Tenebrous Sovereign

The Servant of the Manor

The other children sensitively noticed this. Among them, a petite girl of eight or nine years old immediately said, "Dear uncles and aunts, he is Dean. There is something wrong with his brain. He likes to daydream and can't speak. Please don't mind."

Although she was young, the cruel living environment made her extremely smart. This statement was very clever. It neither showed her jealousy nor pointed out Dean's defect, and it also made her look cute.

"Yes, yes!"

"Uncles and aunts, don't take him seriously."

The other children belatedly reacted and hurriedly chimed in.

Barton and several other children who shared the same room with Dean looked at the leading girl in astonishment. They seemed surprised that she would speak up against him. At this moment, hearing the words of the other healthy children, their faces turned ugly but they didn't dare to speak up for Dean for fear of leaving a bad impression on these adults.

Du Di glanced at the little girl indifferently and was also slightly surprised in his heart. In his impression of these three months, he remembered that this little girl was one of the few kind-hearted children among the healthy ones. Even towards Barton and other deformed children, she never spoke ill of them. Especially this little girl, she was very gentle to everyone. Even Barton and other deformed children spoke highly of her in private chats.

Dean also had a favorable impression of her and remembered her name. It seemed to be... Lisa?

Sure enough, I was still a bit naive.

At this time, when these adults heard Lisa's words, a glimmer of realization appeared in their eyes. No wonder a child with such clean skin and such delicate features would be abandoned. For a moment, many adults felt sorry.

Seeing the expressions of the adults, Lisa and the other healthy children immediately felt relieved.

"Dear uncles and aunts."

Suddenly, without any warning, a childish voice rang out from the crowd. All the children and adults looked over in surprise. Immediately, all the children's eyes widened as if they had seen a ghost. Because the one speaking was precisely Dean!

During these three months of life in the orphanage, Dean observed and listened carefully every day in silence and learned many simple expressions. Moreover, the orphanage also provided basic speech pronunciation teaching. Even the most dilapidated orphanages were no exception. However, it was all for babies around one year old. Although he didn't participate, he overheard and learned a lot.

It's just that the people around had long regarded him as mute. They usually communicated with him using gestures and no one came to chat with him actively. So he simply didn't bother to speak and enjoyed the peace.

"I have no problems at all." Dean said calmly and seriously.

The childish voice gave people an illusion that it was unquestionable.

He didn't deliberately accuse Lisa of lying and retaliate against her because there was no need for such an unnecessary move.

The adults were somewhat surprised. The next moment, they seemed to understand something. Angry glances were directed at Lisa who had spoken earlier. When they saw the little girl's shocked expression, they couldn't help but be slightly stunned. Soon, the adults realized that the other children also looked astonished. Only then did they know that the problem wasn't with the little girl but with Dean.

For a moment, many adults frowned.

One of the sturdy and dark-skinned middle-aged men said with a sullen face, "Looking at their expressions, it seems they didn't know you could speak. Can you tell me why you hid it from them?"

What adults dreaded the most was adopting a child full of schemes, as it made them feel insecure.

Dean knew that he had stepped on a nerve in these people's hearts, but he was very calm and said, "I didn't deliberately hide it from them. It's just that I'm autistic and don't like to speak. They regarded me as mute, and I let them think so."

Hearing his words, the coldness in the adults' eyes gradually eased. Most orphans had autistic symptoms. They understood and empathized.

"Even if you're autistic, growing up in the orphanage, it's impossible that you haven't said a word, right?" A plump-faced woman in the crowd said doubtfully.

Before Dean could speak, Aunt Dai beside him said preemptively, "It's like this. This child loves cleanliness, so we specially assigned him a separate room. Therefore, he had few opportunities to communicate with other children."

As soon as these words were spoken, Dean, Barton, and the other children were all slightly stunned. They didn't know why Aunt Dai was lying. No child in the orphanage could enjoy a separate room.

Dean's heart stirred and immediately understood. At this point, today's orphanages were similar to those in the old days. They would package the children in the orphanage to be as perfect as possible and minimize the flaws. If these adults knew that Dean had only been in the orphanage for three months, even if his conditions were excellent, no one would be willing to adopt him. Because children of seven or eight years old already had memories and surely remembered their biological parents. No one could guarantee that after raising him to adulthood, he wouldn't leave them to search for his parents again.

Understanding this, Dean's heart sank slightly. He glanced at the other children and saw that the healthy children and Lisa seemed ready to say something. Just then, Dean saw Aunt Dai, with her back to the adults, fiercely glared at Lisa and the few children who were about to speak, scaring them pale.

In the orphanage, Aunt Dai held the power of life and death over all of them. With just one word from Aunt Dai, they would lose the chance of ever being adopted.

As for why Aunt Dai helped him, Dean certainly wouldn't be narcissistic enough to think that he had any special charm. It was because the sooner he was adopted, the less food the orphanage would consume.

"So that's how it is." The plump-faced woman looked at Dean's snow-white complexion, suddenly understood, and looked at him sympathetically, saying, "Child, I choose you. From now on, you will be my child."

As soon as these words were spoken, Barton and several other children with good relations were immediately overjoyed, as if they themselves were being adopted, and were happy for Dean.

Upon hearing this, Dean inspected the plump-faced woman's clothes and hands at the first moment. Seeing her rough fingers, it was obvious that she did hard work. He couldn't help but frown slightly. Just as he was about to refuse, suddenly another person laughed and said, "I think this child is quite pleasing to the eye. Moreover, I feel that with my conditions, I'm more suitable to be this child's parents."

Everyone looked over. The speaker was an average-looking middle-aged man with a faint smile on his face.

The plump-faced woman's expression changed and she said coldly, "Really? I'd like to hear. Who are you, a big shot?"

The middle-aged man smiled slightly and said, "I'm not a big shot. I'm just a small gardener of the Mell family."

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned. The children didn't have much of a reaction, but the adults around couldn't help but change their expressions. Some of them exclaimed, "The Mell family? Could it be that Mell family?"

"Besides that Mell family, which other Mell family needs a gardener?"

For a moment, everyone looked at this middle-aged man with a hint of awe.

The plump-faced woman's face turned slightly pale and she lowered her head without saying a word.

"How about it, child?" The middle-aged man was very satisfied with the reactions of others and looked at Dean smilingly.

Lisa and the other children, including Barton and the other deformed children, could now see the situation. They all looked at Dean enviously. It would be good if they could be adopted. But Dean was being fought over. How could they not be jealous?

Dean frowned slightly, thought for a while, and then shook his head and said, "Sorry, uncle. Thank you for your appreciation, but I hope my parents are preferably doctors. It would make me feel more secure."

This was a polite refusal.

The middle-aged man was somewhat stunned. He seemed surprised that Dean would refuse. He had visited many orphanages to find a child he liked. Those children were all excited and thrilled upon hearing that they could be adopted. None of them were as calm as Dean and spoke so methodically.

Soon, the middle-aged man came to his senses. Although the Mell family was well-known in this outer area, these children didn't know. They didn't even understand what a "gardener" was. After all, the worlds they lived in were too far apart.

Dean certainly knew what a gardener was and also knew from the expressions of those adults that this "Mell family" must be an incredibly powerful entity. But, even if it was just a title.

He didn't want his parents to be servants of a manor.