101 The Mansion (3)

"Mom, what the hell were you reading lately?" Kyro asked, giving her a sideways glance.

"You don't want to know," a male voice from inside the house answered, and Iris saw the old woman blush like a schoolgirl. Her smile became nervous-looking, and she rushed Kyro into the house.

"Don't listen to him talk nonsense. I was reading Umberto Eco's newest book, nothing else. You know me, I don't read anything I wouldn't be able to mention in public."

Kyro gave her a look that said he just didn't want to argue with her, then nodded at his father and went past the giant living room that beggared most three bedroom apartments.

Since Iris didn't have time to investigate everything, she chose to take a look at the other man of the family, and her first thought was that he seemed old. Kyro was in his late twenties, so it was normal that his parents wouldn't be bright youths, but his father seemed older than that, more like a grandfather.

His head was dusted white, and she could read a lifetime of struggle in the numerous wrinkles on his face and hands. When he went after them, his gait was steady but slow, like his legs weren't as well as they used to be.

This was a great contrast to Kyro's mother, who was still spry and energetic despite her aging body. She kept running forward, pushing Kyro to hurry up and run away from her husband, saying that the old man was no longer trustworthy, spouting nonsense from his old age.

Kyro told her to worry about her own mind, but she just shushed him and led them into a large room that was filled with dog toys. The left and back walls were all glass, with a door leading into a green field in one of them. But the most noticeable thing was the princess house to the right of them. It was all pink and blinded Iris for a good while. She couldn't take her eyes away from it.

"Do it, do it!" the mother hurried Kyro. "I want to see how it'll react. I hope it won't mind that some things might smell like Queen. She hasn't used these things since she grew out of them, and I washed everything, but I don't know. Could the fox smell it? Should I have gotten new stuff?" She bit her lip, worrying it as she glanced around the room once more.

The father finally caught up to them and closed the door behind himself. "Just let it out and see."

Iris agreed with this decision. She wanted to check out the room herself, and maybe get an idea of who this mysterious Queen was. Well, it was pretty obvious she was a dog, but maybe something more could be glimpsed from her toys.

Once the carrier was opened, Iris jumped out and was suddenly awed by the size of the room. It was nothing compared to the huge entrance room, but this place was dedicated solely to a pet. Who would be this wasteful?

As she looked around, she was certain that this place was larger than the room she had rented when she was studying, and she had thought she'd gotten a good deal back then. 'Ha, this is what's called a truly good deal!' she thought with a smile, amazed by so much free space just for her. 'I didn't even do anything and am treated like a princess.'

In a good mood, she started sniffing around. Her recognition of smell wasn't that great, but she had began to differentiate some things. For one, she could easily tell that this place had once belonged to a dog. Its smell was everywhere, so mother must have just cleaned the place out from dirt and dust but not used any chemicals.

Since the toys didn't interest Iris, she swiftly made her way to the wall-sized windows. They opened up into a green field that was blocked off by an iron fence hidden by bushes some distance away.

'That's actually pretty sweet,' she had to admit. They would be able to allow her to run free not only in the room but outside as well without having to leash her even if this was a new place for her.

When she examined the outdoors that were closed off for the moment, she ventured toward the most eye-catching item in the room. The princess house was made for someone larger, so Iris didn't have any trouble entering the world of pink.

To her surprise, the interior was actually decorated as well. The small windows on the side actually had curtains that she could push open with her nose to look through. When she tested this, a loud squeal startled her.

"So cute! Did you see that? Kyro, that was adorable! Oh god, my poor heart, that was too cute!" A moment later, the mother's voice rose into a fury. "How could you not take a picture of that? Go and do it, now!"

"But—"

"No buts, you're its owner, it won't run if you come! So take a picture for your mother!" Through the light-colored curtains, Iris saw Kyro's mother thrust her phone into his hands and push him forward with more than a little force. "If you don't get me that picture, you won't be welcome here anymore!"

Iris laughed silently as she saw Kyro silently submit to the force of nature that was his mother. From his expression, it seemed like he really thought he'd get kicked out if he tried to argue.

As he slowly advanced to the princess house, his father silently said to his mother, "Aren't you afraid that one day he'll get sick of your bullying and won't return?"

"He survived twenty years of it, so he'll survive a bit more. I need that picture to show Vincenta. That old hag has been telling me for a year now how her daughter's child is the most beautiful thing ever."

Iris froze, and Kyro stopped mid-motion as well. "Mom, you do see that it's a fox and not a child, right?"

"What nonsense are you speaking, of course I see it!" the old woman declared, her hand forming into a fist that she waved in Kyro's direction. "Your mother's not blind yet, I can still see that you have yet to present me with a beautiful grandchild you promised eight years ago."

'Eight years ago?' Iris couldn't help but peek through the window to see Kyro's expression. This event must have happened when he was still in high school or just out of it. What kind of youth was thinking of children at the time they finally escaped their parents' control and could start enjoying life?

The expression on Kyro's face was not easy to read. She could see his eyes narrow and a wrinkle form between his brows, but it didn't last. In a blink of an eye, he smiled and turned back to scold his mom about remembering too much.

Iris had no clue what she had seen on his face, but it didn't look like anything good, so she pushed her whole face out the window to distract everyone. His mom squealed again, her hand rising over her lips that were pulled up into a smile the brightness of the sun.

"Take it, take it!" she whisper-shouted under her breath, and Iris posed for Kyro, looking straight at the camera. He took a couple pictures, then patted her head, and she imagined it was in thanks for helping him avoid a conversation he didn't want to have.