Aides were not servants.
If the world were a farm and nobles were the owners of that farm, servants would be comparable to dogs – loyal, protectors, who could be kicked from time to time.
Aides, on the other hand, would be comparable to horses – task specific, independent, who could be whipped as their master rode them to fulfil that specific task.
The man’s gaze did not have to be averted, as with servants. But he had been whipped and was taking precautions to avoid, or limit, a second occurrence.
In addition, while servants were indentured and mostly came from the lower classes, aides were staff. Regular, normal staff, but mostly came from higher classes.
They were like high-level interns. If they did well, they went on to head divisions or entire companies for their Masters. Or t
