"Oh, little Blue!" The head chef once again waved at the female omega. "You made it, little Blue. You must be hungry, too."
Liam watched Ms. Lin skillfully picked up another slice of apple pie with a spatula and placed it on a dessert plate. The head chef has been working at the mansion since Liam first came here, and according to literally everyone, she's been here since before Liam was born. She's an infertile beta female, but it won't stop her from raising generations of spoiled brats in the safety of the mansion.
"Thank you, Ms. L-Lin." Blue smiled before she hopped on the counter next to Mar. The omega eagerly devoured her pie.
"Sooo..." The black haired alpha nudged Blue's arm with his elbow. "How's it going?"
He put so much emphasis on "it", and Liam chuckled as he was eating. "It" refers to the omega's plan to court the pilot. Though he still doesn't Rex (no one likes Rex, honestly), he still supports Blue in her pursuit.
Blue took in a deep breath and slowed down. Two thirds of her apple pie is gone.
"I haven't s-seen him here yet." The omega mumbled. "I haven't t-told my p-parents yet."
"Alright." Liam took another bite of his apple pie. With his mouth half full, he said, "Proceed with caution."
"Thanks." Blue rolled her eyes with a smile.
"If anything happens, you know we'll be here for you." Mar put down his now empty plate, which Ms. Lin took away as soon as the porcelain landed on the marble countertop.
"Yeah, baby Blue." The platinum blond alpha finished his snack, so he handed the plate back to the head chef.
Meanwhile, Arkham was still scooping the dessert into his mouth.
"I m-might tell them during d-dinner." Blue mumbled after she finished her share of the pie.
"Dinner starts at 6." Mar stretched his arms and jumped off the countertop. "If he rejects you in front of everyone, I'll kill him for you. Liam, mix the chemical bath."
"Got it." The taller alpha smiled, and his blue eyes landed on the new butler, who's looking at them horrified of what they just said. "Oh, it's just a joke Arkham. But really, I'd beat that guy up for free."
"No, I won't let you beat up my brother;" Mar laughed at his own joke. "I'll beat him up with you. There's no 'i' in teamwork."
"But t-there's a 'me' so I'm d-dealing with it by myself." Blue giggled as the two alphas looked at her in surprise before they wheezed.
Liam pushed himself off the kitchen counter and looked around the room. "Say... What do you wanna do now? We still got like two hours before dinner starts."
"Wanna go out for a walk?" Mar's slender fingers moved to Blue's light brunette hair. "I can braid your hair in the garden."
"Sounds good, baby Blue?" Liam patted the omega's shoulder, and she nodded in response.
"Hey, Arkham, take a rest for real. You don't gotta follow us everywhere." Mar saluted the butler before grabbing both of his friends. "Thanks again, Ms. Lin!"
"You're welcome, little ones." The head chef gave them a wave as the trio ran out of the kitchen.
Arkham watched the three disappear into the hallway which leads to the maze-like garden to the west of the mansion.
"Children..." Ms. Lin sighed longingly as she's gathering dishes to put in the sink nearby.
"They're twenty." The new butler deadpanned.
"Yes, they are." The head chef smiled softly. "It felt like yesterday when those three just met. Little baby Blue was so small, she's much bigger now. Once upon a time, I taught them how to bake. One day, they'll teach their children how to bake."
"Excuse me, ma'am..." Arkham looked at the old woman. "I can't help but notice that they, young master Mar, young master Madison and their siblings, are not close with their mother. Um... By not close, I mean I have never seen not heard about their mother. Isn't it strange?"
"Mothers, little one." The head chef continued washing the dishes. "Each of the siblings comes from a different woman. Except the twins."
"I see." The new butler couldn't help but push his luck a little. "Are they not welcomed in the mansion? I see a lot of escort omegas here, maybe that's why?"
"No, little one." The hands on the dishes stopped in their tracks. The head chef didn't turn around to look at Arkham, but he could feel her stare.
"Oh, I was just wondering." The new butler played it safe. "After all, one can't help but get curious."
"Some questions are better left unanswered. Did Petrov train you not to ask these sorts of questions?" Despite the stern words, Ms. Lin's voice was still soft and welcoming. Her hands began moving to wash the dishes again.
Head Butler Petrov did tell the new butler about the unspoken rules and how he should behave around the Aster children. Arkham even got the lecture for every butler when it comes to asking questions about anything unrelated to their work. They even signed a contract stating that they must not talk about what they see or heard while in service in the White Pearl Mansion; even after they retired, what happened in the mansion must not reach another soul or there will be direct consequences.
"Yes, Ms. Lin. I apologize. I was never good with keeping my curiosity to myself." Arkham gave the old woman a sheepish smile when she turned around.
A grandmotherly smile came on the head chef's face. "Little boy, you shouldn't be in the kitchen with us maids. Don't let Petrov think you're slacking off."
"Yes, ma'am." The new butler nodded politely. "Thanks again for the apple pie. It's wonderful."
"Good luck, little boy."
Arkham waved goodbye as he left the kitchen. He has no particular destination in mind, but he also doesn't want to run into his fellow butlers. His fellow butlers are the ones he should be talking to, but they always turn him away unless he needed help with moving physical loads.
Jasper Arkham isn't the new butler's real name; he isn't even a butler. He's just someone who's playing the butler. Initially, he accepted the mission because they thought he would be able to get a lot of information from talking to the current staff. Ex-staff members of the mansion would not spill no matter what, and what disturbed him most was they didn't dare to cooperate with the organization out of fear. Fear of their former employer punishing them out weights the benefit that the organization provides. Even with the promise of safety, they still resisted.
When he was taken into the draft list for White Pearl Mansion, he thought he would ace it. He did, they passed the draft, and his new butler name was put into the mansion. However, there's another two weeks of training before he could get into the mansion. That's when things slowly became harder. The head butler, Petrov, made sure that each and every new butler signed the contract, and they must swear to some unspoken rules.
The pay is great, and they get bonuses for serving the first week of summer. However, Arkham isn't here for the money, he's here for information. Useless petty drama is part of the job, and he's good at filtering useful information out of the drama clutter. Unfortunately, since he arrived at the mansion, he couldn't get anything useful. By anything useful, he meant things that the organization already knows about.
One main thing the organization is trying to accomplish is proving that the Aster Family has been violating international human rights laws. The last time someone, a journalist by the name of Marbella Silverin, tried to do that, she disappeared. The case of Marbella Silverin was a well-known one even though it happened two decades ago, and there are dozens of other smaller cases where people tried to crack down on the Aster's empire only to disappear as if they never existed in the first place.
Jasper Arkham isn't his real name, and he hopes that his real name will never be found.