"So...?" Meg sat down in front of them on the couch in the butler's break room. Her nightgown was dotted with little colorful donuts, and Liam knew better than to comment on it. "You're telling me that Petrov forgot to put Arkham's sister on the list?"
The head butler looked offended, but at the same time he's kind of guilty, and his face showed fifteen different emotions at the same time. Offended that Meg's tone of voice was accusing him of incompetence, at the same time guilty because really, it's his fault.
Mar and Liam decided to shut up about it after the little stun that they pulled, but Matteo got to Petrov about it first. Arkham himself was looking at his employers awkwardly and expectantly. On the other side of the room, Meg was summoned because Star was too tired to be roped into their scheme, and the new butler said that he was left alone with his "sister" because his young masters had to go meet their sisters.
Meg never wanted to see them, and the text in Mar's phone from Star was actually from Liam himself. They just wanted to see what would happen if they left Arkham alone with his sister. Of course, the three people immediately switched dialects for privacy. It's not stated in the rules, but new guests shouldn't be left alone or unattended by the masters of the house.
"Shouldn't" doesn't mean they couldn't. Though many risks may come with leaving new "untrustworthy" guests with a butler, the two young alphas were curious, and Liam just wanted to stir some trouble. For what reason? He's not sure, but his instincts told him to do it. His companion seemed to play along until the news reached the head butler.
Just a couple of minutes ago, the black haired alpha was arguing with Petrov that the reason why he faked the call from Star was because he wanted Arkham to have some privacy with his family, and that Ruby and Celesto were trustworthy people, as background checked by Blue.
Baby Blue doesn't even know all of this is going on.
Since none of them could contact Blue except Mar himself, the head butler would just have to take Mar's word for it.
"Ruby Arkham is in the process of changing her name because she's marrying out of the household." The black haired alpha spoke as if he knew what he's talking about. "That's why when you pull up Arkham's family to put on the list, she's not in his household anymore."
"Do you have anything to say about this?" Petrov frowned at Arkham, and the new butler blinked innocently.
"To be frank, I don't know anything about the registration system and how household names work. Usually, my parents are the ones taking care of that." Green eyes squinted a little, and Arkham gave a very awkward smile, somewhere between humbly admitting that he's an idiot and wanting to escape the situation. "I didn't even know there's a list of all the butlers and their families available for the masters of the house to read. But yes, Ruby Arkham will be Ruby Knight once the courthouse finally finalizes her marriage to Celesto Knight. If the courthouse can get that done in the next six months. You know how slow they work for us regular people."
"This is the first time I didn't include a member of the household inside the list. If she's using your last name, she should be on the list." The head butler grumbled as he pitched the bridge of his nose. "Courthouse complications..."
Somehow, the bullshit that Mar cooked up actually worked, and Arkham took it nicely. Liam was impressed, but he didn't show it. Instead, the platinum blond alpha liked to be half asleep and leaning on the wall as the others worked things out. However, his peace could only last for so long.
"Liam, do you have anything to say about this?" His sister's sharp glare reached him, and the taller alpha shrugged.
"Besides using you as an excuse to give our butler some privacy? Nope." He smiled sheepishly at Meg, who frowned deeper in disappointment at her younger brother. "I have like zero experience when it comes to legal paperwork and courthouses and information systems and all that. Blue is the expert among us, but she's not here right now. Last we talked this afternoon, she ran a background check on our new friend Ruby Arkham and her fiance Celesto Knight. Good people, clean criminal records, actually related to Arkham."
"How are you so sure they're related?" Petrov's never ending questions came again, and this time, it's Matteo that stepped up.
"We have eyes, Petrov. We can see." The giant of a man shook his head lightly. "If you have met them, it's obvious they're siblings. Young mistress Ji Jing Devin has years in information technology, so a few simple background checks isn't beyond the ability of a person with her resources and connections."
"Talking about security tapes..." Purple eyes met blue ones, and Liam nodded at his companion's voice. They wanted to know what Arkham and his folks were talking about.
Sure, they left in the name of privacy, but their true intention was confirming whether or not their dear boy Arkham is a spy. The two young alphas did sense something was wrong about the new butler, but it took them a few days to get any action.
It was already midnight when the head butler decided to release them from the interrogation. Meg gave Liam a middle finger before she retreated back into her room, the taller alpha made sure his older sister saw his eyes rolling before she slammed the door on them.
Mar let out a laugh at their interactions, then their faithful butler bowed down in front of them.
"Thank you for allowing me to see my sister," The new butler said as he kept his head low. "And taking my side when Petrov was prepared to let me go."
"Hey, we brought your folks in, so they're our responsibilities." The black haired alpha gave out a little smile. "Don't be like that, Arkham. Get up and go to sleep."
Meanwhile, Liam opened the door to their room, and he's ready to head to bed again. He took off his shoes, and just before he climbed on his bed, he grabbed Mar's laptop from the desk.
For once, it's not the forbidden laptop that they're touching. His best friend closed the door and locked it while Liam was already on his companion's laptop. After a few seconds, slender fingers took the laptop off the taller alpha's lap, and those fingers began typing furiously.
They're after the security footage after all. As long as everything in the mansion is connected, either by wire or by wi-fi, Mar can always hook his laptop on to it to reach the security camera footage.
While Mar was busy, the platinum blond alpha quickly shot a text to Blue to background check Ruby Arkham and Celesto Knight. Baby Blue always replies almost instantly, and this time was no different. The omega said to give her a few minutes.
True to her words, exactly three minutes later, Liam received a text from Blue: Ruby Arkham and Celesto Knight don't exist.