nodded gracefully, “You are stalking her for her own good. Because she is weak. Because she is a human. Because she is so vulnerable. All you want to do is to make sure she is alright. That no one or nothing can actually hurt her. Because this is your love. Because you understand the danger of this world.?You are not stalking her because you want to. You are doing so because you need to.”

She looked with upturned eyes, “I understand perfectly. After all, I am the same as you.”

“You are very creepy, you know?”

“Fufufu~! As long as it’s for you, I can be even creepier. In fact, there is very little I cannot do if it’s for you. One could say that I am demonically in love with you.”

Adam had to admit…Her laugh as she teased him was truly beautiful. He also had to admit that he would never be able to win against Tsubasa in an argument.

They were simply not dealing in the same dimension when it came to their understanding of the world.

“By the way, I have a deal with your mother after this whole mission ends.”

“I know. Though, I believe you do not need to become too close to her. I can become the House leader at any moment and anything you ask, I will give.”

“Even the Hanekawa House?” He asked in jest but she simply shrugged. “Why not?3

“I was just joking.” His smile twitched but Tsubasa was dead serious, “In the first place, the power of the Hanekawa, like all worldly power, is only temporary and illusory. To reach Nirvana, one must have no attachment to worldly matters.”

This was a discussion about enlightenment. Perhaps the first Adam had since his time as Buddha.

“You say you have to, you are still strongly attached to love. Can you truly say that you have cut all worldly desire then?”

“Hah. But did you forget? Reaching Nirvana means reaching beyond the Cycle of Samsara. You are beyond Samsara and so you are the Budha in my heart that I strive to attain.”

“Buddha said, the root of suffering is attachment.”

She chuckled, “Buddha also said that nothing is forever except change. But your existence is eternal. Buddha is not perfect. Why then do I have to follow his words? As long as I follow the Noble Eightfold Path [1], my heart will be forever free from the dust of the mortal world. What I seek is not perfection. Only enlightenment.”

She looked up, “They say when you meet Buddha, Slay him. Only by killing the Buddha in your heart can you walk the path toward Nirvana and enlightenment. But what if the Buddha in my heart cannot be slain? Then all I can do is embrace him.”

The two of them looked at each other. Tsubasa, still with her elegant smile, while Adam was feeling nostalgic.

This short interaction reminded him of their relationship in the past. They would always have such weird discussions about random topics, philosophy, and more. Most of the time, he would lose any debates he had against her.

But they would always be extremely useful and would show him different ways of seeing things he might have ignored.

Intellectually speaking, the two of them were extremely compatible, of that there was no doubt.

Adam couldn’t help but wonder. What if neither he nor Tsubasa were part of the Supernatural world?

How could their relationship have evolved? What would have changed?

Would they still be a couple now?

Adam was pulled from his thoughts as a voice came from the speaker, warning about the imminent landing.

This was perfect timing as he did not want to deal with this discussion any longer. It was important to focus on this mission that would most likely be perilous.

Adam sighed as he felt the plane land.

He felt like it had taken more than a year, with all the events that happened to him one after another but finally.

They finally reached Paris.

—–

[1]: Noble eight paths are:

1) Right View: Basically be mindful of Karma.

2) Right Resolve: resolve to leave home, renounce the worldly life, and follow theBuddhist path

3) Right Speech: no lying, no rude speech

4) Right Conduct or Action: no killing or injuring, no taking what is not given, no sexual misconduct, no material desires.

5) Right Livelihood: no trading in weapons, living beings

6) Right Effort: preventing the arising of evil in your mind,

7) Right Mindfulness: a quality that guards or watches over the mind

8) Right Samadhi: Basically right meditation.

(AN: I will do my very best to have two chapters tomorrow. I won’t make a promise but I wanna reach at least 20+ chapters this month. So I will work hard.)