After a spell of silent night over the pavilion, Ming Mang merely asked a question slowly and seriously.
"Then since you've spoken of it now, have you made your preparations? Are you willing to leave Midnight, willing to risk disappointing us, and still do this?"
At that, countless emotions seemed to struggle and churn for an instant in the black-haired young man's lowered eyes.
But in the end, he still lifted his gaze in silence, straight and unwavering, into the night.
From the time he was a child, after decades of raising and teaching him, they had long since noticed the strangeness in him these recent years. But he was no longer the child of those days. It was only natural that he had his own thoughts.
So as his elders, they had not asked. Ming Mang and the others had been waiting for the day he was willing to speak on his own.
This child, the one they trusted most, the outstanding one—they had originally worried he was hiding something. Yet when the black-haired young man finally opened his mouth, they had not expected the answer to be this one thing.
Unable to help feeling both helpless and amused, Ming Mang smiled and sighed at him, waving a hand.
"Then since your mind is made up, go ahead and do it."
His expression froze at that moment. It was completely different from what he had imagined. Faced with his elder's breezy attitude, the black-haired young man looked somewhat surprised and was just about to say something.
But before that, Ming Mang looked at him with a warm, refined smile and spoke again.
"You needn't worry that this will go against the Night Watchers' mission, or break Midnight's rules. Because when it comes down to it..."
At this, he seemed