Silence, the deepest silence.
Only when the wind swept through the long corridor, stirring the flickering candle flames, did it leave the faintest trace of sound in that boundless silence.
With a soft tap that rang like a great bell, Schiller gently set his wineglass on the table and sighed. "There has never been any savior in this world, nor can we rely on gods or emperors. To create humanity's happiness, we can only rely on ourselves."
Lucifer remained seated with the same expression, as though he had sunk into deep memories.
"Did he shock you?" Schiller asked. "Or was it actually the greatest insult to you? Did he humiliate you so badly that you became angry out of shame, which was why you never wanted to mention him to anyone, including me?"
Lucifer's fingers slowly tightened on the table, the knuckles gripping the stem of his wineglass turning white.
"He did not wait for your or God's forgiveness. He did not hate you for standing by and doing nothing. He treated all of it as ordinary and was never disappointed in you at all."
"Pride, pride, pride." Schiller mimicked Lucifer's tone. "What you and I cannot accept most is judging others by ourselves, only to find that they are far nobler than we are."
"Enough."
Yet, unusually, Schiller did not say another word after Lucifer finished speaking. For the moment, he restrained his instinct to attack everyone equally and sat in silence with Lucifer.
"Or perhaps he was even nobler than you imagined."
After a long while, Lucifer finally said, "I do not know how many times I complained to him about God. Perhaps he pieced together the truth from scattered remarks, but he always remained silent about it."
"I thought he did not agree with me. But only