By the time they returned home, night had fallen deep.
The Hanazono estate was quiet and luminous.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomDRv6b6yr
Warm lights spilled softly across the corridor and floor-to-ceiling windows,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImcJS67Caa
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeYfNftpQW
Head bowed, he seemed unsure—341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJEFaoEDkh
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5wtrSd0aU
He stepped forward and spoke with a kind voice that held quiet authority.
"This way, young master."
The boy remained silent, his eyes wary,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9qSZnbWM9
but he nodded slightly and slowly followed.
Suzuran stayed where she was, watching the frail figure disappear around the stairwell.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ui7a8784e
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Papa..." she couldn’t help but speak,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiZWMgEkV6
"Has he really always been alone?"
Masaharu paused at the entrance of his study,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhm88Ebly5e
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNgfEdjN9N
Her debts piled up. The debt collectors cornered her.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOmAdrFWwe
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4l3RQphJG
He was passed around…341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGbGfCjqMA
and eventually, he ended up on the black market.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGHjOq00tE
Labeled as a ‘product.’341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZeKJjZwAo
Put on an auction block. Waiting for someone to bid."
Her lips parted, but no words came out.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulSIz5LLow
Her mind flashed back to that moment in the car—341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXoKDVRaBN
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9jphDwQ0w
And he will never be treated like merchandise."
His words were few, but each one sounded like a promise—341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXdRiXtFri
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHFOwMzhpD
Legally, he doesn’t exist."
"‘Shima (嶋),’ for the island he came from—Shadowtrace Alley on the Rother Peninsula.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdn98rnePbP
‘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,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWZe3qLCOG
lined with rows of white orchid trees.
Each morning, mist draped over the veranda like silk,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RwxsDAIEV
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,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iX25RfrBE
and trained under the most rigorous standards of butlery.
He never married. Had no children.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmShJDrXqYl
Steady and self-disciplined, he was one of the Hanazono family’s most silent, dependable pillars.
He never openly spoke of the boy,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSw5c183x7X
but those who knew him understood—341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ziHTGubE6
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,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbB9ieOAUg
from mastering walking rhythm to controlling facial expressions—341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNqXZ27wZu
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyt02NDsKj
A reshaping of spirit.
Kouichi let down his guard around Suzuran much faster than anyone expected.
They grew up together.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAB0IicS6Y
Different as night and day, yet inseparable.
She was lively, warm, a little clumsy.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nCEEminCz
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,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kalkkHQEm
or sneak roses from the bushes before they bloomed, giggling behind the gardener’s back.
One was innocence.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RhZkqahpC
The other, silent protection of that innocence.
He would gently remind her before her emotions exploded.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yWjS5IAzD
He would hand her a spare hairclip before she realized the first one was missing.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAwQj0f21S
And when she cried in silence—341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2A1aw4MMoz
he would offer her a cup of hazelnut cocoa, warm and ready.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7MfFLmd8E
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vHRznlyxk
These things were never asked of him.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSyhUnD4dM
Never instructed.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDY40MkpEHO
And never done for thanks.
Until one day, at the age of twelve,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcj1nOaxsML
Kimijima Kouichi stood in a crisp uniform he had pressed himself,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HWDsPrI6x
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDR1kDXKOUR
Nor a plea.
It was a vow.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6aFMkF4UdM
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvZdt13TJ2
And behind the door, Suzuran had been eavesdropping.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmm8MXR0Ws
Her eyes were already red with tears.
She burst into the parlor, flung her arms around her father’s arm,341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqHMrZuPey
and cried out:
"Papa, please! Let Kouichi stay!341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1s6lotdnT
He’s really good to me—I don’t want anyone else!"
Masaharu silently looked at the two before him:
One kneeling, iron-willed.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbU35XarDD6
One begging, fiery and unyielding.
He let out a long sigh—341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PQXxjeMac
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVn7jSQBE6
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4c7s0NQl56
You made it this far—you're seriously the sweetest! 🥹💗341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryKsXcFlgd
If you liked it, don’t forget to like 👍, bookmark ⭐, and drop a little comment 📝~341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRRrOLwrge
Your support keeps me going—and keeps the characters falling deeper in love 💞💭
and then Add to home screen.