x
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXSNF1CTwt
Six years later, Suzuran was now a second-year nursing student at Orinthmus University.
Her daily life was filled with memorizing medical terminology and preparing for clinical rotations.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhR5WUxbEU
More often than not, she ended up pouring the wrong sugar into her coffee while flipping through an anatomy atlas.
Meanwhile, Kimijima Kouichi remained a butler for the Hanazono family,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgUYsXtxUc
and was now also enrolled in business management courses at Orinthmus University.
He had never forgotten that moment years ago—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbc21SUNdJN
the day he was pulled from the shadows and given salvation:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcOY9R86pd
a name, an identity, and dignity by the Hanazono family.
If one day he could shoulder even a fraction of the family’s business burden,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk50ojZWdFc
he wanted to be strong enough to carry it without faltering.
As for Suzuran—born into a prestigious household,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYvltSTMi4
she was like a greenhouse flower, never forced to bloom anywhere in particular.
Her parents had always been gentle with her, even overly indulgent at times.
“As long as it’s something Suzuran wants to learn, let her learn it.”
She had studied piano, painting, floral design—even taken noble etiquette lessons.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzxcCszHb6
But she never truly committed to any of them, nor did she excel particularly in any field.
Politics and business held no interest for her.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kJK4Z3uGY
It wasn’t fear—just a sense that those worlds were too cold, too far removed. Not hers.
What made her decide on her path was the long-standing instability of her mother’s health.
Since childhood, she had stood outside hospital rooms,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTspj5zEAWX
watching nurses come and go, doctors passing in white coats—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDmCISh466
while she could do nothing but smile weakly and cry silently.
Maybe, one day, she thought—she could be someone who actually did something.
When she submitted her application and chose nursing,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEfoylU1AP
the entire family fell into stunned silence.
This wasn’t the path for a sheltered young lady—too exhausting, too painful, full of night shifts and encounters with death.
But she simply said, softly:
“I don’t want to be someone who can only cry beside a hospital bed anymore.”
She had no grand ideals.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyVAfMm0cm
Just one quiet hope:
“If one day, Papa, Mama, or Kouichi gets sick… I want to be able to help with my own hands.”
It was a modest, simple wish—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvh6o8kLIWO
but so sincere it ached.
In the end, her parents just smiled and nodded:
“If this is your choice, then we’ll support you.”
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZULR3qXRsK
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTPV4IqirP
“Kouichi~ Can you help me check this report?”
Suzuran hugged her tablet and shuffled over to his desk,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXkapFvKhi
looking like a cat reaching out its paw for attention.
Kimijima Kouichi didn’t even look up.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDl1zeBL5cs
His tone was as calm as breathing:
“Still writing like a disaster, I see.”
“Aw, come on~ Just help me fix it a little!”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0yz0CTOYC
She pouted and pushed the tablet into his hands.
“I have my own coursework too, you know?”
He finally looked up at her, voice caught between a sigh and resigned sarcasm:
“Do you think I divide my day like this:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgU51wGJLD
half for serving you, and the other half for cleaning up the messes you leave behind?”
“But you’ve always been smarter than me…”
Her voice grew smaller and smaller, tinged with guilt and playfulness,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbvBUKxPJW
as she twirled her finger around the ends of her hair.
Kouichi looked at her for a moment… then finally took the tablet.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyg8vQRUnY
The corner of his mouth twitched, like he was trying hard not to smile.
“…You really are impossible, my lady.”
He opened the report and began reading.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmPljZjzqs
His pen glided smoothly over the screen.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNK0OoM34E
The atmosphere was calm—until:
“Hey, Kouichi,” Suzuran leaned in casually,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8T8rwL7uQ
her tone light, almost too light.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrcDF0ChVI
“Yuzuka told me… a cute girl confessed to you again this morning?”
Kouichi paused mid-mark,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57SlXWSuss
but his voice remained steady:
“Yes. I turned her down.”
“Sigh…”
Suzuran tilted her head and leaned on the edge of his desk.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWiPbcCgOx
Her long hair slid gently over her shoulder.
Her tone was faint, almost teasing:
“You’re eighteen now… It’s the perfect age to fall in love.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamzPCD2z8N
Are you really not interested at all?”
He didn’t look up.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9OQFdY86Z
Eyes still on the screen, voice calm:
“I’m busy serving you, studying, and thinking about how to repay the master’s kindness.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhNQWF3Owe
There’s no room in my head for anything else.”
“Hmm…”
She was completely blocked by the seriousness of his response—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMeVLdn75D
like he was answering a teacher in class.
One second. Two seconds.
She looked down at her toes, voice barely a whisper:
“…So those rejections were just… polite excuses after all.”
She didn’t realize her cheeks had turned a faint shade of red.
And though Kouichi kept his eyes on her report—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQbbppHvjQ
his peripheral gaze had long since drifted8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfv9MzSpDc
to her lowered lashes and those softly blushing ears.
