"So, can you tell us your name and what happened to you?"
The moment Andrew asked this question, the beggar had a conflicted and sad expression as he seemingly struggled with what to say.
But eventually, he released a soft sigh and spoke, "My name is Thomas."
"I was once a businessman… a successful businessman if you could call me that." Thomas' lips curled up into a sad smile.
"I used to own a business in the textile industry. It was a business with a lot of potential, but my wife. Sorry, ex-wife," Thomas chuckled self-depreciatingly, though Andrew could perceive the rage in his chuckle.
Thomas gritted his teeth and spat, "That bitch deci-"
"Respect yourself and pick your words carefully."
Just as Thomas was about to rant on and on, Edgar cut him off with a cold tone. Thomas looked at him, and Edgar gestured at Esther and Andrew.
"They're still young, Especially the young miss. So choose your -"
"You know." Andrew coldly cut him off with his eyes gleaming with a light of disgust, "Why are you acting like the word 'Bitch' is something you're not exceedingly familiar with. Shouldn't you be happy hearing the word 'Bitch'?"
Andrew's voice was filled with such a bone-chilling coldness that Thomas shivered slightly as he heard it. Andrew's voice and tone were even more bone-chilling every time he said the word 'Bitch'.
"How many females have you called 'Bitches'?"
"How many actual bitches have you had sex with, impregnated, and then abandoned?"
"How many 'Bitches' lives have you ruined?"
"So why are you acting like the word 'Bitch' is something you're disgusted at?"
With every question that was asked by Andrew and with the intensity of Andrew's gaze as he stared at Edgar, the atmosphere of the dining became cold, silent, and suffocating.
But despite all of these, Edgar's expression remained unchanging. His expression never changed despite the questions and words spoken by his young master, and Thomas was surprised by this.
"You should calm yourself, young sir. It's not good for kids your age to have such an expression or for kids to be angry all the time." Thomas tried to diffuse the tense atmosphere, but he realized that it barely worked.
'What a kid. Should I…?' Thomas thought with an unfocused gaze.
He glanced at Esther, and he realized that she was secretly munching on a cookie while sneaking quick peeks at her older brother and their butler.
Seeing that her big brother and their butler were not looking at her, he saw her steal another cookie from a nearby bowl.
'Wait, why are there cookies amongst the dishes on the table? Who provides cookies for dinner?'
Thomas was baffled. He shook his head slightly, and then he looked at the source of the suffocating atmosphere.
"Young sir, I don't know the story between you and your butler. But-"
"He's not my butler." Andrew coldly cut him off. "He's my servant."
"A butler deserves even some sort of respect from his master, but a servant deserves none." Andrew stared straight into Edgar's eyes. "He deserves none."
Thomas frowned slightly. "Even if he deserves none, you need to know what's best for your sister." He gestured towards Esther, who froze in shock when she heard her name.
She quickly removed her tiny hand from the bowl of cookies and then looked at her big brother and their big butler. She released a sigh of relief and patted her chest when she saw that they were not looking at her.
Thomas saw this, but he continued, "Your sister is still very young, and it wouldn't be good if she constantly hears such vulgar words from the people around her. You are older and definitely more mature for somebody your age. So, you should understand where I'm coming from."
Andrew looked at Esther, who quickly withdrew her hands and whistled with an innocent expression. Andrew's lips twitched when he saw the cookie crumbs on his sister's lips.
"Also, I started all this mess. I was wrong, and I apologize." Thomas continued, and then he bowed towards Andrew and Edgar.
The dining room became silent once again for a few seconds, but this time around, the suffocating atmosphere had reduced by a large degree.
Andrew sighed, and then he took a serviette from the pack of serviettes on the table and moved closer to Esther.
"Huh? Big brother?" Esther tilted her head with a confused expression as she watched her big brother move closer to her.
Andrew said nothing, and he used the serviette to wipe off the cookie crumbs from Esther's mouth.
When he was done, he showed Esther the cookie crumbs on the serviette, and she froze.
"No cookie for you for a week." Andrew shook his head, and Esther's eyes widened in horror.
"You can't!" She shrieked.
"I can and I shall. You remember the rules, don't you? Everybody must start eating at the same time," Andrew said, and Esther panicked.
Her mind spun, and then she remembered something, and her eyes lit up.
"If you don't allow me to eat cookies, I'll tell Dad and Mum that you said 'Bitch' in front of me six times!" Esther triumphantly declared while raising six fingers in front of her big brother.
"You- You counted?" Andrew stuttered in sheer surprise as he looked at his younger sister with wide eyes.
When did his sister become so smart and shrewd?
"Yes I did." Esther nodded, "So, do we have a deal to let bygones be bygones?" Esther asked with a smirk, and Andrew's right eye twitched.
"Fine." Andrew clicked his tongue, "You have a deal."
He stretched out his hand, and Esther giggled with a triumphant smile as she shook his hand.
"See, I'm learning a lot from you big brother. In no time, I'll become more cunning and smarter than you." Esther spoke while bringing out a cookie from behind her back.
Munch!
"..." Andrew blinked.
"I took it from the cookie bowl… munch… when you weren't looking… munch… so it doesn't count… munch."
Andrew sighed, and then he shamelessly took a cookie from the cookie bowl.
"Hehehe."
He heard a giggle, and he looked at his sister, only to see his sister giving him a thumbs up.
"Good boy."
"..." Andrew.