Second Time's a Charm (MxM)✔

Chapter 5 - Seducing the Butler

Typically, there's only one butler per household that oversees the other servants, but for much larger mansions, there could be as many as one per wing.

Their job was merely to manage the servants around the property, and because of this, they had access to every room. So while Cain was forbidden to go to places like his father's study or the family's safe room, the butlers could. What's more, they had influence over the other servants. So if he could get one of them on his side, he could very well start attaining some form of authority over his family's 'minions'. The trick was figuring out how to win one over. 

Being suave wouldn't work, because that was expected of everyone in the Duclair family. And blackmailing them would just make him look worse than they already thought he was, as well as earn him more trouble if they went running to tattle to his father. No, he'd have to be smart about this. And the only two options left were either pity...Or seduction.

Cain hadn't expected his father to grant his request to swap butlers so easily. When he thought on it some more, it was most likely because this new butler was even more loyal to his father than the old one was, so he'd be reporting all of Cain's activity with extreme detail.

Gideon was this butler's name. And from what Cain learned, this man had served a great number of households in the past before coming to work for the Duclairs. He was in his early fifties but still very capable, and Cain had had minimum contact with him in the past, so all this man had to go off of was Cain's shambled reputation.

"Nice to meet you." Cain had greeted the man as though he were a guest. 

Gideon just scowled at him, with the typical judgment in his eyes as he looked the Marquess up and down, examining his simple attire and dusty room. To the butler, the attic was a pigsty, and Cain probably looked no better than an animal for being able to live in it. 

"I'll be your master from today onwards." Cain continued, trying to break the ice and avoid too much awkwardness. He even extended a hand for a formal handshake, but the man just eyed it with disgust. 

"My master is the Duke, Lord William Duclair. I am here on his behest due to complaints about the previous butler. Rest assured, I will do my job accordingly." And with that, the man gestured with his gloved hand, having ignored the handshake, and in flocked two maids with feather dusters and clean linens. 

The butler then left as the maids set out to clean his room for the first time in months, making the Marquess feel somewhat self-conscious. His room wasn't a mess. He always made his bed, never left anything on the tables, and always cleaned up after himself. But as a noble, even though they were out of reach for him to clean personally, the dust and cobwebs in the ceiling beams had probably been the biggest problem.

After that stiff greeting, he tried a few more times to start up a conversation with Gideon, only to be shut down immediately. The butler constantly made excuses to ignore Cain, such as reviewing the staff schedule, task assignments, guest invitations, dinner preparations, and anything else his family requested of him on the spot. 

 His fixation on the butler had even gotten him yelled at by his stepmother, who caught him following the servant around, talking about the weather while Gideon tried to go over the daily chores with the manservants. 

His plan to win the trust of this butler seemed to be failing horrifically until one day he discovered the man's weakness. 

"I'm so sorry!" One of the maids cried as she stood over the shattered remains of Lena Duclair's favorite vase. 

Cain heard the crash from the window while he was reading on a nearby bench and arrived to see what all the commotion was about. 

The maid who had committed the act looked young and was unfamiliar to Cain, so he could only assume she was new. Her rosy red cheeks were flush from panic as she knelt to try and pick up the pieces, tears forming in her eyes.