It was a huge surprise to the Soldier, too, not even necessarily pleasant all the time-- when experiencing guilt and shame for the first time, punishment had seemed necessary to make it go the fuck away. Being left to grapple with the emotions alone had been... hard. "Only two people even bothered with anything remotely like punishment, and one of those was just ordering me to help people and not try to escape again. The other was just not talking to me for four days. And hardly anyone even yelled at Crowley and Aziraphale, either." The demon had been so sure he'd be run out of town or attacked, and nothing bad had happened at all.

The Soldier is pretty sure that grim "certainty" on Crowley's part had been his own version of the Soldier seeking out punishment. Trying to handle guilt in an entirely not useful manner.