If you asked their neighbors, you would be told that Mr. and Mrs. Of the Light were perfectly normal people. Sure, their garden had some suspicious looking plant life inhabiting it, and there was something very bizarre about the cat, but on the whole, they were just your typical wealthy, snooty, and only slightly antisocial aristocrats.
Unfortunately for one truly ordinary girl of average intelligence, neighbors do not always know everything. And this particular girl didn't know much about anything other than what her neighbors, or in some cases her Creepy Uncle Joe, told her.
And so, when this young woman arrived at the door of the sort-of-small-mansion belonging to the Of Light family, she had no idea what she was getting herself into.
She had been waiting on the stoop in front of the imposing, iron-spiked doors before they swung open to reveal a man with a horrible mustache and a butler's uniform.
"Good evening, miss. Who are you and what to you want?"
Determined to make a good impression, the visitor smiled sweetly.
"I'm Elizabeth-Anne Wretchingworm of Fifty-Four Forty-Fifth street, and I'm here to apply for the job that was advertised in the Sunday paper by the lady Hikari no Dante, requesting a housemaid able to dust, wash dishes, and do the laundry for a monthly salary of thirty-seven cents, room and board provided." She said this all in one breath, while still managing to smile endearingly.
The butler directed her to another door in the back of the building, which Elizabeth presumed was the servant's entrance. A few moments later, she was greeted at the back door by the same butler, with the same horrible mustache, and was informed that the Mistress of the house would be down momentarily to speak with her, the next time she had a spare moment. Elizabeth wondered for a moment whether it was usual for the Lady of the house to interview new servants—she thought there were housekeepers who did that sort of thing. However, she kept her questions to herself, not wanting to say anything that might dampen her prospects of being hired.
Apparently, Mrs. Hikari was a very busy person, as Elizabeth had been sitting patiently at one of the kitchen's stiff, wooden benches for quite some time before anything happened.
Then, quite without warning, the nondescript wooden door presumably leading to the rest of the house was flung open with a bang. A stately looking woman with long, dark hair wearing a ridiculously frilly red dress swept into the humble kitchen, adjusting her hoop skirt so she would fit between the counter and the table.
"I'm so sorry for making you wait," the Lady Dante said, in a voice that suggested that she really wasn't sorry at all.
"It's okay," started Elizabeth, "It's been no—"
"You can stay in the second room down the hall, there are fresh sheets and a blanket in the cupboard across from you. I expect you ready to start work tomorrow morning. And don't complain to me about anything, sweetie," she added as Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something, "unless it's something really dire." Apparently there was something funny about this, because Lady Dante giggled. It is worth noting that she had a rather frightening giggle—the kind that makes small children cry and young housemaids fidget uncomfortably.
The noblewoman flicked her silky hair over her shoulder before snapping her fingers impatiently.
"Flavius!"
The butler, who had been lurking in a corner somewhere answered, "Yes, my lady?"
"Where's my husband? I haven't seen him all day."
"He went fishing with Elwood this morning, Madam."
"Oh. He's probably lost, then, so go find him when you have a spare moment. You are both dismissed!"
She got up and swept out of the room.
The butler, Flavius, was left to show her to her room.
"Um," she asked as he led the way into the hall, "Do I really have to start working tomorrow morning?"
"If that's what my lady said, I would assume so."
"But, er, you see, I was expecting to go back home first, and I don't have any of my things, and my creepy uncle Joe doesn't know I'll have to stay, and he'll be worried…"
"I'm sorry, but I'm only a butler. If you have a problem, you'll have to take it up with Lady Dante. Here's your room."
It was a larger room than what Elizabeth had been expecting, but there wasn't exactly a lot of floor space. A decent-sized, but dusty bed was wedged into the corner of the room, along with a small wooden chest and a nightstand. The rest of the space, with the exception of a narrow path just wide enough to walk through, was taken up by books. Two walls were lined with bookcases, but mostly they were just piled up on the floor, forming several impressive looking towers.
"Um, Flavius?"
"Yes?"
"You don't think I would be able to make it home and back before it gets to late, do you?"
He shrugged. "Do what you wish. I have to go out and find Master Hoenheim. Please excuse me. Oh, and I should warn you about the cat, it's a bit… unusual."
As it turned out, Elizabeth did make it back to Fifty-Four, Forty-Fifth Street before nightfall. However, returning to the home of her new employers was a completely different matter.
Although she only stayed long enough to collect her few belongings and bit her uncle goodbye, she soon realized that one way or another it would take twice as long to walk all the way back across town carrying her case full of personal possessions.
Elizabeth staggered through the kitchen door at nearly one in the morning, barely managing to stay on her aching feet. Ignoring the cloud of dust that her mattress emitted as she lay down, she fell asleep without even bothering to make up her bed.