"Lucius von Snow."
A man of honor and valor, once I believed we'd become good friends, but in the pursuit of victory, I'd personally severed all of our friendly connections. Although he may have agreed to help me, I knew that our peace wouldn't last long.
Despite my earlier feelings, I truly didn't feel much for Lucius. It was his decision to accept my proposal or not; every man has the freewill to accept or refuse.
Even though I speak words of indifference, my heart still aches, wishing to find another path to sway Lucius to my side. But that feeling was now redundant; I'd made my decision.
One born out of control and malice.
Lucius would have never accepted fighting against Ickni; his opinions on Order only confirmed my suspicions. Angels are merely scared creatures doing anything to prevent infighting, even if that means forsaking their heavenly nature.
I'd understood their true nature since I walked the streets of Grandheart, but I chose to ignore my feelings; I'd no longer ignore the corruption infecting this land. I couldn't call myself human if I just turned a blind eye.
I still thought of myself as a human despite Seraphina's divinity swirling within my veins. There was one thing I couldn't lose, and that was my mind.
Even if I had to commit acts of cruelty to save the masses of this land, then I'd do it over and over again until I personally founded my vision of everlasting peace.
My footsteps finally stopped outside Liliana's door, my gentle knocking echoing throughout the barren corridors. I heard a small grumble before the lock unlatched.
"Come in."
Walking into the room, my gaze locked onto Liliana, causing my movements to stop. It took all I had to contain my laughter.
Liliana was seated on an armchair, her legs lazily draped over another armchair, and a book tucked firmly in her palms. Although it was odd to see Liliana of all people reading, there was something else about her appearance.
She wore lensless glasses, her hair tied into a bun, trying her best to look sophisticated, but in reality, she just looked stupid.
"Why are your cheeks so puffed up? Are you making fun of me in your mind!?" shouted Liliana, her own cheeks puffing, a flurry of grumbles escaping her mouth.
"What..? Of course not, I'm just taken aback by your ever so graceful look."
Liliana's room wasn't the most refined; it was littered with all sorts of garbage and stray clothes. It was also smaller than my own room, although that was to be expected since she was a Third String. Despite that it didn't fit the definition of small, it was still spacious, but it didn't seem like she cared much for it. The only clean part is her little study. And by study, I mean a collection of armchairs.
"Your eyes tell a different story. How can you not bow in respect in the face of my dignified appearance?"
"Do you even know what dignified means?"
"What!? How dare you question my intelligence! Of course I do, it means cool and collected."
Although she wasn't directly on the mark, it wasn't worth the lengthy argument that would only end in my own defeat. Liliana wasn't one who admitted that she was wrong, as she didn't know the word.
It first appeared to me as cute, but now it's just annoying.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, where did you even get those armchairs from? My room only has one."
"I temporarily borrowed them from the others on this floor."
My mouth involuntarily opened slightly. I was surprised but more impressed at how she even managed such a feat.
"How exactly did you, a wingless, manage that?"
"Hehe, you'll be impressed, I promise. Once they left their room, I slipped behind them and used a pen to keep the door open, and dragged the armchair out. Don't worry, though, I left a note."
"Ugh, I thought it'd be something like that. Little thief, what exactly did this note say?"
"Hey! I'm not a thief; I had every intention of giving them back in a couple of years. What's wrong with that? Anyway, the note said, 'I'm taking your armchair, sorry for the trouble.' Quite the fine note if you ask me."
"You didn't even sign it?"
"Of course not, how would I keep the armchairs if they knew who sto— took them? See how smart I am, Evernight. Praise me!"
"I'm not going to praise a thief, but you are quite impressive in your lack of smarts."
"Aha! Thank you. Wait! That wasn't a compliment, you're such a meanie!" screamed Liliana, kicking her feet back and forth knocking over one of the armchairs. "Look what you've done! Fix this right away!"
"You're such an idiot. Who even wears lensless glasses?"
I picked up the armchair, and she swiftly draped her legs over it once again. Not even stopped once to thank me, only grumbling more about insolence, inconveniences, and many more stupid reasons for her behaviour.
My conversation with Lucius didn't even take a sliver of my energy, but Liliana had managed to sap me dry despite being here for less than ten minutes. I threw myself on her bed, spreading my arms and legs wide, messing it up.
"Hey! It takes me ages to do that bed, and what do you think you're doing? If someone walked in, it would be disgraceful to be caught with a man in my bed."
"Oh, shut up. No one's going to walk in. Every servant in this palace detests the wingless. I doubt they even clean your room after you've left."
Liliana's eyes snapped to me on the bed, her face scrunching.
"What? Is that why my room is always untidy? How dare those insolent pests treat me in such a way? How rude!"
"No… Your room is always messy because you're a total slob."
"Ha! Sounds like something a privileged person would say. You're a Divine String, I bet all the servants in this palace work day in and day out to ensure your room is clean."
My eyebrow twitched.
"For your information, they don't even clean my room! I have to do it myself, and I don't whine about it like you. Just because I'm a Divine String doesn't mean I'm not a wingless mutt in the eyes of everyone in this palace."
"Hm! I don't get why angels hate wingless so much. Most devils don't even care if you are wingless or not; they judge you by strength. A wingless can still be respected if they are smart or stronger than the average devil."
"Really?"
"Hehe. Of course not, my words are only half of the truth. Wingless are naturally weak, and devils are creatures of pride and destruction. We detest weakness, and most wingless are weak, but those who rise above expectation can escape the discrimination."
I briefly got interested in the ways of devils, but it was swiftly stamped out. Liliana is truly an annoying pest.
"Ugh. I can't tolerate any more whining, so I'll just get to the point. Tell me about the Horsemen, and any other threats to angels."