By the time they returned home, night had fallen deep.
The Hanazono estate was quiet and luminous.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkoVaRqct3
Warm lights spilled softly across the corridor and floor-to-ceiling windows,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xxHcKH0F4
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOBYbsMbvE
Head bowed, he seemed unsure—89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEUVNur72T
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGHQzqRRma
He stepped forward and spoke with a kind voice that held quiet authority.
"This way, young master."
The boy remained silent, his eyes wary,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENUVQjBy6B
but he nodded slightly and slowly followed.
Suzuran stayed where she was, watching the frail figure disappear around the stairwell.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkt7EXEfSGg
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Papa..." she couldn’t help but speak,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKs0brJiVcX
"Has he really always been alone?"
Masaharu paused at the entrance of his study,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTd51bFOo0d
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpKyZ1Zxxt
Her debts piled up. The debt collectors cornered her.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39eonKQl5u
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkHjZv2CSz
He was passed around…89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGBPEQcR20
and eventually, he ended up on the black market.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUzBs4o13m
Labeled as a ‘product.’89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIC3kSP4kPz
Put on an auction block. Waiting for someone to bid."
Her lips parted, but no words came out.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNEjH0FsEUV
Her mind flashed back to that moment in the car—89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhMntIw1NK
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXBszxfWWk
And he will never be treated like merchandise."
His words were few, but each one sounded like a promise—89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LGTnG2ohk
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7jVis3c30
Legally, he doesn’t exist."
"‘Shima (嶋),’ for the island he came from—Shadowtrace Alley on the Rother Peninsula.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWlGCF9AGB
‘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,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPChyXbQ2Yh
lined with rows of white orchid trees.
Each morning, mist draped over the veranda like silk,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCB6xngP0t
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,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIGT7EScMD
and trained under the most rigorous standards of butlery.
He never married. Had no children.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4V3lvpmwe
Steady and self-disciplined, he was one of the Hanazono family’s most silent, dependable pillars.
He never openly spoke of the boy,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2fFrJGjRpI
but those who knew him understood—89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECL5lbfFy0
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,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1dnvCmhk7
from mastering walking rhythm to controlling facial expressions—89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSj6bvDND6
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaq77hRQNA
A reshaping of spirit.
Kouichi let down his guard around Suzuran much faster than anyone expected.
They grew up together.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ct6Ec37eS
Different as night and day, yet inseparable.
She was lively, warm, a little clumsy.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6vhaENgFu
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,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DLd9dzH0T
or sneak roses from the bushes before they bloomed, giggling behind the gardener’s back.
One was innocence.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRPRauDtiX
The other, silent protection of that innocence.
He would gently remind her before her emotions exploded.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBqOFzKFnh
He would hand her a spare hairclip before she realized the first one was missing.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lBgYElS5f
And when she cried in silence—89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9amOLp4GU
he would offer her a cup of hazelnut cocoa, warm and ready.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGAtbsuSbK
89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXApSrNzFU
These things were never asked of him.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdzHElhPap
Never instructed.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFABt8gKrz
And never done for thanks.
Until one day, at the age of twelve,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtG89sD5njP
Kimijima Kouichi stood in a crisp uniform he had pressed himself,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmaQlUMkgU0
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMO27neSBJ6
Nor a plea.
It was a vow.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CfDVxu05c
89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFb7LfOIzol
And behind the door, Suzuran had been eavesdropping.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFYO9U8vet
Her eyes were already red with tears.
She burst into the parlor, flung her arms around her father’s arm,89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pv5D3hfho
and cried out:
"Papa, please! Let Kouichi stay!89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKpJnxsiIw
He’s really good to me—I don’t want anyone else!"
Masaharu silently looked at the two before him:
One kneeling, iron-willed.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvAPXPVnAw
One begging, fiery and unyielding.
He let out a long sigh—89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjVCw68Lmy
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiId4fFMUPe
89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbYV58alMO
You made it this far—you're seriously the sweetest! 🥹💗89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTDgRD4uIM
If you liked it, don’t forget to like 👍, bookmark ⭐, and drop a little comment 📝~89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNpb9zfS1x
Your support keeps me going—and keeps the characters falling deeper in love 💞💭
