Ch.10

In heaven, the day of the Extermination meeting, 1:00 p.m.

"... That's why we must highlight this exceptional pact."

She addressed, holding some papers. "It wouldn't be as easy as we got approval from Seraphim..."

Lute stopped briefing. She was not only a warrior but also a secretary of this man. It wasn't mandatory as a soldier, but it's like she volunteered for him. For the record, she was the only applicant.

So he was supposed to focus on whatever she said, especially if the agenda was really, really important.

"...Sir, may I proceed?"

"Oops- sorry, sorry." The first man said with his mouth full of food.

"I think these roasted ribs are the best of my fucking life! It is- it, um. Dunno. Ten thousand years maybe? Wow, am I that old? Eww..."

He shook his head with a disgusted look. "Anyway. Please continue with the wonderful speech."

The first man, Adam, was having his favorite lunch, listening to his lieutenant's briefing. Why is this guy eating something all day? Lute thought. Trying to get accustomed to him, she put the piece of documents on the table. She leaned against the wall crossing her arms.

"You look confident, sir."

"Of course. Lute!" he put the food down and rested his arms on the backrest. "It's me, Adam. The first man. A man of men. And Seraphim promised they would back us up. They agreed we kill all- um, how do you say? to kill all. In the fancy way."

"Extermination." Lute said right after. "That's our plan to control the population."

"That was just a good excuse to convince the Sera family. Our pure goal is-"

"To slaughter the dirty sinners." Lute continued. Adam smirked contentedly. "Attagirl, smart."

Lute hated the sinners as much as Adam did. The idiots had a chance once and blew it off with their own hands. And now, they were whining for what they never deserved. Once extermination started they would know it was mercy that they had been alive by then.

Adam seemed to have finished his lunch. He poured a digestif wine into his glass.

"Anyway, the side of hell will regard our suggestion as quite aggressive. But by word on the street, the hell's king only makes more of his family. So we should assure them of the safety of the royal family. The king's brat, Charlotte, and um..."

Lute hesitated to mention the name of the Morning Star family, Lilith. Lute took a glimpse of Adam to read his face. He just snorted and sipped his wine. Lute opened her mouth to ask the question she had been wondering about for long.

"Are you sure, Adam? As Sera suggested, we can do this meeting through a hologram. You don't need to meet Lucifer Morningstar in person."

"Fuck yeah I have to!" he put the glass on the table without considering the crash noise.

"That bastard has stolen my wife! Me- the dickmaster's wife, he dares! I have to see the bastard's brazen face." he smirked in a rage.

"You've never met him?" Lute raised a brow. "I thought you did when you two were in Eden."

"No." Adam furrowed his brow. "What I could see was only his back, short and miserable, just before he fell to hell. And some portraits of him. Look!"

He showed paintings that deliberately illustrated the looks of the fallen angel awfully. "Shit... I've never imagined Lilith had an ugly Gollum kink."

He threw them away as if they were something dirty. He roughly brushed his hair for no reason, saying "Why did she choose him, not this handsome guy?" Lute ignored it as usual.

He had already finished his wine. He poured one more glass for Lute. As he jerked his head to Lute, she unwillingly took an opposite seat.

It was an apple wine. Adam tasted the liquid. He looked at the ripple of it being calm and he grinned. As he started to feel a little bit tipsy, his eyes softened in the pleasing dizziness.

"I was surprised when I drank this at first." Lute glanced at him.

"I'd thought I was allergic to apples." Because he seemed to be talking to himself, so she just had a sip of hers.

"But it turned out that I can drink apple juice, and apple jam and everything! Weird, huh? Come to think of it, there might not be diseases or something in heaven."

He felt the alcohol going to his head, which made a grin hover on his mouth. He seemed to be wandering down an old memory. As if that even existed.

"Then why, when I bite an apple do I choke. Like I was suffocating." his eyes were drawing a smile, but it was empty.

Even if he was a kind of pleasure seeker and straightforward in showing his desire, sometimes, there was nothing in his eyes. He might have longed for something that would fill his cracked glass.

There's nothing Lute could do for him, so she just played a lame joke that he would like.

"...You might be a snow white or something in your previous life."

"Haha! That makes sense, bitch! But it's a shame there's no fucking true love's kiss. Bad-ending."

Adam gulped his drink at once. Lute just stared at him with a subtle emotion. If Adam were more sensitive, he would have noticed that Lute never laughed when he laughed at love.

"Then, let's get ready to go to the fucking hell." Adam rose from his chair. Lute finished her drink too and followed him.

Adam grabbed his exorcist mask, put it on, and smirked. His yellow eyes gleamed in madness.

"Let's prepare the bloodbath party!"

...

The evil found its way to Earth. Lilith gave Eve the fruit of knowledge, and the peace of the world was shattered forever.

Well, what peace? Lilith thought. To make humans speechless. Was it what Heaven called peace? Bullshit.

Heaven found out what Lilith had done. And what Lucifer had done.

When all this happened, Lucifer just thought the thing that would happen someday had just happened. He accepted his responsibility. He had given humans free will again, and that was the consequence.

"Lilith didn't steal it. I gave it to her."

Lucifer didn't want heaven to know that he wasn't on the tree to see Adam. So he lied as if he were the accomplice who let Lilith do that.

It was difficult for the elders to make a decision. Lucifer, one of the Archangels, was involved. If they sentenced Lilith to death, they would have to sentence Lucifer the same. At the end of careful consideration, they decided to exile both Lucifer and Lilith. They displaced them to the place named Hell.

In the end, the most angel-like angel became the fallen angel.

Lucifer was gazing at the dark red desert in deep thought. Lilith was standing behind him.

She never felt sorry for heaven. Not a single bit of sorry. She rather thanked God that she could fuck them up with her hands.

But she was sorry for Lucifer. So much, much from the bottom of her heart. He had saved her only to be cast away due to his favor. Just when she came up with the adequate words of apology and tried to say him.

"I'm sorry, Lilith."

But he was faster.

"Why are you saying that? I deceived you," Lilith took a step forward. "Angel, you are not supposed to be here, actually..."

"I am," Lucifer looked back at her. He was gently smiling with sad eyes. "I'm the only one who deserves to be in hell. I'm sorry. I should have sheltered you."

Lilith couldn't say anything. Why had this angel taken every guilt on his shoulders? Why did God give a conscience to this one angel in heaven?

Then tears came to her eyes. Even though she hadn't cried when she decided to die, she was about to burst into tears in front of the fragile warmth of the angel.

Lucifer was baffled, thinking she cried because she was kicked out of Eden. He kept saying sorry, promising it may not be enough like Eden but he would make this place better for her to live.

Lucifer created everything in hell from scratch. He made bricks with his magic, assembled them, and built a castle up on the ground.

It was like magic. He even looked like he was enjoying it when he created something. That angel can smile like that when he does what he likes. Well, I thought he had silly dull faces only, Lilith thought a few feet away, staring at him.

A few days later, the castle was completed with cozy and delicate bedrooms, a dance hall, and even chandeliers.

Lucifer gladly presented the castle to her but was about to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Lilith stopped him. "Should I live in this huge house like a mountain?"

"Ah? Well... I'm fine. I can stay on a tree or in a cave."

Lucifer thought that was quite reasonable, but she didn't look satisfied with the answer.

"Um... I'm gonna come over sometimes?" He added a belated explanation, but it seemed to be the wrong answer too.

"In this huge house, me alone?" Rather than angry, with more of a sulking look, Lilith repeated what she had said.

The fallen angel, living so long but still not good at emotions, only blinked in confusion. The sunset fell in hell, painting the newly built castle red all over. They were the first residents of hell, and were the first prince and princess.

Lilith fell in love with him at the beginning. They ended up staying in the castle together and went through so many moments together.

At some point, when hell began to be used as a prisoner's exile, the two joined forces to take care of their first citizens. Lilith was by his side every time Lucifer was disappointed that his people were hopeless sinners. Whenever people betrayed his belief in humanity, she assured him that they were on the right side.

Lucifer gradually fell for the strong light of her will.

According to rumors from inhabitants in hell, Adam fumed at it. Like, the fallen angel named Lucifer had an affair with his wife and fled to hell. The order of the sequence was a bit different, but... Well, for the receiving end of it, that would be the same anyway.

Lucifer thought it would be better if Adam didn't know anything and just completely hated the existence of Lucifer.

Rather than it being a better thing, it was the right thing.

Lucifer has been loving his family. He sincerely treasured Lilith and Charlie. That was so true. That was the only truth.

But even though every moment was full of brilliant happiness, Lucifer would suddenly feel like he had fallen to the bottom. He felt he didn't deserve it. To have ruined everything with my love, and to enjoy it again? Even the original sin is on me.

All the disasters that wouldn't have happened if he hadn't loved Adam, if he hadn't taught Adam how to love.

The prices, for daring to have given special meaning to one human as an immortal being.

Over the past thousand years, Lucifer has realized again and again how terrible human free will could be. Lucifer has never forgiven himself.

And sadly, Lilith grew exhausted from watching that. Lucifer never told her that he loved her.

In all those eons, not once.

Lilith was a stronger woman than anyone else. She always believed in what she thought was right.

However, no matter how much she poured into his heart, the broken bottom of it couldn't be filled forever, so her faith finally creaked too.

The flame of love that had seemed to last forever faded out. Lucifer had looked at her dying embers helplessly. Until she ended up coming to the conclusion that the reason he stayed by her side was guilt and responsibility.

'Lucy, I don't know anymore,' she asked him for the first and last time. 'Have you ever loved me?'

He had loved her. He still loved her. But Lucifer couldn't answer. He was just hanging his head down, only holding her hands tightly.

'... Do you really, really have nothing to say, honey? While I'm giving up you now?' He wanted her not to leave. But he had committed too many sins to dare to ask anyone to stay with him.

So there was only one thing he could give to her.

"I'm sorry."

For Lilith, that one word was the answer to everything.

She left Lucifer.

He was left alone. He once again surely engraved the sentence, on the paper named self-loathing. My love ruins everything.

After that critical event, Lucifer began to let himself go more and more. He confined himself alone to the castle, only to make rubber ducks. He had isolated himself from all the waves of emotions.

And one day, he heard from heaven. It had been thousands of years since he had fallen into hell.

The contents of the golden parchment floating in the air were roughly as follows. The population of hell was about to hit the fan, so it was necessary to discuss this issue. So please attend the meeting as a representative of Hell, like that.

And Lucifer found the name of the man in charge. It was easy to spot because it had only a short name without a surname.

But Lucifer looked at the name for a very long time.

Adam.

For the first time since the world was divided into heaven and hell, the two would meet again as representatives of each side.

Lucifer put down the rubber duck he was making. Then he took out a pen and looked at it quietly for a while.

Then he signed his attendance.