A heavy slap snapped Theo back into consciousness.
He opened his mouth to scream on instinct then covered it quickly with his hand, his chest heaving up and down as he pulled more air deep into his lungs and out.
His memories had come back to him pretty quickly and he stopped his body from doing anything drastic.
Before him, Sylviana stood, her blazing eyes glaring deep into his soul like a wild fire.
He looked down, boring a hole into the rug, pondering if he should go on his knees to satiate her sadistic tendencies.
Sylviana didn't reply, instead, pulled out her hand and slammed it into Theo's face again with a parchment in her grasp.
"Hurry up and sign the collateral contract, pig!"
"Collateral... contract?" Theo mummered weakly, Sylvania seemed to have held back on her strength but still his entire right cheek was swollen.
Those words seemed to pull out something from the left hemisphere of his memories, Theodorel Von Ayzrel's memories.
A collateral contract, often used by nobels of a high status to make their student servants officially recognized by the school system since they weren't allowed to bring in their servants from home.
"Huh? I don–!" Theo caught his words before they he finished them, biting his lip. He looked behind Sylvania and saw the full picture of the room they were in.
Two sets of parents sat apart, it was quite easy to tell the difference between the two heads of the viscount Von Ayzrel family and the two heads of the duke Text family just by their dressings and expressions alone.
James Von Ayzrel and his wife, Maria Von Ayzrel had their faces turned away in shame, sorrow and regret.
There was nothing they could do. They were bound to live like helpless pigs before their masters for generations upon generations.
A far gone leader of the Von Ayzrel family had played a dangerous game in order to quickly shoot up the noble rankings and land with a Duke position.
Long story short, the fool got one-shot by reality and was trapped into a debt that would enslave him and his next seven generations.
Theo was the seventh generation of the Von Ayzrel family counting down from Naban Von Ayzrel's time.
"I.Am. Waiting." Sylvania voiced out with a heavy tone of finality in her voice as she noticed Theo zoning out.
He hurriedly craned his neck downwards to read and sign, he had no choice with the latter.
Any second now, he could have his mouth blown up like before.
[Wail Academy Noble Help Department leaves the signature of the Intermediary of Contract {Wail Academy} in order to certify that this is an authentic Wail Academy...]
[Clause 1: {Party A - Sylvania Text} has complete command and control over {her} Servant Collateral {Party B - Theodorel Von Ayzrel} and has the right to...]
For a free-spirited bird like Theo, looking at such restraining clauses binding his soul was the most sickening thing to watch but painfully, he placed his signature over each and every single one of them.
"H-here..." His voice, his body, his heart all shook with an intense fear so Theo surprised himself when he looked up and stared into those sunset orbs she had for eyes.
"What are you staring at, bastard?"
Ah, the same question again.
"H-hit me!" Theodorel requested with a flushed face, almost a fervent prayer.
'Excuse me?! What did I just–?!"
It was too late.
————————
"That's thirty degrees isn't it?"
A gold-haired young lady gently levitated herself above the ground in a flip position, making her hair flow to the ground but in the wrong way.
A maid stood at a side of the room, her expression was that of someone barely holding onto their anger as her left eye was continuously twitching.
"I spent a lot of time on your hair, you know. A little bit of thankfulness would make me happy, young miss." She spoke, her tone seemingly twitching as well.
"Thankful? You do know I'm quite thankful about you grooming my hair daily, big sis, but you also know that I can't hold it up when I turn a flip side, hehe." The young miss replied mischievously.
"Firstly, we've already talked about you not calling me big sis in public, and secondly, must you always! and always lev–"
"Oh, it's thirty degrees isn't it, Bella?" The young miss diverted all the attention back to the wall clock, narrowly avoiding another banter from her maid, sis, Bella.
"Uh?" Bella's anger dispersed into the wind as she turned to the clock. "You should have asked that like a minute ago."
"I did didn't I?" The young miss turned, her back facing Bella as she smiled deviously.
The clock hands pointed to one singular meaning.
[6:35]
It was currently evening in Wail Academy. Although the sky was still quite bright, it always turned dark quickly in a spring like this.
"The interview guy sure is taking his time..." The young miss spoke in a quieter tone than before.
Bella on the other hand slapped her neck. Was she imagining it or she had felt a chill run up her spine?
Just then, a young man in a suit rushed into the room looking a little haggard. He had already started speaking the moment the door opened, his tone sounding a little too rehearsed.
"My most sincere apologies for my tardiness–" He cut himself off and tentatively looked at the clipboard in his hand and back.
"Young miss... Sasha Bilford?" He asked, uncertain.
"No, you've got it wrong."
The young miss, Sasha, calmly placed herself down on her feet and adjusted her blindfold.
"Tell, I now go by Sasha Tell."
——————
A large mass of students stood in a large hall which was more than enough for their large numbers.
All had just gone through the basic interview and had received their Student IDs and were waiting most impatiently for a quick assembly which they were told to go for.
It was just [7:23] on the night hand of the clock, and the sky was free-falling to crash it's weight on Theo.
Evening's a nice time to face discrimination isn't it?