x
By the time they returned home, night had fallen deep.
The Hanazono estate was quiet and luminous.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJImdWi3IoW
Warm lights spilled softly across the corridor and floor-to-ceiling windows,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWu9iVI46Y
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQur96qNKm
Head bowed, he seemed unsure—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8GvqppdSS
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDqWH4lq93
He stepped forward and spoke with a kind voice that held quiet authority.
"This way, young master."
The boy remained silent, his eyes wary,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RcovcIJy9
but he nodded slightly and slowly followed.
Suzuran stayed where she was, watching the frail figure disappear around the stairwell.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0u9w2jGk1
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Papa..." she couldn’t help but speak,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHzubIp1JT
"Has he really always been alone?"
Masaharu paused at the entrance of his study,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjMVtDHYSZ
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLIPdSmhJj
Her debts piled up. The debt collectors cornered her.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbxgkZrmqk
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpMfrw6iSU
He was passed around…21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPBNreddUX
and eventually, he ended up on the black market.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSARBAgt3H
Labeled as a ‘product.’21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Iqts4HcND
Put on an auction block. Waiting for someone to bid."
Her lips parted, but no words came out.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWvmehT9NR
Her mind flashed back to that moment in the car—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkB0wReg4c
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYromFsbOra
And he will never be treated like merchandise."
His words were few, but each one sounded like a promise—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStfxI50jTl
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uZrjx95ro
Legally, he doesn’t exist."
"‘Shima (嶋),’ for the island he came from—Shadowtrace Alley on the Rother Peninsula.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbhjmMkYpn
‘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,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHFQvDsVuL
lined with rows of white orchid trees.
Each morning, mist draped over the veranda like silk,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzy9rc6ORmT
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,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZHCKAQR6s
and trained under the most rigorous standards of butlery.
He never married. Had no children.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR41fzND5Eh
Steady and self-disciplined, he was one of the Hanazono family’s most silent, dependable pillars.
He never openly spoke of the boy,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskldnJg5DH
but those who knew him understood—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xK9cpsrlx
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,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUz4Q383yf
from mastering walking rhythm to controlling facial expressions—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCZSs46rHT
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvBriIqsxV
A reshaping of spirit.
Kouichi let down his guard around Suzuran much faster than anyone expected.
They grew up together.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4K4tnY8PKI
Different as night and day, yet inseparable.
She was lively, warm, a little clumsy.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy51dQzoV93
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,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuaTjyGwyM
or sneak roses from the bushes before they bloomed, giggling behind the gardener’s back.
One was innocence.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ARdKFiDUJ
The other, silent protection of that innocence.
He would gently remind her before her emotions exploded.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaUUdnwmo70
He would hand her a spare hairclip before she realized the first one was missing.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbmlwuLcub
And when she cried in silence—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuMrp5Y6LE
he would offer her a cup of hazelnut cocoa, warm and ready.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GpaJxVG9L
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5GoyVkHo5
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJfStcQf7y
These things were never asked of him.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBqOLyOuBk
Never instructed.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLGidPWQHB
And never done for thanks.
Until one day, at the age of twelve,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEi1Z1nwPI8
Kimijima Kouichi stood in a crisp uniform he had pressed himself,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcCYZdZlLV
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYK2Cip7piB
Nor a plea.
It was a vow.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9ie3hO9oO
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2Nmfa3LPG
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyptUAuFlB
And behind the door, Suzuran had been eavesdropping.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQzCru6F6M
Her eyes were already red with tears.
She burst into the parlor, flung her arms around her father’s arm,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQ9z6iirTa
and cried out:
"Papa, please! Let Kouichi stay!21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0EtxnSx4xl
He’s really good to me—I don’t want anyone else!"
Masaharu silently looked at the two before him:
One kneeling, iron-willed.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVag8aLHrHx
One begging, fiery and unyielding.
He let out a long sigh—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsib6bLTdx
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQJqgz99l1
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvlFZ8GygW
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrkTZZO5NK
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXO2zcoQit3
