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By the time they returned home, night had fallen deep.
The Hanazono estate was quiet and luminous.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8mRbf53KQ0
Warm lights spilled softly across the corridor and floor-to-ceiling windows,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7sJyp247U
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zbwLkAARi
Head bowed, he seemed unsure—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzPH4B2vji
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRGIz48NEV
He stepped forward and spoke with a kind voice that held quiet authority.
"This way, young master."
The boy remained silent, his eyes wary,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgHRPNdh11
but he nodded slightly and slowly followed.
Suzuran stayed where she was, watching the frail figure disappear around the stairwell.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoRBKfgMea
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Papa..." she couldn’t help but speak,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jRrz00NeF
"Has he really always been alone?"
Masaharu paused at the entrance of his study,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxlCu72A2U
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22e3AqfzvA
Her debts piled up. The debt collectors cornered her.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LtokNaGHW
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqAiEPWEE8
He was passed around…23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpktXNxcxFc
and eventually, he ended up on the black market.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhN0s0LYWP
Labeled as a ‘product.’23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfrwzDfttZ
Put on an auction block. Waiting for someone to bid."
Her lips parted, but no words came out.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYBzfSWWon
Her mind flashed back to that moment in the car—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOYpPjXXPc
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiuDWvFITp
And he will never be treated like merchandise."
His words were few, but each one sounded like a promise—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKe83923VX6
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKLbL0xgKK
Legally, he doesn’t exist."
"‘Shima (嶋),’ for the island he came from—Shadowtrace Alley on the Rother Peninsula.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfriLqe1P0s
‘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,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDQgzYSZca
lined with rows of white orchid trees.
Each morning, mist draped over the veranda like silk,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnjd7lVTMk
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,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NvZJAnTVP
and trained under the most rigorous standards of butlery.
He never married. Had no children.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76z1dJdVgR
Steady and self-disciplined, he was one of the Hanazono family’s most silent, dependable pillars.
He never openly spoke of the boy,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSQyiLOzzU
but those who knew him understood—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02RpcyU7l7
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,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBn80BILfZ
from mastering walking rhythm to controlling facial expressions—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHztlqiosHY
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGzq7VmZVk
A reshaping of spirit.
Kouichi let down his guard around Suzuran much faster than anyone expected.
They grew up together.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOmw3OTJhZ
Different as night and day, yet inseparable.
She was lively, warm, a little clumsy.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoID0dj6Ny
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,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhWZuO7vZ3
or sneak roses from the bushes before they bloomed, giggling behind the gardener’s back.
One was innocence.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcoyJiE0KO
The other, silent protection of that innocence.
He would gently remind her before her emotions exploded.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwDlxfMC8d
He would hand her a spare hairclip before she realized the first one was missing.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPbsGw9yhN
And when she cried in silence—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQFXJCOxix
he would offer her a cup of hazelnut cocoa, warm and ready.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4QahNi0em
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These things were never asked of him.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZMji0yJ0K
Never instructed.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6B0q5T1sk
And never done for thanks.
Until one day, at the age of twelve,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoj88zwnxY
Kimijima Kouichi stood in a crisp uniform he had pressed himself,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNVZFXdkHa
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCg9AWKMDm6
Nor a plea.
It was a vow.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0cyPla3Py
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And behind the door, Suzuran had been eavesdropping.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZMXfPsiKt
Her eyes were already red with tears.
She burst into the parlor, flung her arms around her father’s arm,23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRyAOSUanF
and cried out:
"Papa, please! Let Kouichi stay!23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcd0oNfuDMX
He’s really good to me—I don’t want anyone else!"
Masaharu silently looked at the two before him:
One kneeling, iron-willed.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7ct1QjrKu
One begging, fiery and unyielding.
He let out a long sigh—23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡammVbj7QIf
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.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPQ2FBYxH9
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23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmImNakrE0
