After some brief arrangements, Aria was successfully seated in the classroom. The Golden Service Insititute was the full package. Her first class was reading and writing. Aria had some of the basics down, but not everything.
Sitting behind the cramped desk, Aria took a moment to observe the room. The room was big and spacious with a high ceiling. The walls were made of red brick. There were high windows that were cut in the brick to allow light into the room. But even this was not enough to completely erase the dimness of the room. Tapping her feet on the ground, the feel was the same as regular stone.
In front of the class, there was a podium for the teacher and a well-used blackboard. The remaining chalk marks on the blackboard permeated throughout the entire room.
Aria had arrived a little early so there were only about 10 other maids in the class with her right now, but the number was slowly increasing. Like her, they arrived in maid outfits and nervously sat behind a random desk.
The sight of this reassured Aria. The fact that the other maids were just as nervous made her feel better. However, she did not like the stares she was receiving from her classmates.
It could be because she was a Dark Elf. Or that she was a slave. Or maybe because her maid dress was more beautiful and elaborate than theirs.
This made Aria notice that there were very few slaves among her classmates. Thinking about it, it made sense. Not every slaveowner would assign maid duties to their slave or give them an expensive outfit. Most of her classmates must have been enrolled by their parents in hopes of being hired by a noble family to serve later on.
From this observation, her classmates could be organized into several categories. The biggest group were commoners who managed to scrape money together to enrol on this school so they could be hired later on.
The second group was maids who needed further training or wanted to increase their skillset. Since they were already hired and sponsored by their employers, this group appeared to be more refined. More maid-like. They sat quietly behind their desks with good posture, unlike the first group.
Was she going to be like that after finishing this school? Aria wondered. It was easy to differentiate the two groups because of this. Since the first group were comprised of commoners, they were unrefined and lacked manners.
The third group would be the leftovers. Ones that didn't fit the two prior categories like Aria. Like the other slaves. And even in this group, Aria was in a league of her own. The other slaves were not exactly in the best of conditions. She could see whip marks on the arms of some of them. Some even had bruises on their face. For this, Aria was further grateful to be in the company of good owners like Ari and Earl... not. Why must she be a slave!? Aria screamed inside.
She wished that her master was not so kind to her. It would be better if she was beaten and treated like a dog. That way, she would not be feeling this sense of false hope.
By the time the classroom filled up, it was filled with the sound of talking among the maid trainees.
A girl in a dirty maid outfit sat in front of her and suddenly said when she saw Aria sitting behind her. "What's a slave like you doing here? Huh?"
To not start a conflict, Aria merely looked away and ignored the girl. However, this action only served to further flame the rage of this unreasonable commoner.
"Ignoring me? Huh? Who do you think you are!?" The dirty girl slammed her hand onto Aria's desk. The class suddenly became quiet from this action alone. All eyes focused on the action of this idiotic girl. Their gazes further increased her insecurity. With an embarrassed red face, she sat back down in her seat. But not without leaving another snide remark in the form of the whisper. "Must be nice to just whore yourself to your master and walk around all dolled up, huh?"
As a Dark Elf, Aria heard her perfectly clear. Clutching her hands against the skirt of her dress, all she felt was jealousy. She wished she could just be unreasonable like the girl in front of her. She wished she could project her insecurities on someone to vent. She wished she could be a hypocrite and not have any consequences.
But as a slave, what could she do? The presence of the slave collar around her neck acted as a constant reminder of her status. She no longer had any freedom. She did not want to die or get hurt so she must know her place and act to the bidding of her master. And as part of knowing her place, she would never be so dumb as to ever act like what the girl sitting in front of her just did. Even if it was a small order that might even benefit her, the discomfort of being forcefully commanded would always remain.
Aria would never throw her life away. If she did that, her parents' effort to protect her would've been in vain despite the fact that their effort had failed. The best she could do for the massacre of her kin is to live on and carry their memories within her. It was the only thing she could do for them.