The children at the Flower Garden Orphanage could be grouped into two factions. From these two factions, one could imagine the origins and reasons why they entered the Flower Garden Orphanage. The two factions were children who had last names and those who didn't.
Children with last names were usually illegitimate children from an illicit relationship with someone from a wealthy and respected family. Their last name either came from the surname of their mother or father, which was not necessary to hide.
An example is Willie Stu, where 'Stu' is the name of his mother's family. However, his father's family name is not known or hidden because he comes from a prominent family in Teduh City. That way, if Willie had a big achievement one day, his father would be able to adopt Willie back into the family by tracing his mother's family name.
So it is possible that children who have different last names may turn out to be half-siblings. Only Madam Yeva and a few of the Flower Garden Orphanage staff knew about this.
This was the same case as a marked cow. When the cow is mature and can produce milk, the real owner can directly buy the cow without having to compete with other buyers. Because from the beginning, the owner of the cow only entrusted the cow to a farm to wait until it matured.
And the farm was called the Flower Garden Orphanage.
Whereas children who don't have last names are usually children who enter the Flower Garden Orphanage to avoid the public eye. Whether it's for reasons of danger to the child's life or because the family wants to hide their whereabouts from other parties.
These children were usually given special attention at the Flower Garden Orphanage. This was due to the possibility that these children would one day inherit the leadership of their original family.
That's why they usually had different dormitories and were sent to school in a much better place than children with last names.
One of the reasons why Del was respected by the other Flower Garden Orphanage staff was because he didn't have a last name. Only Madam Yeva, Sister Judith, and Chika knew the truth.
Madam Yeva was so amazed by Del's intelligence that she had no problem giving him the same facilities as children without last names. Meanwhile, Sisters Yudith and Chika already considered Del as their own family, so the better the facilities Del gets, the happier they will be too.
Of course, these two factions were not clearly understood by the orphans. They were too young to think about complex things like why there were children with last names and why there were children without last names.
Even Madam Yeva didn't know that Del already knew these two orphan factions of the Flower Garden Orphanage. Del just kept quiet because he saw no benefit from this information.
But that was until now...
Del, Kylia, and Willie walked across the hall to the sleeping room. Del and Kylia were still holding their pinkies, but Willie could only walk behind them, as Del refused to allow Willie to walk parallel to them.
Willie was a stupid child so it wasn't right to use words to explain to him something as complicated as a hierarchy. By getting Willie used to walk behind Del and Kylia he would be trained to understand who was above him.
It was on this basis that Del decided to ignore Kylia's clueless face which seemed to ask why Willie had to walk behind them. Although there were some strange and extraordinary things about Kylia, it seemed that she still had the mentality of a child who was less than five years old. Del still didn't want to explain cruel things like hierarchy to her.
*Brak!
Del opened the sleeping room door loudly, waking up all the orphanages inside. The sleeping room staff raised his head, but after seeing Del do it, he just smiled and went back to reading the book in his hand.
The orphans who woke up because of the loud noise rubbed their eyes, feeling annoyed that they were suddenly woken up, but when they saw Del was the culprit, they couldn't help but remain silent. Del was a scary kid, so not dealing with him was the best option.
Del looked right and left as he searched for the target he was after, like a tiger waiting for prey. Seeing Frank in the corner of the room, Del walked proudly towards him.
Frank knew he was in trouble after seeing Willie's goofy face walking behind Del. Even though he didn't want to get into trouble with Del, that didn't mean he was afraid of him, and because of that, he immediately stood up and puffed out his chest.
"What do you want, Del?" said Frank arrogantly. Towering Del with his much taller and bigger body.
*Bang!
Without saying anything, Del kicked Frank's shin hard. This made his legs feel weak like jelly before the pain made him scream. But before any sound could leave Frank's mouth, Del grabbed his mouth and pulled his face up against his.
In a threatening voice, Del said, "Mess with Willie again, and I will fuck you up! Try me, punk!"
Pushing Frank's face away until he fell, Del and Willie walked out of the sleeping room. None of the orphans dared stand in his way, and even the guard in the sleeping room just covered his ears as if he didn't hear what had just happened.
But if at this time Del turned around, he would find that Frank's face was flushed with annoyance. His eyes stared at Del and Willie, who walked away full of resentment.
Del again met Kylia outside the sleeping room, relinked their little fingers, and walked together. Willie just kept silent with a stupid face that was still stuck in his character.
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"Hey, Frank! Are you sure you want to keep messing with Del? He's a dangerous kid, every time I see his eyes, my body gets goosebumps," one of the orphans the same age as Frank said while walking beside him.
"He's not scary!! He's just a child who is Madam Yeva's favourite! Haven't you guys hated his arrogant face for a long time? Today we're going to beat him up and tell him not to look down on older kids!" Frank snorted, ignoring the worried faces of his friends.
Frank had hated Del for a long time; he had always been the caretaker's favourite child. Every time they say something, Del's name must be mentioned once or twice in it. Frank was jealous of Del, but he didn't want to be under Madam Yeva's watch.
That's why he was targeting stupid Willie; he knew that Del's only friend in the orphanage was Willie, so he wanted to take revenge on Del through Willie. Frank had a hunch that del didn't have the guts to confront him directly.
And so far his hunch has been right; Frank has always bullied Willie, even if not physically. Del didn't reply or do anything to him, so Frank felt that Del was afraid of him. But today, Del suddenly attacked him and humiliated himself in front of other orphanages.
Frank couldn't accept this and decided to beat up Del along with his friends. Frank knew that Del was a loner, as he usually sat reading in the book room at the back of the orphanage.
It was a very quiet place, and seldom did the staff come there, especially at this time when the sun was about to set and the Flower Garden Orphanage staff were changing shifts.
The same way Del had come into the sleeping room, Frank slammed the book room door loudly.
*BANG!!
"Del, I'm coming!!" Frank shouted loudly, but there was no answer from inside the book room.
"Del! You said not to mess with Willie, now I'm coming to mess with you two!! HAHAHAHA!"
"Del, where are you? Are you hiding?"
"You must be scared now, aren't you! HAHAHAHA!! So think again before you dare be arrogant in front of me!!"
The louder Frank screamed, the greater the satisfaction in his heart. He imagined Del was currently huddled in hiding because he was afraid of him.
"Where are you, little Del? Where are you? Don't hide; I'll be gentle with you. Hehehe"
Frank gave the signal for his goons to surround and explore the entire book room. He closed the bookroom door tightly and locked it. That way, Del wouldn't be able to escape; even if he shouted, with the book room's remote location, his voice wouldn't attract attention.
But after searching the entire room, he found neither Del nor Willie.
"Frank, it looks like he's not in this place!" said one of his friends.
"No way; usually at this hour he is still reading a book in this place"
"He's usually in this place... but... hmm? Frank, do you smell anything?"
"Something? Hmm? What's this smell?" Frank's nose began to sniff out an unfamiliar smell like rotten eggs.
Suddenly Frank's throat constricted, and he began to have difficulty breathing. The same thing happened to the other children, and some of them fell while holding their necks.
"Ohok.. ohok... ohok!"
Frank choked, and his throat contracted. He tried to breathe, but it felt like someone was strangling him. His face was red because of the rush of blood rising to his head. His head felt numb, and his eyes started bulging as if they wanted to pop out of their sockets.
He fell and rolled on the floor, clutching his neck, which seemed to be choking as he tried to suck in the air that didn't come. His vision started to blur, and his body started to shake. But the pain was not the end but the beginning of his suffering.
His shallow breaths weren't enough to give himself a chance to live any longer. It only extended the agony of a predetermined destiny. Frank and his goons would be killed in this room, a narrow book room in a remote location.
All his arrogance, courage, and ambition disappeared along with his breath, which started to falter. Until finally Frank lost consciousness, the world began to move away from him, and a new realm began to approach his destiny.
Frank Schlange's heart was beating for the last time.