By the time they returned home, night had fallen deep.
The Hanazono estate was quiet and luminous.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iWpQYf1ei
Warm lights spilled softly across the corridor and floor-to-ceiling windows,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNiXn1Mmd7
drawing a cruel contrast to the damp, decaying gloom of Shadowtrace Alley.
The boy stood in the foyer, still dressed in that thin, dust-covered coat that smelled of mold.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6eq5mGV8o
Head bowed, he seemed unsure—37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAB4CKyfThR
Unsure if he was allowed to step onto such a clean carpet.
Masaharu cast a sidelong glance at the butler standing beside him, his voice calm but unquestionable.
"Please take him to bath and change into clean clothes."
"Yes, sir."
Joseph, the head butler, gave a slight bow.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5qj5IocjR
He stepped forward and spoke with a kind voice that held quiet authority.
"This way, young master."
The boy remained silent, his eyes wary,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbyFPOae9Y
but he nodded slightly and slowly followed.
Suzuran stayed where she was, watching the frail figure disappear around the stairwell.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEEHWfyyns
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Papa..." she couldn’t help but speak,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiVR4CNVFP
"Has he really always been alone?"
Masaharu paused at the entrance of his study,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0F3zWYWIGG
then finally replied in a low voice:
"I had someone look into his background."
He paused again, as if searching for the right words to share a heavy truth.
"His mother worked at a bar on the peninsula—a hostess."
"She’d been ill for months, too poor to see a doctor.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hKwbvSnUS
Her debts piled up. The debt collectors cornered her.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZh765MlEmk
In the end, she died alone in a rented room."
Suzuran stared at her father, eyes wide with shock and disbelief.
"No one wanted to adopt her child.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡON6yv5GP2d
He was passed around…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5VR2I9Mxy
and eventually, he ended up on the black market.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkyMwwjosD
Labeled as a ‘product.’37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAvI4KXBYQ
Put on an auction block. Waiting for someone to bid."
Her lips parted, but no words came out.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQOCRmZuuD
Her mind flashed back to that moment in the car—37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTSufemjoh
that boy, sharing a sandwich, eating with such desperate urgency.
Was it because… he truly hadn’t eaten for so long?
"So… he’ll live here now?" she asked softly.
Masaharu looked at her, voice not raised, but firm as steel.
"Since you asked for him yourself, I’ll make proper arrangements."
"He will never return to that kind of place again.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGtWuzi3y1u
And he will never be treated like merchandise."
His words were few, but each one sounded like a promise—37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK33M8JN7DZ
the kind that carried the quiet weight of the Hanazono name.
"From today onward, he is Kimijima Kouichi."
Suzuran lifted her gaze, asking gently:
"Papa, why give him the name ‘Kimijima’?"
Masaharu stared off into the distance, his voice low:
"He has no surname, no legal identity.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzg6MbPpvM
Legally, he doesn’t exist."
"‘Shima (嶋),’ for the island he came from—Shadowtrace Alley on the Rother Peninsula.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthVueaHxPM
‘Kimi (君),’ a word of respect."
"I want him to live like a real person, with dignity."
He paused, the weight of his words subtle but firm:
"This name is his beginning. Not charity—but recognition."
Suzuran nodded quietly. Her voice was soft as a breeze, yet clear as a bell:
"…I’ll remember it well. Kimijima Kouichi."
Kimijima Kouichi would live with the Hanazono family’s head butler—Mr. Joseph—in the detached residence, far from the main house.
It was a quiet estate nestled deep within the garden,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYgw6m7a9a
lined with rows of white orchid trees.
Each morning, mist draped over the veranda like silk,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMcjbYg6MY
and the air always carried the scent of rain-washed wood.
This place raised him, silently and gently.
Mr. Joseph was about forty, born into an old noble house,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2jUuV9K8T
and trained under the most rigorous standards of butlery.
He never married. Had no children.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs812zXGCkU
Steady and self-disciplined, he was one of the Hanazono family’s most silent, dependable pillars.
He never openly spoke of the boy,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4EkaQQWQf
but those who knew him understood—37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEMcKxqJy4
he treated Kimijima Kouichi as his own.
Under Joseph’s personal instruction, Kouichi mastered every aspect of formal butler training:
From ironing garments to polishing silver,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1r8pDSnBKw
from mastering walking rhythm to controlling facial expressions—37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzoVymEUetO
even the precise sequence of pouring morning tea was performed like ritual.
But it was more than just occupational training.
It was a rebuilding of identity.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4yNDVlZ8Nb
A reshaping of spirit.
Kouichi let down his guard around Suzuran much faster than anyone expected.
They grew up together.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58SQ24bmRR
Different as night and day, yet inseparable.
She was lively, warm, a little clumsy.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0KXV56NII
He was calm, quiet, always one step ahead to contain the chaos.
They would chase butterflies in the garden until their collars soaked with sweat,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4VCA50oN3
or sneak roses from the bushes before they bloomed, giggling behind the gardener’s back.
One was innocence.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6JzCFHIrQ
The other, silent protection of that innocence.
He would gently remind her before her emotions exploded.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6i2f7zRCI
He would hand her a spare hairclip before she realized the first one was missing.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfRqhf0Uth
And when she cried in silence—37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iewwT3i2t
he would offer her a cup of hazelnut cocoa, warm and ready.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSUFnMeEsN
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqQQ0BC5fX
These things were never asked of him.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQhTgEtRJj
Never instructed.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74JAzDcveG
And never done for thanks.
Until one day, at the age of twelve,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagDkn5ukRi
Kimijima Kouichi stood in a crisp uniform he had pressed himself,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8noixL0pF
knelt on one knee, and made his request directly to Hanazono Masaharu.
"I wish to stay in the main house to serve the young lady—until the day she no longer needs me."
It was not a command.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxMLcN0RT5
Nor a plea.
It was a vow.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHhbffnvSE
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3CLMPK3Xo
And behind the door, Suzuran had been eavesdropping.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4yOHHSnwM3
Her eyes were already red with tears.
She burst into the parlor, flung her arms around her father’s arm,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9U0CNXQWn
and cried out:
"Papa, please! Let Kouichi stay!37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfAoZXCphc
He’s really good to me—I don’t want anyone else!"
Masaharu silently looked at the two before him:
One kneeling, iron-willed.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5wubZ6zz6
One begging, fiery and unyielding.
He let out a long sigh—37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CDSNgLdVK
and nodded.
From that moment on, Kimijima Kouichi was no longer “a rescued child.”
He became—Hanazono Suzuran’s personal butler.
He came from nowhere, but chose to live for the smile that once chose him.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHInRURhaxn
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGzXFBeCM9
You made it this far—you're seriously the sweetest! 🥹💗37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcad0kjycgy
If you liked it, don’t forget to like 👍, bookmark ⭐, and drop a little comment 📝~37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9f10KzQvb
Your support keeps me going—and keeps the characters falling deeper in love 💞💭
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