By the time they returned home, night had fallen deep.
The Hanazono estate was quiet and luminous.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnDh5miVIX
Warm lights spilled softly across the corridor and floor-to-ceiling windows,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jpMEvDYSU
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.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWKRz915JH
Head bowed, he seemed unsure—399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEue4KObgd6
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.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQsRF60CQn
He stepped forward and spoke with a kind voice that held quiet authority.
"This way, young master."
The boy remained silent, his eyes wary,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmimpvKUeaB
but he nodded slightly and slowly followed.
Suzuran stayed where she was, watching the frail figure disappear around the stairwell.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6AwjvvSS1
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Papa..." she couldn’t help but speak,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEm1XUNbWlZ
"Has he really always been alone?"
Masaharu paused at the entrance of his study,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajMbfF700z
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.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrd50GRq0l
Her debts piled up. The debt collectors cornered her.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWhawFRrBP
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.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYTtu7goDr
He was passed around…399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Lz1CTfPy0
and eventually, he ended up on the black market.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTySjuNvmr
Labeled as a ‘product.’399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8e8EZl9hc
Put on an auction block. Waiting for someone to bid."
Her lips parted, but no words came out.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFHjGYZVgL
Her mind flashed back to that moment in the car—399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwJm9VhFYX
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.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrzCt22j4F
And he will never be treated like merchandise."
His words were few, but each one sounded like a promise—399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLNHs8rIz7
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.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdD3UJ0wIC
Legally, he doesn’t exist."
"‘Shima (嶋),’ for the island he came from—Shadowtrace Alley on the Rother Peninsula.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvc2o6lkFl
‘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,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkxZft5srd
lined with rows of white orchid trees.
Each morning, mist draped over the veranda like silk,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5C8Mq2dsS
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,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dJUPynAs6
and trained under the most rigorous standards of butlery.
He never married. Had no children.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJuE8PLZRV
Steady and self-disciplined, he was one of the Hanazono family’s most silent, dependable pillars.
He never openly spoke of the boy,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSsfjFxu6XY
but those who knew him understood—399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzePeq03Ah6
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,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVD5Zd1iqG
from mastering walking rhythm to controlling facial expressions—399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJ3SZlyJ37
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.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jLvRMKJHB
A reshaping of spirit.
Kouichi let down his guard around Suzuran much faster than anyone expected.
They grew up together.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEfMWI6Wrg
Different as night and day, yet inseparable.
She was lively, warm, a little clumsy.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHsD9JJeri
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,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIga2Ofj0qk
or sneak roses from the bushes before they bloomed, giggling behind the gardener’s back.
One was innocence.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SGGMGp6Dm
The other, silent protection of that innocence.
He would gently remind her before her emotions exploded.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCc8E1IFt9Q
He would hand her a spare hairclip before she realized the first one was missing.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEY2BaTiwob
And when she cried in silence—399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoasc1XJCSf
he would offer her a cup of hazelnut cocoa, warm and ready.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡab75mihIBA
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1jFPofbW4
These things were never asked of him.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5pBYRsMOt
Never instructed.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKBK3xLpxZ
And never done for thanks.
Until one day, at the age of twelve,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblmspLF1D8
Kimijima Kouichi stood in a crisp uniform he had pressed himself,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgauMveh9D
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.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCOmFtdMbL
Nor a plea.
It was a vow.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzG16t1dzhY
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJl8uqRjXQy
And behind the door, Suzuran had been eavesdropping.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQlcdCPDLK
Her eyes were already red with tears.
She burst into the parlor, flung her arms around her father’s arm,399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2H3tX8d8Se
and cried out:
"Papa, please! Let Kouichi stay!399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSVpYuSJxZ
He’s really good to me—I don’t want anyone else!"
Masaharu silently looked at the two before him:
One kneeling, iron-willed.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JN4FE8g3O
One begging, fiery and unyielding.
He let out a long sigh—399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOeMpPx0l0
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.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnkeHkByGc
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyn10ccMwz3
You made it this far—you're seriously the sweetest! 🥹💗399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJ977qv0s0
If you liked it, don’t forget to like 👍, bookmark ⭐, and drop a little comment 📝~399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYu4KySDNSj
Your support keeps me going—and keeps the characters falling deeper in love 💞💭
and then Add to home screen.