The next day I was woken up by the usual maid. When I opened my eyes, I was wearing my pajamas. It was extremely early in the morning, and the sun hadn't come out yet.
"What's wrong?" I asked her. I could barely open my eyes; leaving the warm bedsheet felt like hell. I wanted to keep resting in that warm and safe space.
I was forcefully pulled to the bathroom, where a warm bathtub filled with foam bubbles was waiting for me.
Once inside, the maids removed my clothes, ripping my shirt apart.
Oh, wow, you could be a little gentler, but I'm not complaining if I don't have to move a finger.
The words of my mother felt like a distant echo.
Ah, this is life! You see, Mom? This is the kind of life we should've lived. What's the point of having money if you still have to do chores around the house?
The real hell started right there and then; using a showerhead, they began washing me using cold water. If I tried to complain or move away, they would spray some in my face or over my head.
"Wait a second! Can we at least—" My voice was ignored, and I was once again sprayed with cold water.
Argh! Fuck! I think something got in my eyes.
I felt as if my head was being skewered by ice-cold nails; it immediately woke my entire body. I was hating every moment of it, but I endured it. I endured them violently scrubbing my body clean and then using a bunch of cream or oils to close any injuries made to my body.
The scrubbing wasn't very painful; the problem was that they were so violent with it, it was hard to stay still, and I slipped and fell more than once because they were so rough with my body.
Then it was time to wash my hair and use a special tool that twisted my hair or lifted it; I don't know what they were doing exactly, as I had to keep my eyes closed.
Only when my body temperature dropped low enough that I couldn't move my fingers did they finally splash me with some warm water.
"What's the rush… Why are we so through today?" I asked, but none responded.
Once everything was over, I was finally allowed to get into the steaming bath; they had even set up a timer of half an hour.
"Are they ever going to open their mouth or what? Why are they always so silent?" I asked my personal bodyguard as she was inspecting the heat of the bath using her index fingers.
"They aren't allowed to; their pay gets cut if they speak, so obviously they won't even dare to open up about their thoughts." She replied. Giving me the okay with her thumbs.
Seriously? Is this real? Why would you do something like this? That seems exceedingly cruel! With enough time, they might even forget how to speak altogether.
"There's nothing we can do about it, young master; these are the rules. You need special documentation to show your face or even speak up here." She replied as if she could read my mind.
"So what are you?" I asked her in return as I slowly entered the bathtub.
It was comfortably warm; it felt nice and tingly, warming my body down to the core of my bones. I felt as if I was melting into a puddle; all my stiff muscles suddenly relaxed, and the pleasant smell of the bubble helped me relax even more.
Fuck, I wish I could stay here forever.
"I'm your bodyguard!" She replied with a cheeky smile on her face; her smile was enough for me to catch a glimpse of her small fangs.
Wow, she really does take after a cat. I wonder if soon enough she'll grow whiskers; that could be quite interesting. Or does she already grow them and have to cut them off? Maybe she has patches of fur growing over her body. Does she always fall on all fours? So many questions.
"I don't have nine lives, unfortunately." She sighed while shrugging her shoulders.
I don't get it. Am I that easy to read, or can you read my mind?
Just then someone knocked on the door, and she let a bunch more people inside the bathroom. They quickly set up a comfortable-looking chair, attached a showerhead to the sink, and carried a bunch of boxes full of strange tools.
Can we postpone all of this? Does it have to be today? I have barely recovered from that horrendous shower; I would like to stay here in the comfort of this warmth.
I barely had the time to enjoy my bath when I was dragged out of it. 20 minutes were left on the timer; they quickly dried me up, only to then receive a haircut. They completely butchered my hairstyle, shaving off most of the hair on the sides of my head.
I felt trapped in a whirlwind of pure chaos filled by those maids and butlers, holding me down, removing any hair that had fallen on my body, removing hair stuck to my head, drying up my body, and putting wax all over my body to remove any body hair.
The uniform I had to wear bore a strange symbol on the left side of the chest; the candid white shirt underneath was so white and clean it looked alien. As for the pants, they were also white; dark strings on the side were depicting a bunch of roses.
"Am I finally ready?" I asked the maids that were adjusting my hair.
How annoying! Does every morning have to follow this strict routine? Do I have to be tortured with cold water? Can't I—
Suddenly all the workers began to concentrate their attention on my face, spraying it with cold water.
"Ah! Fuck, some of it got in my eyes. What the fuck are you doing?" My complaints fell on deaf ears.
After cleaning my face and applying all sorts of products on it, I was finally released, so the first thing I did was run back to my bed. Unfortunately, in the meantime the bedsheets had turned cold.
That was fast… Why are bedsheets like this? They should invent bedsheets that stay warm all day; they would sell out!
"Recreation time is over; time to turn you in, young master. It's time for school." The maid shouted; she was a little too enthusiastic about it. She pulled out the bedsheets and grabbed me by the legs only to fling me out of the window.
Turn me in? Why did you say it like—
I was moments away from soiling myself when I was caught mid-air by my mother, who was waiting outside along with Elena.
Ah… damn… I didn't want to meet her…
I closed my eyes and remained quiet until we arrived at the school; there we were welcomed by the same familiar faces we met the day prior. The smug bastards were going to be my teachers.
My life is over here… Why did I want to come here so desperately? Was life here really that good?
I didn't remember much of this place. I came here for a short time, maybe a week at most, which I spent entirely with my uncle's family, barely interacting with any outsider, so my view of this place was surely bound to be somewhat biased.
I was then once again trapped alone in a room full of professors as I was served one test after the other, all in rapid succession. When I peeked outside the window facing the entrance, I saw kids coming and going away from this hellish place.
The questions in the written test were the same as the ones I had to answer the day prior, down to their placements, so answering them was much easier than I remembered, but by the time I had finished writing down my answer, I was spent.
My brain had turned into mush. I had to spend almost the entire day with those two-hour-long tests, and by the end I had to stay there because there was also the physical test.
I lay over the desk, trying to fall asleep in that cold and hard place, but I couldn't; a devilish mechanism would emit a powerful stench that would wake me up whenever I started feeling drowsy.
Even thinking feels like a chore now.
I had used too much of my brain and desperately wanted a place to rest. Each time that devilish device woke me up, I became more irritated, so when my mother came in to pick me up, my first response was to punch her away.
The punch didn't affect her; it was as if I had punched a soft wall. It was sturdy enough for me to not be able to push it away but soft enough to not hurt my wrist.
She remained silent, grabbed my right hand, and dragged me downstairs towards the gym where the last test of the day was going to be held.
"Mmh." After scanning me with a strange green light, the contour looked at me concerned.
"So, how many fingers am I holding up?" He asked as he held up his middle finger in my face.
"O-one?"
What the hell are you doing, old man?
"Have you seen something strange in the past hours? Heard some voices? Anything unnatural?" He then asked.
Why is he asking me these strange questions? Is there something wrong with me? Am I sick?
"Yes?" I answered while clutching the special bracelet my mother gave me.
"It's only natural, with such a high level of corruption running rampant in your body… It's strange you can even distinguish reality from delusion." The doctor said as he rummaged through a drawer full of medicine pills.
"Corruption?" I asked him.
"Oh, you don't know? Well, don't worry about it; although the name sounds ominous, it isn't as bad as it sounds. It happens a lot, especially in kids born from explorer parents, because their bodies are merged with demons; it tends to create problems in their offspring," he explained.
"It's a hypersensitivity to demonic powers such as illusions, mind control, and other types of influences. It can cause delusions, panic attacks, and much more." He continued as he handed me a box full of the same pills he just handed me.
"It's going to take a long time to heal your condition, maybe years. To avoid worsening it, you should avoid taking ashen or using demonic powers." He explained while taking a look at the bracelet.
Is something wrong with it?
"Nothing, so let's get the physical evaluation started!" He enthusiastically said, rolling up his sleeves.