I was an indentured servant; my mother died and there was no one to look after me, so the Ninth adopted me as a ward. In return for shelter, food, and education I was to serve the “lady” of the House (note the quotes; that was intentional; WHAT a cabbage) until I either paid off my debt through years or became a skeleton myself. That luckily all went to hell, of course, but it’s not an uncommon tale. It’s nobles and the underlings, and that’s that.