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By the time they returned home, night had fallen deep.
The Hanazono estate was quiet and luminous.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlXQDryBel
Warm lights spilled softly across the corridor and floor-to-ceiling windows,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjiB04kYk9
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUUEQWYx61
Head bowed, he seemed unsure—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCXZ3icoja
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjNZhbnh8h
He stepped forward and spoke with a kind voice that held quiet authority.
"This way, young master."
The boy remained silent, his eyes wary,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKCzGBHhKf
but he nodded slightly and slowly followed.
Suzuran stayed where she was, watching the frail figure disappear around the stairwell.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEym9h1RoV
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Papa..." she couldn’t help but speak,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIIxQxY1du
"Has he really always been alone?"
Masaharu paused at the entrance of his study,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dyiIZPcJN
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsvHiF214K
Her debts piled up. The debt collectors cornered her.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmMgsLFgYt
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqyR0370GW
He was passed around…26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrycpSH63U
and eventually, he ended up on the black market.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhlYw239Ap
Labeled as a ‘product.’26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdCejO8rF9
Put on an auction block. Waiting for someone to bid."
Her lips parted, but no words came out.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMN3QsTg0Vi
Her mind flashed back to that moment in the car—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdSxAvkZ05
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqQcjjPFtN
And he will never be treated like merchandise."
His words were few, but each one sounded like a promise—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JiDe4iY3V
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuLOrmRgZJ
Legally, he doesn’t exist."
"‘Shima (嶋),’ for the island he came from—Shadowtrace Alley on the Rother Peninsula.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7ZUGiQVM0
‘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,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7gDrye6uw
lined with rows of white orchid trees.
Each morning, mist draped over the veranda like silk,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEqBivW8tv
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,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGzfHNG2HM
and trained under the most rigorous standards of butlery.
He never married. Had no children.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kjqCLu8Us
Steady and self-disciplined, he was one of the Hanazono family’s most silent, dependable pillars.
He never openly spoke of the boy,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2c5Ry0QKoA
but those who knew him understood—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIemU7eYhf
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,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp8neNOqIHv
from mastering walking rhythm to controlling facial expressions—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡca2gJkAZDF
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCK3dJSoGNr
A reshaping of spirit.
Kouichi let down his guard around Suzuran much faster than anyone expected.
They grew up together.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgKbrI7a2r
Different as night and day, yet inseparable.
She was lively, warm, a little clumsy.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbOLbCMMdw
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,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdF946mzSjg
or sneak roses from the bushes before they bloomed, giggling behind the gardener’s back.
One was innocence.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRyEEDUjUf
The other, silent protection of that innocence.
He would gently remind her before her emotions exploded.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ZmlZu5ej7
He would hand her a spare hairclip before she realized the first one was missing.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3FwKjqew7
And when she cried in silence—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0m7AGpEVGv
he would offer her a cup of hazelnut cocoa, warm and ready.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLf7qFILspY
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsGCA2zTc8
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These things were never asked of him.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5FFUQgA5P
Never instructed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLPWUJ5QVf
And never done for thanks.
Until one day, at the age of twelve,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx45tFL4YLs
Kimijima Kouichi stood in a crisp uniform he had pressed himself,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMNmnbUQ2p
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCKNqoMRB8
Nor a plea.
It was a vow.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkP1CfjthA2
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26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2r3eji3pPT
And behind the door, Suzuran had been eavesdropping.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKfR2wTDab
Her eyes were already red with tears.
She burst into the parlor, flung her arms around her father’s arm,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv46LXqsdPg
and cried out:
"Papa, please! Let Kouichi stay!26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8nju2CEqG
He’s really good to me—I don’t want anyone else!"
Masaharu silently looked at the two before him:
One kneeling, iron-willed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqxgo4LeXH
One begging, fiery and unyielding.
He let out a long sigh—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHS2niFyrrw
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTmyMn5Wvh
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BL7fntIJb
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48og2h0v2H
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQmgUoUqYq
