WARNING:
The chapter contains semi-detailed physical abuse. Please be advised.
♰
"MY NAME IS VESPER Cinna. Nice to meet you, Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire," Vesper says as he stares at Max from head to toe like he is checking him out. "You look better in person than in television. I'm a bit surprised."
"I don't know how to feel about that," Max honestly answers, making Vesper laugh.
"I saw what you did at the cafeteria. You got guts, and I like that. It's been a while since I've seen someone as strong-willed as you. House of Bishops have been waiting for someone like you to come by, and I'm proud to say that change might actually arrive soon thanks to you," Vesper then says, making Max furrow his eyebrows this time.
Based on how Keigo talked about him and about how he literally defeated a brotherhood by himself, Max had an entirely different image of him in his head. He especially didn't think that the man would approach him first and even introduce himself to him.
"What do you want?" Max asks, now looking back at Vesper with a serious expression on his face. Vesper didn't look threatened, though. He continued to smile at Max like he had this encounter planned from the very beginning.
"You're sharp, as expected from someone who has been hanging out with Krist and Charles. But are the two still bickering with each other? I'm surprised they haven't killed each other yet," Vesper then says. And as soon as he mentioned the names of those two leaders, Max and Keigo's eyes widened in shock. Max quickly stepped away, now fully aware that the man standing in front of him was not just an ordinary white uniform. There was a reason why he was able to defeat that brotherhood by himself.
"Who are you?" Max finally asks.
Vesper continues to smile as he takes a step closer to the serf. They all watch him stare at the young heir for a couple of seconds, but then Vesper suddenly lifts his hand and gently reaches out for the brooches on Max's collar.
"Looks like the kids have grown well. Grey must be proud," Vesper whispers close to Max's ear, finally making Max grab his wrist, forcing Vesper to look back at him again.
"Who the fuck are you?" Max asks for the second time, gripping Vesper's wrist, practically telling him that he no longer wants to play nice with him. This man knew something about the brotherhoods in J.S High. Max couldn't pinpoint it yet, but Vesper could either be a great threat to him or a very useful ally.
"Who am I?" Vesper asks back. But before he could even have the chance to answer, the church bell rings, indicating that all the white uniforms now have to head back to their respective classrooms.
Max could only let go of Vesper's wrist while Vesper continued to smile at him, obviously very pleased with his short encounter with the young heir.
"Looks like we'll have to continue this conversation some other time," Vesper tells Max while still looking straight at him, never breaking eye contact. Max couldn't really look away either, but thankfully, Keigo grabbed his arm and pulled him away, finally making Max snap out of it.
"That was fucking dangerous," Keigo says, dragging Max with him while Xander runs beside them, wiping the blood off Max's mouth. "I told you he's trouble. We shouldn't get involved with him."
"He knew Grey and the others," Max replies. "He called them...kids, like he's in a higher year from them. Keigo, what else did you find out about him other than his family?"
"There wasn't much, but I'll tell you everything I know when we get back in our dorms. For now, we should head to our classroom before we're later. If you think sir Barron is a terror, wait till you see our class adviser," Keigo then says as the three of them head to Class II-A, Max still completely dazed after his encounter with their troublesome yet mysterious roommate.
...
"You can sit with us at the back," Keigo says when they finally arrive in their room. As soon as they got inside, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing to look at them. Particularly at Max.
As Max expected for an A-Class, there are nineteen gaffers out of thirty students in the room. But despite having more gaffers, the class is still divided into divisions. The gaffers took over the front and middle seats while the dwellers were sitting at the back.
Max could recognize the other gaffers since he had stained red paint on them earlier, but it seemed like they had changed uniforms. Max thought they had time to change at their dorms, but then he saw the dwellers sitting in the back, and their uniforms were stained instead. Max remembered that most of them didn't target the dwellers, so it only meant they were forced to change clothes with the gaffers so they wouldn't get in trouble.
"I'm sorry, but where do you guys actually sit?" Max then asks since there aren't any available seats in the room anymore.
Keigo nervously laughs because he knows Max would get mad at him if he found out where they actually sit. But since there's no going around it, Keigo leads Max at the far back. Max was at least expecting to find chairs, but when Keigo brought him to their supposed seats, Max was surprised to see piles of newspapers on the floor instead, instantly making Max look back at his dear friend like he was crazy.
"You sit...on the floor?" Max asks, suddenly remembering the time their previous classmates pulled a prank on him and literally hid his chair at the stadium.
"We've asked the janitors to bring seats for us, but the others always hide them the next day, so we just gave up and decided to sit on the floor instead," Xander explains with a soft voice so the gaffers wouldn't hear him complaining.
Max stares at the floor again before bravely glaring at the gaffers who are snickering at them. But before Max could say anything, another serf entered the room, who was also covered in red paint like Max was. Apparently, this was the same guy who grabbed Max by the collar earlier at the cafeteria.
The serf enters the room in a hurry. He walks towards Xander, but when he sees Max, he immediately turns away from him, probably feeling awkward after what happened between them. No one else enters the room anymore, so it seems like there are only four serfs in their class, including Max.
"Hey, what's your name?" Max suddenly asks, making the serf look back at him.
The serf is hesitant at first, but he finally turns to look at Max and answers, "Stefan Kross. But Stefan is fine."
"Nice to meet you, Stefan," Max says with a smile, glad that Stefan decided to speak with him. "I saw you running towards those gaffers earlier to get paint on them too. Thanks for backing me up out there," Max says next, and Stefan finally looks away from Max again.
After a while, a nun enters the room, immediately making everyone stand to greet her. She was tall, and her eyes were sharp and intimidating. It also didn't help that the uniform she wore reminded them of a particular nun in a horror movie. Her presence was definitely eerie, which fit perfectly with the school's terrible atmosphere.
"Good afternoon, Sister Celeste," Class II-A greets as the nun walks toward the middle of the room to stare at the class. This must be the adviser that Keigo mentioned earlier.
"You may all sit down," Sister Celeste says. "Except for those who are covered in red paint. Remain standing," she then adds.
Keigo and Xander immediately looked at Max, but Max reassured them by giving his roommates a smile. With little to no choice, the two sat on the floor while Max, Stefan, and four other dwellers with red paint in their uniforms remained standing.
Max was certain that they were gonna get scolded for this, but the look on the dwellers' faces made Max realize that they were getting more than just a scolding. He expected all possible punishments, but what he didn't expect was that Sister Celeste would pull out a stick from the teacher's table, instantly making Max's jaw drop.
"No fucking way," Max whispers under his breath.
"Hands out. You will each receive five hits for coming to this class with dirty uniforms. May this be a reminder that all of you must arrive to class with clean white uniforms next time," Sister Celeste says, referring to those who were left standing.
Max obviously refused to put his hands out as the terrifying nun walked towards the dweller in front of them. The dweller was practically shaking in fear as their class adviser stared at his trembling hands. Soon after, the sister flogged his hand with the stick, instantly making Max, Keigo, and even Xander look away.
The sound of the stick hitting the white uniform's hand echoed in the room, angering Max because these dwellers were probably forced to change uniforms with the gaffers who actually had those paint stains.
It took four more hits for the nun to finally stop. When the room was quiet again, Max looked back at the dweller, whose hands were now completely red from the hits.
Without showing any hint of remorse, the nun walked towards her next victim. She stood in front of the smaller white uniform, getting ready to give him the unjust punishment. But before she could even hit the student's hand, a puddle suddenly formed under his feet.
"He soiled himself!" A gaffer shouted, and everyone in the room instantly started laughing while the poor dweller lowered his head in complete embarrassment. This only angered Max even more.
"Silence! All of you!" Sister Celeste then shouts, making the class quiet down. Max thought that their adviser would at least ask the white uniform to go to the restroom to clean himself up, but instead, she says, "Your hands. Show them to me."
"B-But sister Celeste, I—"
"Hands. Now," the nun insists, and the dweller slowly lifts his trembling hand so their merciless advisor can hit them with a stick.
The dweller can only close his eyes as Sister Celeste swings the stick towards his hand. He waited for the painful impact, but after a couple of seconds, nothing happened. The dweller slowly opens his eyes back. And to his surprise, a hand was hovered above his, taking the hit for his sake. The said hand belonged to none other than Max, who winced when he felt the stick's impact on his knuckles.
"What are you doing? You will have your turn, child, so go back to your position," Sister Celeste says as she stares at Max with irritation.
"Please stop. Please," Max suddenly says, surprising the dwellers who were receiving the punishment as well.
"Stop? Why? Troublesome white uniforms must face these consequences so that they will learn. If not, this school would have already been filled with disobedient students," Sister Celeste justifies, making Max clench his fist in frustration.
"But corporal punishment? Flogging? That's your way of disciplining us?" Max asks. But Sister Celeste looked like she wasn't going to get swayed by whatever Max was going to say.
"What a troublesome brat. Move away now before I add five more hits to your punishment," Sister Celeste threatened this time.
"Fine," Max quickly answers, surprising the class. "I'll take the ten hits...as well as the other hits that you will give the remaining students," Max then reveals, and everyone in the room looks at him like he's crazy. There are four more students who haven't received the punishment, which means there are twenty more hits left. And then we'll add the ten other hits that Sister Celeste is supposed to give him. That's a total of thirty hits.
"What are you trying to do?" Their class adviser asks him.
"Thirty...I'll take them. After all, I was the reason why the paint spread in the atrium, so this punishment is only suitable," Max explains, and Sister Celeste turns to the others before looking back at Max again.
"Alright then. The rest of you, take your seats and watch carefully," Sister Celeste finally says, and the dwellers immediately sit back down, afraid their adviser would change her mind.
Stefan stared at Max in complete shock. He wanted to say something, but Keigo grabbed his hand and encouraged him to take a seat and let Max take the punishment because this was his resolve. The only thing they can do now is just proudly watch him so that his resolve won't be wasted.
"Hands," Sister Celeste then says.
Max takes a deep breath and pulls his sleeves up. But when he pulled them, he instantly saw the bracelet that Gavriil gave him before he came here, and that instantly gave him courage. As soon as Max showed his hands to their adviser, Sister Celeste flogged his hand with the stick with no hesitation, the pain instantly making Max grit his teeth.
Everyone watches as their class adviser continues to hit Max's hand. Some of the gaffers still wanted to make fun of him, but after the tenth hit, everyone in the room became completely silent. They thought at this point, Max would start begging their adviser to stop, but he didn't.
On the fifteenth hit, Max's hands were now red and numb, but he continued to stare at his bracelet so he could endure it a little more.
On the twentieth hit, bruises were already appearing on his hand, making some of the students look away. Stefan and Xander looked away as well, but not Keigo. Keigo continued to watch Max with tears forming in his eyes.
On the twenty-fifth hit, the other gaffers were already staring at the floor in complete shame as blood was now dripping from Max's hand. But when Sister Celeste flogs the stick for the thirtieth time, she finally looks up at Max's face. She was expecting Max to be crying or showing pain, but to her surprise, Max looked straight into her eyes with anger and determination, almost making the nun back away.
"Don't you dare look at me with such demonic eyes," Sister Celeste says.
Max's eyes were watery because of the pain, but he made sure not to let a single tear fall. He didn't do this to prove their class adviser wrong. Instead, he wanted his classmates to see him in such a state. He wanted them to completely see the cruelty of their system.
Stefan, on the other hand, looked at Max with his fist clenched. During the time Max provoked the Tax Collectors, Stefan got mad because he thought Max was just messing with them. He thought Max was all talk and that when all things fail, he'll be able to run away and go back to his castle with his loving protectors. But seeing Max now...he was proven wrong. Max genuinely wanted to help them. He has never met anyone with such a resolve before.
"What is your name?" Sister Celeste then asks.
"My name...is M-Maximilian...Leigh...S-Sinclaire," Max manages to answer.
Sister Celeste nods her head and stares at Max for one last time before finally turning away from him. She walks to the front of the room, looking up at the cross that is right above their blackboard. She then pulls out a handkerchief from her pocket and starts wiping the blood off the stick, making the others look away from the deadly weapon again. Right after cleaning the stick, Sister Celeste does the sign of the cross and closes her eyes, almost like she's praying.
"That will be all for today's homeroom," she then says before finally walking out of the room.
As soon as she leaves, Keigo, Xander, and Stefan immediately run to Max's side. Xander sprays his wound with alcohol, and then Keigo immediately wraps his bleeding hands with his and Xander's handkerchief.
"Let's bring you to the clinic," Stefan says.
"S-Shit...look at the blood," Xander then comments, staring at the red stains on the floor that came from Max's bleeding hand.
"We can just clean that when we get back," Stefan replies as he grabs Max to help him.
Max looked at his friends to tell them that he was okay, but when he saw Stefan's hands...when he saw the healed bruises that he had just now noticed, a tear finally fell from his eyes. He could no longer endure the pain in his hands. He could no longer endure the cruelty of this school. Uchdryd was right. This was hell. He has taken J.S High for granted. He's been enjoying his victories in the House of Kings, claiming to raise the brotherhood houses when, in fact, white uniforms here are greatly suffering.
"You've all been...treated like this?" Max asks out loud as he stares at the blood in his hands, making the other white uniforms in their class feel ashamed.
Keigo starts crying again when he sees the state of his friend. He then grabs him and gives him a tight embrace, letting Max bury his face on his shoulder while Keigo pats Max's head with his trembling hand. "You really are an idiot. What am I going to tell Ari and the others now? I'm a terrible protector. I'm sorry, Max. I'm so sorry."
The gaffers in the room didn't say a single thing and could only look away from Max in complete shame. But as for the dwellers, they stood from their seats and approached the young heir.
"Sinclaire," the dweller whom Max saved earlier called out.
Max moves away from Keigo and turns around. To his surprise, the dwellers in their room were holding onto their chests and bowing to him. It was the very bow that the students of J.S High did. It was a bow of respect and appreciation.
"Thank you for what you did," the dweller sincerely tells him. "You're the only person who ever stood up for us like this, so thank you."
Max was about to tell them that it was fine, but then he looked down and saw bruises on some of their hands too, indicating that they had already received the same cruel punishment in the past.
"That wasn't even enough," Max answers instead with a sad expression.
"It was, Sinclaire. It was," another dweller reassured him.
"We should head to the clinic now so they can treat that wound," Xander then says, but before they can drag Max out, Max stops them as he looks back at the dwellers. He then looks down at his hands again, and the blood reminds him of all the injustice that the lower ranks face in this house.
"Keigo, I've made a decision," Max suddenly opens up.
"Max, I'm a little nervous about this."
Max takes a deep breath and turns to the gaffers this time before revealing, "I'm not gonna rank up like what everyone expects me to do here. I'm gonna stay as a serf."
"What?!" Keigo, Xander, Stefan, and even the other white uniforms, who were secretly eavesdropping, shout in complete shock.
"We can't let these students get treated like this any longer. Even serfs in J.S High are happier. The discrimination and the treatment they have here...it's not right. Ranks are there for you to improve yourself. But this? This is wrong. They're not even treated as students here," Max explains, and the eavesdroppers couldn't even deny it. Even the gaffers.
"Max, you already have so much on your plate. We have PHD to worry about, and then that cryptic message that threatened our house. And look at your hand. This is enough proof that they do not care about you or these students. This isn't your house. You are not obligated to help them," Keigo explains with such a serious expression that it surprised Xander and their other classmates because they had never seen such an expression from him since he arrived.
Max understood what Keigo was trying to say, but he didn't want to just let this be. That wasn't him. He can't just go back to J.S High and pretend like all this was a dream, knowing full well that once he leaves, the students here will still be treated the same. He won't be able to happily celebrate his victories if he lets one of the Brotherhood Houses corrupt the very students Max tried his very best to change.
"Keigo, if I had that mindset...I would have left J.S High a long time ago," Max reveals, turning to face the gaffers and the dwellers in their classroom, making sure they'd hear him loud and clear.
"St. George Academy. Let everyone in this hell know that I, Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire, will remain as a serf until my last day in your school and find out why you are all treated like this. And even if you despise me, hit me, pour paint at me, or even kick me until I fall, I will help this god-forsaken house and make sure no one will bleed again. We will find a solution to your cruel system. That is my promise, and that is my undying resolve. I swear it, as a student of J.S High."
- END -