Chapter Two

The Beginning

Ellie took a breath as she stepped out of the taxi and into the driveway of the Chancellor's manor. She felt herself gasp as she took in the sight of the building. It was beautiful, it was even more impressive than her Uncles mansion. However as she looked at it, she could tell why she had heard others say that it matched the Chancellor. It was imposing but lavish at the same time. Ivy scaled the walls, the brown and red leaves contrasting the dark building. She lifted her suitcase from the car and nodded to the cab driver as he pulled away.

She clutched at her suitcase, her letter from Adryn had instructed her to bring what she needed and not to worry about anything else. She hadn't had much anyway, only her clothes and anything else she had left behind. She began her trek towards the house, leaves crunched under her feet as she drew nearer to her new home.

"You can do this." she encouraged herself as she stepped up the steps and reached the wooden double doors. "You can do this…" she raised a hand and pressed the doorbell, a buzzing sound hit her ears. "You can do this." She twisted her foot around and looked around the porch. It seemed fairly simple, some ceramic pots with peace lillies and a statue suit of armour. She had to admit that she was surprised, from the way that people talked about Ardyn, she had almost expected there to be bodies hanging from the walls to warn off visitors, this was pretty normal.

The door opened with a creak, and an older man in a black suit greeted her. "Ah! Miss Tummelt!" the man's voice was wheezy, that and his white hair were indications of his age. "The Chancellor informed us of your arrival," he took the suitcase from her and stepped back from the door. "come in," he gestured his head, "come on."

As she passed through the threshold of the doorway she was again struck with how normal the place looked. Yes it was a gaudy shade of red and filled with varying types of suits of armour and paintings, but it could have been much worse. She was honestly surprised with how normal it was, although did she really expect the dead bodies and tortured souls that people had told her were there? She shook her head wryly, she knew they were wrong.

The older man brushed past her and gestured for her to follow him up the stairs to the second floor. "I'll show you to your room." his shoes tapping echoed through the room. "We're quite excited to have you here, Miss Tummelt," he called back at her. "It'll be nice to have a new face here."

"I'm excited to be working for Ardyn- I mean Chancellor Izunia." she corrected herself with a flush, it had been years and she was still not used to referring to him as the Chancellor. "Tell me, what is it like working for the Chancellor, Mr-?"

"Oh beg my bad manners Miss, my names Timms, Rupert Timms." he reached the top of the stairs and turned left to a hallway. "It's quite pleasant working for the Chancellor, Miss, contrary to what you'll hear in the city, the Chancellor is a delight to work for, a delight."

Ellie nodded and stopped as they reached a door. Rupert opened the door with a click and gestured for her to enter. As she stepped through the threshold she was met with the sight of a simple, but elegant room. There was a double bed with lovely floral sheets, an amoire, what appeared to be a walk in robe, a door to an ensuite and a double glass door window which led onto a small balcony. It was very simple but she found it comfortable. It smelled, she noticed, of flowers, she liked it.

"This is your room," Rupert followed behind her and placed her suitcase on the floor beside the bed. "You're free to do with it as you please, just don't leave it in a mess."

Ellie nodded and stepped around the room, taking in the white walls and a landscape painting on one of the walls. A grass field and a tree, it was beautiful, but something about it made her sad. "Don't worry," she answered in response to Rupert's words, she turned to him with a smile. "I'm a pretty clean person."

"Hm." The older man nodded, then turned to leave the room. "Would you like to see the rest of the house now, or shall I give you some time to settle?"

"I'll see the house now," she followed him out of the room. "Will I be seeing A-The Chancellor today?" she enquired as she followed him down the hallway. She looked at the burgundy walls- An Imperial fashion many years ago- and took in the various paintings hanging from them. They seemed to be mostly landscapes, however there were some paintings of people, who they were she had no clue.

"Chancellor Izunia shall be returning in three days." Rupert replied before turning down another hallway. "This is the Chancellor's room, he gestured to a door but made no movement to open it. "There will be little need for you to go in there. He then gestured for her to follow him.

She touched the wood of the door lightly before following after the older man. He then showed her the study, a small room where the walls were all bookcases, there was a desk in the middle of the room and there were papers scattered across the table as well as books, there were books everywhere! On the table and all over the floor. She felt herself frowning at the state of the room it was disgusting! There was stuff everywhere! How did he allow the room to get to this state? It was horrifying!

"This room is the Chancellors personal study, if you are unable to find him, he will most likely be here." Rupert ushered them out of the room and noticed the expression on her face. "The Chancellor is an… eccentric fellow." he closed the door behind them with a click.

"Now," he began as he led her down the stairs. "You are expected to be away at four o'clock in the morning to prepare yourself and ready his agenda for the day. The chancellor has no routine, he wakes when he feels like it so it is better to be awake and ready for him. You will maintain a neat and professional presentation.." he continued to talk to her about the routines of the house and what was expected of her while he showed her the various rooms and where things went.

After her first day she found herself in her bedroom reflecting on the day. She was tired and overwhelmed, but she felt as though she was going to be okay. Rupert had answered all of her questions, the cook, Mabel, seemed nice enough and had told her what meals that Ardyn enjoyed and how long it would take to make them. In fact, if she felt pretty good about the situation and felt confident in her abilities. She found herself smiling, it was going to be fine.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep… she had three days until Ardyn returned. Three days to try and remember and learn everything. Three days. Three.

'Worrying about it won't help me, I'll be fine...' she squeezed her eyes shut and clutched at the duvet.

Sleep did not come easy to her.

Day Two

She woke with a start to the blanket being ripped from her. Her body shivered and her eyes shot open before she let out a groan and covered her eyes to block the light from her eyes. She clutched blindly for the blanket and tried to blink out the flashing colours before her eyes. "Wha- who- wha?" she slurred rubbing at her eyes. She blinked and moved her hand away only to be met to the sight of Rupert, looking most displeased with her.

"It is ten minutes past four and you are still in bed, what are you doing?" he glared down at her.

She jumped and reached to cover herself.

"Oh stop I have no interest in looking at you silly girl." he snapped and turned away from her. "Get dressed and be out in ten minutes." and with that he left the room.

Ellie staggered out of the bed and leaned against the wall. She didn't think that there should have been a four o'clock. 'What asshole decided that this was an acceptable time to wake up?' she thought to herself while she looked for her clothes. Some nice slacks and a white shirt. She quickly pulled her hair back into a pun and brushed her teeth before slipping her shoes, low heeled black, and walked out to see Rupert waiting for her.

"Now," he said with sharp eyes. "You are going to the kitchen and will be learning how to set up for the morning."

She nodded and headed downstairs to the kitchens to find Mabel tottering around. On the centre island of the room, on the stone bench top, rested a vase with some white lillies. The windows were open and she felt herself saddened that it was still too dark for the light to shine through, only a cold draft.

"Good to see you awake, my dear." Mabel said blithely.

Ellie gave an uncomfortable smile. "What do I need to do?"

Mabel stopped what she was doing and turned to the younger girl. "You need to learn how to set the table, then we'll work on how to make his breakfast, then coffee." she pulled out some plates, a tray, some cutlery and a vase. "You will be setting these on the tray, as though there was food on them."

Ellie nodded. This was something that she at least remembered from yesterday. She slowly picked up the plates and set them in the centre of the tray, she chanced a glance at Mabel who was watching her with a blank expression. She then reached for the cutlery and set them up neatly, again she received a blank stare. Ellie felt slight panic but continued on, she set up the vase on the tray and took a flower and placed it in her little vase. She stood back and smiled at herself, it looked pretty, she was happy with it.

"Nice," Mabel nodded. "You need to work on your speed, too slow. The food would be cold by now." she offered Ellie a small smile. Now I want you to carry that to the dining room, to get a feel for it, learn how to manoeuvre the doors and the space." she watched as Ellie picked up the tray. "While we're young dear."

Ellie smiled weakly and lifted the tray and started walking to the dining room.

"Other way dear."

Swearing internally Ellie turned and headed to the door at the other end of the room. She managed to successfully take the tray there and back again. Mabel was looking at her watch when she returned. "You need to have better posture dear." she commented. "Better posture is key to carrying the tray without damaging your back, it is also more professional, straighten up!"

Ellie straightened her back and frowned.

"Now, we're going to work on making breakfast and coffee!" Mabel went on to describe the various types of breakfasts that Ardyn enjoyed and Ellie even took attempts at making them, some of them she was successful, but other times things went wrong, she burnt some or added too much of a spice. She ended up feeling quite foolish when she blackened her sixth piece of toast.

"I'm sorry… I've never had to make toast with this strange machine before." she pointed to what she assumed was a toaster, it was a box, with slots and so many buttons that she wasn't even sure that she could count them. At the look on Mabel's face she suddenly felt guilty about what she had said, she fidgeted sadly and looked away.

"We shall move onto coffee." Mabel gestured to the coffee machine. Ellie followed her to it and listened while Mabel explained how to use the machine and what to do and what not to do. Ellie listened carefully and watched the old lady make a cup.

Then it was her turn and she found that making coffee was actually something that she was good at. She did everything that she was told and the coffee was perfect, but as she tasted it, she felt that it was lacking.. it just didn't seem like something that the Ardyn she had known most of her life would drink. It was too bitter, not smooth enough, not sweet enough. She walked into the pantry and took some cocoa and some chocolate and creamer. She then made the coffee again, this time mixing in the cocoa powder, the creamer and finishing with sprinkling the chocolate shavings over the top. When she was done she sipped it, and found herself smiling. This tasted more like something that he would drink.

"Are you done making yourself coffee? Can we get back to our lessons?" Mabel was looking at her with a raised brow.

"I think," Ellie held the cup out. "I think that the Chancellor would like this, try some."

"We're not making that for him." Mabel snapped. "Now make it as I showed you."

"I really think-"

"I have been working for the Chancellor for twenty years and he has always had his coffee this way and he always will, you'll not come here thinking you know everything, when you don't, and try to change it. Now do it the way I showed you."

X

The day had been horrible to her, she had failed at making things, burnt things, had arguments with Mabel and Rupert, and if that wasn't all she had fallen over while helping mop the floors and had ended up covered in gunk and slime and other fluids and mess. Rupert had sent her to bed for the evening but she had found that after changing, she was unable to sleep.

'Why am I here?' she thought sitting up from the bed. She could have done anything with herself, she could have gone on to medical training, she could have done what her Uncle had wanted and joined the military, she could have become a teacher, anything, anything, but instead she had read that letter and had all but run away to work for Ardyn. Had she made the wrong decision? Should she leave? These people certainly made her feel as though she should. She climbed out of bed and slipped on a dressing gown and some slippers. She was going to walk around for a bit, try to clear her head.

It was dark when she opened the door, Mabel and Rupert must have been asleep. She reached for her phone so that she had something to light her way, she didn't want to wake anyone. She walked down the stairs, maybe some tea would help her to feel better. Before she reached the kitchen however, she noticed that the light to the living room. She stepped close and through a crack in the door she was unable to see anything, but she could hear well enough.

"How is our newest member of the household doing?" her eyes widened, she recognised that voice! It was Ardyn, he must have come home earlier than anticipated.

"Well," That was Rupert. "it is only her second day, but I feel as though she could do better. I, I do not believe her to be a good fit, she is argumentative, poor work drive and has already broken a china bowl when she was mopping."

"I see, such a shame." Came Ardyn's response.

Rupert continued to to say all of the things that Ellie had done wrong on her first two days.

Ellie's eyes widened. Yes, some things had happened, but the least he could do is say she needs to get used to it all! Not to just claim that she doesn't fit with them! She had tried, tried, to do everything that they had wanted, if they hadn't been so horrible to her- she stopped, she would show them that she could do better. She would show them! She turned and went back to her room to prepare for her third day.

She had to prove herself, she owed it to Ardyn and herself.

X

She was awake at three thirty in the morning and she found herself staring at the ceiling. She was going to get up soon and get ready. She was going to prove herself she was going to do it. She was ready to do it. She climbed out of the bed and showered before dressing herself. She decided that she would not gt the breakfast ready first, there was no point, who in their right mind would have breakfast at four in the morning? Well admittedly she didn't know, but she had a feeling that Ardyn was not among the ranks of people who had breakfast this early and when she walked downstairs, she discovered that she was, in fact correct. But then again, no one seemed to be awake- it was just her. She felt a trickle of rage flow through her, how dare they tell her off for not getting up early when they hadn't either.

'Lazy hypocrites.' she took an apple from the refrigerator and ate it. 'I'll show them.' she then went about the morning routine of setting up in preparation for when it was time to make breakfast. When she was done with that, she went about opening the windows and letting some air in before continuing on with other jobs.

It was five when Ardyn strutted down the stairs, Ellie had been bringing in the newspaper at the time and nearly dropped it when she saw him. He looked as though he had just woken up, his hair was sticking in all different directions(more so than usual) and he was dressed in what was either the ugliest, or most fabulous black velvet dressing gown, with matching slippers.

"G-Good morning Sir!" Ellie stood up straight and smiled at him. Her heart raced, she remembered what she had heard the night before and hoped that he would not send her away.

His eyes met with hers and he smiled. "Good morning Dear Ellie!" he stepped down to her level. "How are you settling in?"

"Well enough, would you like some breakfast?" she offered him the newspaper which he took with a nod.

"Breakfast would be lovely, would you join me? We have some things to discuss."

She grinned at him. "I'd like that."

X

It was five thirty when Mabel and Rupert came down, the pair were shocked to find their jobs done and Ellie in the kitchen cooking, bacon and pancakes.

"Would you two like something to eat?" there was the lightest hint of sass in her voice as she flipped the pancakes.

"Is this what you plan to give the Chancellor?" Mabel sounded scandalised.

"Why not?" she asked while she went about setting the food out onto plates. The coffee machine let out a ding to indicate that it was ready and she went about making two coffees, the way she had yesterday. She heard Mabel let out a sound of protest but she ignored it and placed the coffees on the tray. She carefully lifted the tray and headed for the room. "Have some, there's plenty." she called out to them, referring tot he plate of leftover bacon and pancakes.

She entered the room and saw Ardyn sitting at the table reading the newspaper, she was struck by how normal he looked. She grinned and went about setting their places, she set his food out before setting her own across from him. When she was done she took her seat and waited for him to finish reading.

A few moments later he set down the paper and looked at the food in front of him. His amber eyes lit up at the sight. "Is that bacon? Ooo and pancakes!" he almost looked like a child at Christmas he was so excited. He lifted his knife and fork and started eating.

Ellie watched him for a little while before starting on her own food. She grinned behind the fork, it was good. She wondered if he felt the same, though from the smile on his face, she doubted that he didn't like it. "How is it Sir?" she asked.

Ardyn looked up from his plate and she nearly laughed at the sight, this was the man that she remembered! "It is good!" he sipped his coffee and paused. She felt her heart stop, she knew he'd like that food, but the coffee? That had been what she was unsure of. She felt panic run through her body, by Shiva she hoped that he liked it.

He set the cup down. "You have a gift for making breakfast, bravo!"

She grinned. She was going to be okay.

From that point on, up was the only way that she could go, she improved, she got better, she learned his ticks, she furthered her abilities, she learned to cook, eventually she was allowed to clean his study. Her life was starting to look up.

For now, things would be fine.