🌀 Headcanons: How the Night Raven College Freshmen React to Ella's Obedience Curse
❤️ Ace Trappola
The Moment:
Ace is trying to skip out on detention with Riddle yet again, and jokingly tosses out to Ella as she walks by:
"Hey, Ella, do my magic homework for me so I don’t die, and I'll copy it tomorrow!"
Ace runs off to hang out, completely forgetting his words.
In the evening, he walks into Ramshackle and finds Ella at the desk.
She is sitting in pitch darkness (the candle burned out long ago), her fingers are cramping from the quill, and her eyes are watering from exhaustion, but she mechanically continues to write the tenth page of complex essays.
The Reaction:
Ace freezes in the doorway, all his cocky attitude evaporating instantly.
He rushes over, forces the quill out of her hands, and panics:
"Ella, are you crazy?! I was just kidding! Can't you take a joke?!"
Seeing her exhausted, magic-locked eyes, it finally clicks that she physically couldn't stop.
His ears turn bright red with shame.
The Aftermath:
He feels like an absolute jerk.
Ace tucks her into bed himself, covers her with a blanket, and sits nearby until morning, gently rubbing her cramped fingers.
From that day on, he mentally slaps himself for every single word he uses in the imperative mood.
If anyone else tries to order Ella around, Ace immediately gets between them with his signature smirk:
"Hey, pal, she’s busy, so why don't you get lost?"
♠️ Deuce Spade
The Moment:
During a practical Alchemy lesson, nothing is working for Deuce.
His cauldron begins to hiss and smoke suspiciously.
Panicking, Deuce shouts to Ella:
"Ella, grab the cauldron and run outside before it blows up, and don't you dare let go of it!"
Ella rushes to the hot cauldron, her hands burning right through the potholders, but she carries it out to the courtyard.
The cauldron hisses, smoke blows right into her face, and she coughs, but the order "not to let go" holds her fingers with a death grip.
Half an hour passes.
The cauldron has long cooled down and stopped smoking, but Ella is still standing in the middle of the courtyard, clutching the dirty pot with tears in her eyes.
The Reaction:
Running outside, Deuce wants to sink through the floor out of sheer horror.
"Ella! Put it down! Drop it right now!" he shouts.
As soon as the order is canceled, Ella drops the cauldron and blows on her burned palms.
Deuce, who used to be a delinquent and is used to solving problems with force, feels his heart clench with pure guilt.
He looks ready to cry.
The Aftermath:
He immediately drags her to the infirmary, bandages her hands himself, and apologizes endlessly, nearly banging his head against the wall.
Deuce takes her curse extremely seriously. For him, protecting her is a matter of honor.
From then on, he speaks to her with utmost politeness and timidity, carefully choosing his words (no imperative mood!).
If Ace ever says something harsh to her by accident, Deuce will immediately grab him by the collar.
🐺 Jack Howl
The Moment:
Jack is training on the stadium's running track.
Seeing Ella come over to clean up the area, he says strictly:
"Hey, the wind blew a bunch of thorny branches here. Clear them off the track with your hands so no one trips, and don't leave until I finish running."
He just wants to clean up, but he goes off on a grueling two-hour run.
Ella starts gathering the branches, scratching her fingers to the point of bleeding on the thorns.
When Jack finishes training two hours later, he sees Ella standing at the finish line, all scratched up and exhausted, but obediently waiting for him to "finish running."
The Reaction:
Jack brakes hard, his wolf tail tucking in fear and his ears standing straight up.
He sees her injured hands and realizes it’s because of his stupid words.
Jack is a guy with a fierce sense of justice, and using someone's weakness like this is disgusting to him, even if he did it accidentally.
"You... why didn't you wear gloves? And why didn't you leave when you were done?" he growls deeply, furious at himself.
The Aftermath:
He gently takes the branches away from her and treats her scratches himself (though he gets incredibly embarrassed, turning his nose away).
Jack categorically forbids himself from giving her any commands.
He becomes her silent bodyguard.
If the Savanaclaw students try to force Ella to carry their heavy equipment during training, Jack will simply stand before them like a massive wall, bare his fangs menacingly, and growl:
"She isn't your servant. Carry it yourselves."
🐊 Sebek Zigvolt
The Moment:
Sebek is on duty, standing guard outside the Diasomnia lounge, boisterously reciting the glorious achievements of Lord Malleus.
Ella walks past, carrying a heavy stack of books for the library.
Annoyed by her "disrespectful" lack of posture, Sebek thunders at the top of his lungs:
"HUMAN! DROP TO ONE KNEE AND BOW BEFORE THE GREATNESS OF LORD MALLEUS LEST YOU LOSE YOUR SENSE OF PROPRIETY!"
Ella, struck by his loud, booming command, instantly drops to her knees on the cold stone floor, bowing her head so low it touches her knees, while the books crash down around her.
The Reaction:
Sebek grins proudly at first, thinking his sheer authority forced the human to bow.
But five minutes pass, ten minutes pass...
Ella hasn't moved an inch.
She is trembling from holding the uncomfortable bow, and her knees are bruised from hitting the stone floor so hard.
Sebek's booming voice hitches.
"Hey! You may stand up now! Stop this foolishness!" he barks.
Ella shakily gets to her feet, rubbing her sore knees.
Sebek blinks, his loud composure completely cracking as he realizes his thunderous shout literally locked her body.
The Aftermath:
For the first time in his life, Sebek lowers his voice to a hushed, horrified whisper.
He picks up the books for her, utterly stunned and feeling an unfamiliar pang of regret.
To Sebek, a true warrior should never use unfair, underhanded magical advantages over an unarmed person.
He escorts her to Ramshackle in total, awkward silence.
From that day on, whenever he is around Ella, he tries so hard to keep his voice down that he sounds hilariously strained, and he strictly uses formal requests rather than commands.
🍎 Epel Felmier
The Moment:
Epel is furious yet again because Vil is forcing him to act like an "elegant prince."
Sitting on the porch, he screams from the bottom of his heart to Ella:
"To hell with all of this! Ella, don't listen to those Pomefiore snobs! Come over here, take this apple, bite into it as loudly as you can, and curse like a country bumpkin with me until we run out of air!"
Caught by the magic, Ella obediently sits next to him, snatches the apple, bites into it noisily, and starts loudly shouting the most colorful country slang and curses she has ever heard.
The Reaction:
Epel is completely stunned at first, and then he breaks into loud, genuine laughter.
But when Ella starts gasping for breath, trying to shout the words without stopping (since the command was "until we run out of air"), Epel panics.
"Whoa, whoa, wait! Take a breath, Ella! Stop it!" he shouts, patting her on the back.
The Aftermath:
When Ella, coughing and laughing, explains what happened, Epel feels an incredible sense of kinship.
He suffers from Vil's control himself, and her curse seems like an even more unfair cage to him.
He treats her to apple juice from his hometown and becomes her fiercely loyal friend.
Now, you two secretly practice finding loopholes together.
Epel helps you brainstorm how to literally twist the meaning of Vil's or other housewardens' orders so you can stay free.
