Chapter 41: Life of a butler III

"Hannah Garvin." Matteo stood in front of the girl.

Her eyes were sharp, and she didn't say a word. Silence filled the room, the entire hallway, the entire basement floor, even.

"Why did you put sedatives in our drinks, lady?" Keller pushed his way towards the maid tied to the chair. His voice wasn't angry, rather he's genuinely curious. "Was it a prank?"

Garvin didn't reply with her words. Instead, she opted to look at Arkham as if he was a politician caught in the act of bribery.

"Now we know who did it." Leonardo sighed, and the older butler didn't move from his place at the door. "Let's go back, Keller."

"Fine, fine..."

As the two butlers began walking up the stairs, the spy turned his glaze back on to the maid. She doesn't even blink when she's staring at him, so her hazel eyes seem bigger than they really are.

"Arkham." Matteo put a hand on the new butler's shoulder. "Now you know who did it. You can go back upstairs."

"Thanks." The spy nodded politely at the veteran butler before he turned around and left the room.

Fuck, how will be report this? And how will he get more information about this place?

Being a victim and getting tossed inside the basement like Garvin isn't an option either. The spy must be flexible and sustainable; being tied into the basement is the exact opposite of being flexible and sustainable. Flexible in ways that if he needs an out or anything happens, per say... He's found out, he can get out of the mansion, discard his butler persona and seek shelter in his organization. He can't do that if he's found out and he's trapped in the basement. Sustainable in regards that he can stay in the White Pearl Mansion until the end of summer, and if he does a good enough job, the Head Butler Petrov will allow him to continue serving in The Asters' other mansions. More service means more information can be obtained.

Arkham tapped on the concrete wall once he reached the top of the stairs, and it opened up like a revolving door. Before he knew it, he was in the accessible hallway of the mansion again.

Petrov was standing at the end of the hallway, as if he had been waiting for Arkham to come out. The head butler gestured for the new butler to come closer, and like a good butler he is, the spy speed-walked towards Petrov and stopped a few feet in front of him.

"Go wake up Young Master Mar and Young Master Liam." The head butler's face didn't betray any emotions as he gave the order. "They're usually not up at this hour, but checking on them is required, just in case they need anything. Do you remember the procedure for morning routines?"

Of course, he does. Arkham has to admit that he put more effort into memorizing it than most of the new butlers. He was chosen because of that trait, and the spy was positive that the head butler liked him most before the incident this morning where he woke up late. Hopefully Petrov will forgive him on that one. It's not his fault that the communal fridge water was laced with sedatives. Lacing easily accessible communal water is a strange thing to do, and it's even stranger considering the motives behind it. The reasons that pushed Garvin to lace their water isn't known because she refused to talk, so it's another thing for the spy to find out.

"Yes, sir." Arkham nodded once before he began reciting what he memorized. "Knock three times, if we don't receive a verbal reply, we must open the door. If the master key doesn't work in the door, break it down."

"Good." Petrov gave him a miniscule smile; the edges of his lips barely lifted up, but the look of approval on his face was clear. "Off you go, now."

"Yes, sir!" Arkham responded with his signature smile, not bearing teeth but the smile reached his eyes. Many people perceive it as innocent and genuine, but really, he is a spy, and he knows that he does his job well.

A nod from Petrov was all the approval he needed to walk away. His feet took him to the living room, and his bright green eyes scanned every movement. There's no one in the main living room which has a balcony that leads to a dock. Well, not anyone important, at least. A pair of maids were passing through with a cart holding trays of breakfast items.

Talking about breakfast, Arkham woke up late and hasn't had anything yet. He can always wait until lunch...

Anyways, his green eyes glazed over some cameras. He acted as if his eyes caught it by accident, not him knowing the exact location of each one. Maybe there's more hidden security cameras, Arkham just hasn't found them yet. The cameras aside, the new butler made his way into the hallway where the younger Aster children reside. The maids from earlier were making their way into Staria Sorensen's room, the seventh Aster's child and the only female. The young omega is engaged to one of Dr. Velison's alpha children, the first born.

Dr. Velison's other alpha child is behind the door that Arkham is knocking on. One. Two. Three. The knocking was loud enough to be heard down the hallway, and the maids looked at him on their way out of Staria's room.

A familiar round face with dark hair and olive skin poked out of the door. Keller's eyes landed on Arkham, so the older butler gave the new butler a grin.

"Might as well get in there." Keller suggested as he pointed at the door. "You have the master key, right? Those guys won't wake up on their own. Just check on them to see if they're still breathing."

"Thanks." Arkham nodded and gave the older butler his signature smile.

Keller returned his smile with a mock salute before he disappeared into the engaged omega's room.

Once the maids left the hallways and their footsteps can no longer be heard, Arkham pulled out a ring of a dozen keys. The master key is the key given to all butlers and maids, and in theory, it can unlock any room in the mansion. The spy was pretty sure that it won't unlock anything Mr. Aster deemed it valuable to him, so there might be a bigger master key that Petrov holds.

The master key fit into the keyhole smoothly, and the spy turned the door knob, not expecting to see anything much other than a pair of spoiled alpha males sleeping away in their beds or on the floor, who cares?

What Arkham didn't expect was himself being hit with a face full of pheromones and scents. The pheromones were lingering ones, not fresh. Mar and Liam are in their early twenties after all, old enough to be in their prime, and also young enough to not be able to control their scents fully, so it's safe to assume that some pheromones must have slipped out when they're sleeping. The scent in the room is an even mixture of vetiver and cedarwood—

Green eyes handed on a blanket on the floor; a tangled mess of black fabric and long limbs laid on the couch. The black haired alpha's face was smushed into the taller alpha's chest, and the platinum blond alpha was holding on to his best friend as if he was going to drop him. Well, the couch isn't big enough for two people to lay vertically side by side, so Liam definitely doesn't want his friend to fall off the couch.

An empty cheesecake tray laid on the floor along with a few bottles of water, some half filled, but most were completely empty. The coffee table was a hazard, with a huge bowl still half filled with sweets in the middle, a closed laptop and a lot of mini sauce containers scattered across the surface.

The new butler gently put his hand on a pale bicep, and his other hand went on a lightly tanned forearm.

"Young master Liam? Young master Mar?"

"Five more minutes." A groan came from the black haired alpha, and he nuzzled his face deeper into the platinum blond's neck as if the taller alpha was his personal body pillow.

The spy paused for a second. His eyes scanned the two alphas again, and now that he's looking at it again... It seems intimate. Alphas are generally aggressive towards one another, hell, the spy himself is an alpha, but Jasper Arkham the butler isn't. Arkham the butler is a beta just like any other workers in the mansion, but the spy achieved this persona by using a fuck ton of scent blockers.

Back to the topic at hand, the spy had his fair share of experience with dealing with other alphas, and what he's seeing in front of him is just strange.