Hayate Ayasaki never had a pleasant childhood. He's always had to work part-time jobs to support himself and his lazy, unemployed parents who gamble and fritter away all his hard-earned money. And now, they took out a 156,804,000 yen loan and abandoned Hayate to pay it off. On a fateful Christmas Eve night, Hayate meets Nagi Sanzenin, the sole heir to the vast Sanzenin fortune and through a misunderstood confession and bizarre turn of events, Hayate is hired as Nagi's butler to work off his debt. Hayate quickly learns that the truly rich don't live the same way as normal people.