Life couldn't have been better for Tuare, who had just recently started working as a maid in the Great Tomb of Nazarick. She may be tasked with menial jobs such as cooking and cleaning but she undoubtedly prefers her current life to her past.
"I'm done, Madam Pestonya!," she said after washing her share of dirty dishes.
"Well done, my dear," replied the dog maid after checking the cleanliness of her work. "You can now move on to dusting every vase in the hallway, woof."
"Yes, madam."
"Oh you can skip the formalities with me, dear. I'm just a maid in the Tomb, just like you. Just call me Pestonya, woof."
"Yes, m... Alright."
Tuare bowed her head and left the kitchens. After a few weeks of living in the Tomb, she became accustomed to seeing the head maid's... face? Form? The first non-human form she saw was that of the Master of the Great Tomb, Ainz Ooal Gown. At first, she was shocked at the sight of the Elder Lich and his monstrous servants but as she lived in the Tomb, she saw more welcoming, albeit still inhuman, forms, such as Pestonya's.
Tuare promptly headed back to the staff room to get a feather duster. As she opened the door, she was greeted with nary a smile. Her colleagues only looked human but the apprentice maid knew that they were far from it. Her colleagues, the Homunculus Maids, stared at her and resumed their duties. She didn't feel a sense of enmity from their stares, only a feeling of emptiness as though gazing at the wall through her. This didn't bother her though; empty stares were preferable to the malevolent smiles she saw as a slave.
She hurried up and took a feather duster without saying a word to her colleagues, but bowed to them nonetheless. She then headed to the main hallway where the vases were and began dusting. Time flew by as she happily did her job, filling the otherwise silent hallway with her humming.
"Look what we have here," said a menacing voice from behind her.
"A human wandering the halls of Nazarick?"
Tuare felt a chill down her spine as she heard the voice. She slowly looked from over her shoulder and saw a tall demon clad in a red pinstripe suit, his tail swaying from behind him. As she turned her whole body to face the demon, she looked up at his face. She saw her face reflected clearly on his eyes as though looking at mirrors.
"Ah, if it isn't the pet human Sebas brought home. How charming."
She could do nothing but stand still and look at the demon's face. She saw many faces in her past which she had feared but they were all limited by the fact that they were human. None of those human faces she feared had a twisted smile lined with rows of sharp teeth. She remembered seeing him back in Sebas's mansion in Re-Estize but seeing him up close was a different feeling entirely.
"My apologies, human," said the demon. "I'm afraid I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Demiurge, Guardian of the 7th Floor." He gently bowed his head with one hand placed on his chest. "If I may ask, what are you doing here?"
"I-I was..." stuttered Tuare. She swallowed as she tried to speak. In her fear, she dropped her feather duster on the floor. She knew what she was supposed to say, she just didn't know how to say it, not in front of a demon.
Demiurge slowly lifted his hand and placed a finger on her chin. That one finger felt like a razor blade brushing against her chin, that it could break through skin should she move a muscle. Her breathing tensed up as beads of sweat formed on her face.
"I have no questions regarding Sebas's taste in humans," whispered Demiurge, "but what does Lord Ainz see in a human like you, I wonder?"
"S-sebas..." the name of the person she cherished the most escaped Tuare's lips in lieu of an answer. Demiurge's smile curled up into a scowl.
"How insolent!" growled Demiurge. "So you're thinking of him even in times like this? On your kn-"
Before Demiurge could finish his command, a dark figure dashed towards him and grabbed him by the hand upon which Tuare's chin rested. She felt all fear leave her body at the sight of the silver-haired butler, as though a cure to the sickness caused by Demiurge.
"What are you doing to Tuare, Lord Demiurge?" asked the butler sternly.
"Such impeccable timing!" exclaimed Demiurge in surprise, wrenching his scowl back to a smile. "As expected of Sebas Tian, butler of Nazarick!"
"Answer my question," said Sebas, tightening his grip on the demon's wrist.
"I was just introducing myself to your pet human. That's all."
"Tuare is not my pet. If you have no business other than to bully her, I suggest you take your leave."
"Then, I shall, Sebas." He then turned to the maid hiding behind the butler. "Until we meet again, human."
Sebas released his grip on Demiurge and watched him walk down the rest of the hallway until he disappeared in the shadows. Tuare heaved a sigh of relief. Sebas, on the other hand, retained his gentlemanly composure, seemingly unfazed by the whole incident.
"Are you alright, Tuare?" asked Sebas.
"I'm just a little bit shaken," replied Tuare, letting out a smile. "But I'm fine now."
"You better get some rest. I'll tell Pestonya to give you a break for now."
Tuare thanked Sebas with a hug and picked up the feather duster she dropped. She hopped away, thinking fondly about how she was rescued by him yet again just moments ago. This was something she never experienced back in Re-Estize. She might be aware of being the only human resident of a lair populated by demons and undead, but she always felt reassured upon seeing Sebas, the reason she was able to live in Nazarick, the very reason she was able to live at all.
Sebas smiled at her from a distance as she disappeared at the corner. As he was about to leave himself, he could have sworn he saw from the corner of his eye a faint diamond-like glimmer from the end of the hallway.