Chapter 103

Iris’ Past (11) - Beloved Dog’s Pride
The funeral had already taken place before Iris even realized it. Although her parents' bodies were in a state unfit for viewing, Iris had still looked upon them.

It was as if she were watching television—her emotions were absent, and reality felt distant. Naturally, in such a state, she couldn't cry. All Iris could do was shut herself off from the world.

Surprisingly, many people attended Carls' funeral. Some clung to his coffin, quietly weeping, while others expressed anger that Iris was left behind. Yet, overall, they all seemed to be mourning Carls and Shizuka. Iris observed all this from a distance.

She felt nothing. The abrupt numbness in her heart made her impervious to anyone's words. Many tried to speak to her, but Iris gave no response.

She vaguely remembered someone from Carls' research institute asking her to come in his place, but she was harassed by the people around her.

Momoniku watched all this.

He was no stranger to death among his own kind. He once had five siblings, but they were gone now, dead from the side effects of experimental drugs.

Momoniku understood Iris's feelings well. The death of family was like losing a part of oneself. Momoniku had rejected people and was now nothing more than discarded waste. He had intelligence comparable to a human's, but no one knew this. The experiment had been deemed a failure because Momoniku had chosen not to show his intelligence.

He had no desire to please those who had killed his family. Failing every test had allowed him to come to Iris. Had he been deemed a success, they would never have let him go. Momoniku was, in a way, a product of science.

People began visiting Iris. First, Tredd handled Carls' parents' estate, transferring it to Iris. Even people Iris had never heard of showed up, claiming to be relatives. But Iris had no family—no one except Momoniku. Lim was gone too.

The police investigated Carls' accident and determined it was just that—an accident. The previous day's rain had caused the cliff to collapse. In Japan, such events occur several times a year. Carls and the others just happened to get caught in it.

There was no one to blame. The world simply wasn't kind to Iris. She might have been a genius, but the world wouldn't bend to her will. Death was the great equalizer for everyone.

"Iris... I brought you some food. You need to eat something.”

Iris had returned to the mansion that was now hers, but it was too large for one person to live in alone. The warmth it once held was now gone, leaving Iris's heart deeply wounded.

Her parents should have been here. Lim should have been cooking in the kitchen... but no one was there. Iris wandered through the mansion, searching for the family that should have been there, but they were nowhere to be found. Eventually, she would lie down in her parents' bed and fall asleep. Takuto visited daily, but they hardly spoke. Iris had never been talkative, but these past few days, she had been almost completely silent, eating very little.

"We need your cooperation. Please, we're asking for your help."

"Grrrrr!!"

A persistent researcher kept coming around, claiming to work at the same institute as Carls. Iris didn't know his name; maybe he had introduced himself, but Iris hadn't heard it.

Momoniku disliked this man. He had the same eyes as the researchers who had killed his family.

Momoniku didn't trust him. So, whenever the man came, Momoniku chased him away. He felt his master needed time to heal, just as he once had.

Momoniku no longer resented his life. Iris, though a tyrant, saw him as an individual, not as an object. That had saved him. Now, he believed it was his turn to protect her.

But the researcher was persistent. He went from visiting every few days to showing up daily. Iris, growing weary, eventually stopped seeing him altogether, spending her days lying listlessly in her parents' bed.

Meanwhile, Iris's standing within the Shishido family began to change. Gensai had collapsed.

His heart had been weak, and the accident was too much of a shock for him. The impact was significant.

It was Gensai, the head of the family, who had decided to welcome Iris into the Shishido household. But with him incapacitated, the opposition within the family began to act.

These people managed the companies and properties owned by the Shishido family. Though the Shishido family was not a global conglomerate, they held several sizable companies. The opposition argued against accepting an outsider like Iris into the family.

Gensai had been trying to eliminate the old familial management structure, but they wanted to keep it in place.

Takuto found himself in a difficult position. Until now, he had never been involved in such matters; his parents and grandfather had always handled these issues. Now, he had to work with a few remaining relatives to keep things in check. The opposition only wanted money and even suggested that Takuto marry some unknown girl within the family. Takuto couldn't stand for that; he was happy to be engaged to Iris.

This situation had arisen because Takuto, being indecisive, had maintained the status quo for too long. Originally, he had planned to take Iris to various places after their engagement, but then the accident happened. Takuto barely had time to mourn his parents' death. Then, one day, a fire broke out at Iris's mansion.

Luckily, Iris was with Takuto at his house, visiting the ailing Gensai, so she wasn't caught in the fire.

But a fire at Iris's house was almost impossible. She wouldn't allow something like an electrical fire to happen. She regularly checked the house, and unused rooms had their electricity turned off. Fire hazards were carefully managed.

"... My home..."

Iris stood frozen, watching her mansion burn. Everything was being consumed by the flames—her parents' belongings, her memories with Lim, everything she had since coming to Japan.

The underground rooms were probably safe. But Iris no longer cared. She had lost even the memories she cherished, and all she could do was collapse and watch the fire consume everything.

Momoniku reacted violently to this.

"Grrr!! Woof, woof."

"Momoniku!!"

He bolted toward the mansion. The fire was too intense; the house was beyond saving. But he knew that to protect his master's heart, he had to save something. Momoniku was old, like Gensai. He wouldn't be around much longer. But humans could turn memories into physical objects.

One day, he would die. When that happened, Iris would lose everything. Normally, memories would remain, but at this rate, everything would be gone. Momoniku knew he had to risk his life to save something.

He smashed through a window in a room where the fire wasn't as intense. The smoke was thick, but being a dog, Momoniku stayed close to the floor, where it was slightly better.

Momoniku's target was the photo albums. Carls had taken many pictures since they came to Japan. Momoniku knew he had to bring them to Iris. At least one of them, filled with memories of her parents, had to be saved. He headed for the second floor.

The fire was fierce. Momoniku's keen sense of smell detected gasoline in the air, but that wasn't important right now. His once-proud fur was singed. Overcoming the instinctual fear of fire, he ran through the flames, ignoring the pain of burns. Debris fell on him repeatedly, nearly crushing him. But he didn't give up. For Iris's sake, Momoniku feared nothing.

"Huff..."

He rammed the burning door over and over, finally breaking it down and entering Carls' room. It was burning too, but the bookshelf was still intact. Momoniku didn't know which album to choose, but he picked the one with the strongest scent of Carls. That had to be the one Iris needed.

Momoniku carefully climbed the shelf and selected one album. He could only carry one. He had no choice but to hold it in his mouth.

Just as Momoniku grabbed the album, the room collapsed.

"Momoniku!!"

Momoniku emerged from the burning house, his body charred and battered, but he clutched the album tightly in his mouth.

"Whimper..."

Momoniku placed the album in front of Iris and collapsed, never to move again. Iris held his lifeless body in her arms.

"Why... Why does everyone have to leave? I just wanted to stay together... Why... I don't care about this stuff; I wanted you to stay with me... I'm so tired of this. Please... don't leave me..."

Iris had truly lost everything.