x
By the time they returned home, night had fallen deep.
The Hanazono estate was quiet and luminous.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRP53LAUfVW
Warm lights spilled softly across the corridor and floor-to-ceiling windows,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOw6K7ShVNv
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgYmP9Zi6a
Head bowed, he seemed unsure—48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6fD6pa5DO
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmRq2jAGJn
He stepped forward and spoke with a kind voice that held quiet authority.
"This way, young master."
The boy remained silent, his eyes wary,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBo4I6iyCGv
but he nodded slightly and slowly followed.
Suzuran stayed where she was, watching the frail figure disappear around the stairwell.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fUx96B69v
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Papa..." she couldn’t help but speak,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwS06CLXIK
"Has he really always been alone?"
Masaharu paused at the entrance of his study,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWgsf9aqBx
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktz0kAmikN
Her debts piled up. The debt collectors cornered her.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcctosWrYAt
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh2RdkqfDFW
He was passed around…48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmBJooKQvJ
and eventually, he ended up on the black market.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgaM7QB33fW
Labeled as a ‘product.’48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyVOD66qez
Put on an auction block. Waiting for someone to bid."
Her lips parted, but no words came out.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9udzoL2AkC
Her mind flashed back to that moment in the car—48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabI13g8cCx
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkK5XJVyWUu
And he will never be treated like merchandise."
His words were few, but each one sounded like a promise—48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaCDicmwou
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcca0xTw5m
Legally, he doesn’t exist."
"‘Shima (嶋),’ for the island he came from—Shadowtrace Alley on the Rother Peninsula.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvQRGvfNo3
‘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,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRCnXXcRQe
lined with rows of white orchid trees.
Each morning, mist draped over the veranda like silk,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcECr1sJHT
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,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqwzzLM65p
and trained under the most rigorous standards of butlery.
He never married. Had no children.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTyng4Az6q
Steady and self-disciplined, he was one of the Hanazono family’s most silent, dependable pillars.
He never openly spoke of the boy,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdQKhfG5Op
but those who knew him understood—48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6w669iHbxP
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,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yGY3zuGi4
from mastering walking rhythm to controlling facial expressions—48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaaBAkuKZl
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFDKJC2i4l
A reshaping of spirit.
Kouichi let down his guard around Suzuran much faster than anyone expected.
They grew up together.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOU16URj2h
Different as night and day, yet inseparable.
She was lively, warm, a little clumsy.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5RZoL572L
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,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVh9vjeJ4J
or sneak roses from the bushes before they bloomed, giggling behind the gardener’s back.
One was innocence.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdXIaebedm
The other, silent protection of that innocence.
He would gently remind her before her emotions exploded.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXlWYZ8T7x
He would hand her a spare hairclip before she realized the first one was missing.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5m6CZ9kRD
And when she cried in silence—48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqosBQPVOZ
he would offer her a cup of hazelnut cocoa, warm and ready.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVey6EZRhy
48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqHsSjTeW3
These things were never asked of him.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vFrAGjeit
Never instructed.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKst4ERjftB
And never done for thanks.
Until one day, at the age of twelve,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyUqvWY2q8
Kimijima Kouichi stood in a crisp uniform he had pressed himself,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0igkdEe8H
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRLzP1QAoK
Nor a plea.
It was a vow.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMhuiqWjGf
48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFQJJ3bUGJ
And behind the door, Suzuran had been eavesdropping.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBErbZX3Ly
Her eyes were already red with tears.
She burst into the parlor, flung her arms around her father’s arm,48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxyA9NztFp
and cried out:
"Papa, please! Let Kouichi stay!48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3DwMMsIMO
He’s really good to me—I don’t want anyone else!"
Masaharu silently looked at the two before him:
One kneeling, iron-willed.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcSnv25Er9
One begging, fiery and unyielding.
He let out a long sigh—48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YnUEQ2wjP
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.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLd3LVlsNmd
48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnBxSDV6eS
You made it this far—you're seriously the sweetest! 🥹💗48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInhOea96p0
If you liked it, don’t forget to like 👍, bookmark ⭐, and drop a little comment 📝~48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwl4LEUnUL
Your support keeps me going—and keeps the characters falling deeper in love 💞💭
