By the time they returned home, night had fallen deep.
The Hanazono estate was quiet and luminous.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQbA4iJ8Ng
Warm lights spilled softly across the corridor and floor-to-ceiling windows,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl58VeGcOoY
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqKNRhrZBX
Head bowed, he seemed unsure—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS43bDERv3v
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPQAh2ZnKU
He stepped forward and spoke with a kind voice that held quiet authority.
"This way, young master."
The boy remained silent, his eyes wary,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQP7MWyvvxk
but he nodded slightly and slowly followed.
Suzuran stayed where she was, watching the frail figure disappear around the stairwell.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZWvP1YGLP
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Papa..." she couldn’t help but speak,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxqddPSQ1t
"Has he really always been alone?"
Masaharu paused at the entrance of his study,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUt1YZgCfUS
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZJNedNgZX
Her debts piled up. The debt collectors cornered her.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2cqBnRIPe
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtogCeVLEu
He was passed around…25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOYCYjcQWk
and eventually, he ended up on the black market.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94j7IZDcnd
Labeled as a ‘product.’25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cYpRhjKsK
Put on an auction block. Waiting for someone to bid."
Her lips parted, but no words came out.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwAjX8o2Ie
Her mind flashed back to that moment in the car—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhm9sQaeDdK
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyKcdffV1S
And he will never be treated like merchandise."
His words were few, but each one sounded like a promise—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAODdxNYIl3
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNJ7V7h46U
Legally, he doesn’t exist."
"‘Shima (嶋),’ for the island he came from—Shadowtrace Alley on the Rother Peninsula.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAO3XRG1Ooa
‘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,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRkWRPSje3
lined with rows of white orchid trees.
Each morning, mist draped over the veranda like silk,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4sek81p07
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,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfg2sqhpswk
and trained under the most rigorous standards of butlery.
He never married. Had no children.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1EXoYpopu
Steady and self-disciplined, he was one of the Hanazono family’s most silent, dependable pillars.
He never openly spoke of the boy,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26tB2kXOok
but those who knew him understood—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhKipv0s3z
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,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjCglUOYtQ
from mastering walking rhythm to controlling facial expressions—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABVMY0tCef
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1qlshWxUg
A reshaping of spirit.
Kouichi let down his guard around Suzuran much faster than anyone expected.
They grew up together.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3KyvViAeB
Different as night and day, yet inseparable.
She was lively, warm, a little clumsy.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQCYDgHIox
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,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLyCRUA3lM
or sneak roses from the bushes before they bloomed, giggling behind the gardener’s back.
One was innocence.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZkiaGoY5oN
The other, silent protection of that innocence.
He would gently remind her before her emotions exploded.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZNq15mxHN
He would hand her a spare hairclip before she realized the first one was missing.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEcmX2Qz1j
And when she cried in silence—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8iD4hIrtbO
he would offer her a cup of hazelnut cocoa, warm and ready.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AljBqsdoy
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfxerAYY1K
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These things were never asked of him.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOBomEi57M
Never instructed.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2nLSJMqRZ
And never done for thanks.
Until one day, at the age of twelve,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRFbaNXuP6
Kimijima Kouichi stood in a crisp uniform he had pressed himself,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvNqVdkvoi
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFxhLR8k8o
Nor a plea.
It was a vow.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmLvLDmUrb
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25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0z41rpoG2f
And behind the door, Suzuran had been eavesdropping.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQ9btlqDZ8
Her eyes were already red with tears.
She burst into the parlor, flung her arms around her father’s arm,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAxvOeX25f
and cried out:
"Papa, please! Let Kouichi stay!25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83EaNfFqf4
He’s really good to me—I don’t want anyone else!"
Masaharu silently looked at the two before him:
One kneeling, iron-willed.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmAn38Ta5z
One begging, fiery and unyielding.
He let out a long sigh—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzKlW6J6pg
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.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrkDM6iVNR
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25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX84ZvbCm3v
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sqQ1Tbq46
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