By the time they returned home, night had fallen deep.
The Hanazono estate was quiet and luminous.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGfIVgRrpf
Warm lights spilled softly across the corridor and floor-to-ceiling windows,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3X88DsJai
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnp2Glz6pg2
Head bowed, he seemed unsure—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiV12Vs74Ef
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGe4YYeUqBS
He stepped forward and spoke with a kind voice that held quiet authority.
"This way, young master."
The boy remained silent, his eyes wary,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXIJabDl4p
but he nodded slightly and slowly followed.
Suzuran stayed where she was, watching the frail figure disappear around the stairwell.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGBs1fWR31
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Papa..." she couldn’t help but speak,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWm2CpPqdbf
"Has he really always been alone?"
Masaharu paused at the entrance of his study,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTweaUnqQ0s
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSg691SHTtu
Her debts piled up. The debt collectors cornered her.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqO58RVbK29
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrbRit8Qxm
He was passed around…38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMm0ll3vTB
and eventually, he ended up on the black market.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUL5kqdfZzn
Labeled as a ‘product.’38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTOBOE75GG
Put on an auction block. Waiting for someone to bid."
Her lips parted, but no words came out.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFyD0kF4OF
Her mind flashed back to that moment in the car—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNPFJHvOP6
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQazDxttKyD
And he will never be treated like merchandise."
His words were few, but each one sounded like a promise—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCl1u1tn9Cc
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAnb4P0Kgd
Legally, he doesn’t exist."
"‘Shima (嶋),’ for the island he came from—Shadowtrace Alley on the Rother Peninsula.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9KsQdCqaK
‘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,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEjYhMx0vo
lined with rows of white orchid trees.
Each morning, mist draped over the veranda like silk,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaadQgAJLkh
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,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBvbboFR7I
and trained under the most rigorous standards of butlery.
He never married. Had no children.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXcnXD5Tei
Steady and self-disciplined, he was one of the Hanazono family’s most silent, dependable pillars.
He never openly spoke of the boy,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzlvWdkzCp
but those who knew him understood—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCdZC09Lon
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,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMGuh7YIJR
from mastering walking rhythm to controlling facial expressions—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4txqxtyqsu
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0AyaPm406
A reshaping of spirit.
Kouichi let down his guard around Suzuran much faster than anyone expected.
They grew up together.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9NRUyQgyv
Different as night and day, yet inseparable.
She was lively, warm, a little clumsy.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlM7OMTcXXn
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,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx15jM5kSM2
or sneak roses from the bushes before they bloomed, giggling behind the gardener’s back.
One was innocence.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpf7iXt1cLW
The other, silent protection of that innocence.
He would gently remind her before her emotions exploded.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStCNB8gSn6
He would hand her a spare hairclip before she realized the first one was missing.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOUtuMxNa8
And when she cried in silence—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ggxvGV4iM
he would offer her a cup of hazelnut cocoa, warm and ready.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0FS4VOGFB
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfTBEbuuqx
These things were never asked of him.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PuklfLXMp
Never instructed.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IZ4F5RwIF
And never done for thanks.
Until one day, at the age of twelve,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Oc8ArVJI5
Kimijima Kouichi stood in a crisp uniform he had pressed himself,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtLfPQjWM2
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhLI0igyd0
Nor a plea.
It was a vow.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmTwQtHXNf
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUvsS8Ky4p
And behind the door, Suzuran had been eavesdropping.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcjqTJh2wY
Her eyes were already red with tears.
She burst into the parlor, flung her arms around her father’s arm,38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvJWo2E0k7
and cried out:
"Papa, please! Let Kouichi stay!38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmL43YPwG1
He’s really good to me—I don’t want anyone else!"
Masaharu silently looked at the two before him:
One kneeling, iron-willed.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJ5tr5mTsx
One begging, fiery and unyielding.
He let out a long sigh—38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqEsvBD6b9
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfRYoe76ab
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1gasOrRpa
You made it this far—you're seriously the sweetest! 🥹💗38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSd9BzpWQV
If you liked it, don’t forget to like 👍, bookmark ⭐, and drop a little comment 📝~38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGenuuYTgF
Your support keeps me going—and keeps the characters falling deeper in love 💞💭
and then Add to home screen.