Chapter 1 : Fulcrum pt.1

Iris sat listlessly on a couch in the middle of a living room, her hands collapsed uselessly besides her. She stared emptily at the flashing lights of the TV screen before her as her mind wandered over the major event of the day.

She had just finished up her date with her boyfriend and was walking back when she felt a sudden rise of bile in her throat. She had felt a sense of unease since the morning but had brushed it off as nothing more than some ghostly worry. But when she heard the piercing scream that sounded awfully a lot like her father's maid, Ella, her heart dropped and she broke into a sprint, leaving behind her confused and worried boyfriend.

Running full speed all the way back home, she was met with the place she once called home surrounded by strangers, covered in tap, and filled with policemen. It was then that she learned her father had died. Murdered.

After her boyfriend had managed to catch up to her, he offered to let her stay at his place. The police officers didn't take too well to the idea until the chief came up and had them back down, citing that questioning could be held off for a bit until Iris felt better. Thanking him softly, she then let her boyfriend lead her away to his house.

Upon entering, her body moved like a well-oiled machine. Setting her bag down in her usual spot, she went to the restroom to wash her hands before sitting on the couch and turning on the TV. He, sensing that she had no will to talk at the moment, excused himself to the kitchen. T

Iris felt like she was in a dream. A nightmare perhaps. Her father, Edgard, whom she had sent off with a kiss this morning, was now gone? Her mind just couldn't and wouldn't grasp such a possibility much less a reality. But why? Father had no outstanding enemies and always lent a helping hand to anyone regardless of social status. Despite his high-ranking seat as the head of one of the most influential families within Aride and the symbol of the companies within Aride, he was a down-to-earth man whose only rivals were simply other businesses. And even then, he was the leader of the congregation of businesses which meant that killing him would slow down the flow of income for those rivals. Plus, if he ever figured out that someone hated him to an extreme extent, rival or not, he would immediately search for the person to ask why and clear up whatever issue had caused them to dislike him. So just why was Father murdered?

As Iris's mind trailed off into an endless circle of why's and how's, her boyfriend entered the living room carrying bowls of ice cream with Iris's favorite topping, hot fudge.

"Iris?"

A pause.

"Iris...Iris!"

"Ah, here!"

"Relax, it's just me."

"Sorry, I-I'm kind of out of it right now."

"That's okay. Here," he replied, handing her one of the bowls, "Some ice cream. It's got your favorite topping!"

With a "thanks", Iris smiled and started digging in. But as she continuously downed spoons of ice cream, her mind drifted off again.

"Hey, Leon?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you think someone would...you know…"

"I don't know. He was a great person and incredibly kind. I can't think of anyone that could possibly have the motivation to do something like that."

"...I hope they catch him soon."

"Don't worry, the police are sure to get to the bottom of this. We'll have more info by tomorrow morning."

"Yeah."

"Say, Iris, you don't.... you don't suspect me, right?"

"No, of course not? Why would you say that?"

"I... I uh...overheard while we were coming here that a lot of people are suspicious of me. You know, because of that thing."

"Ah."

Despite Leon being her boyfriend, something she publicly acknowledged as so, he wasn't on the best of terms with Father. Father had promised her to another house's heir back when she was born. Why, she didn't know. It had something to do with her and the other person's mother. She remembered the first time Father had led her to go meet her arranged pair, Derrick of the House of Verronica. She had heard about him from her best friend, Irene, who was clearly in love with the boy. She had no intentions on stealing the person Irene was interested in, besides already having a secret boyfriend in the form of Leon, so anyone could imagine the instant look of horror on her face when she met Derrick.

Much to her father's dismay, she had pushed Derrick away before announcing to the people within Derrick's house that she already had a love interest and was had no will to change that. Derrick, who clearly also wasn't too happy with the arrangement, was shocked by her announcement. When she made a mad dash to the door to escape her bellowing father, she noticed that Derrick had a sort of frown on his face that changed into sadness when she ran by.

That was enough for Iris to know that Derrick didn't reciprocate Irene's feelings. Rather, he seemed to like Iris.

A couple days later, when her father met Leon, she had watched as the two fought a battle of wills before finally breaking down and asking them both to stop. Of course, it didn't work in the long run, but it was enough for them to both stop arguing on that day. From then on out, few people didn't know of the animosity between her boyfriend and her father. The more Edgar pushed for Iris to marry Derrick, the more both Leon and Iris pushed back against him. Even today, when she went out, she had lied and said that she was just going to hang out with Irene.

As for Irene...

No. There was no use thinking about it now. Their friendship had become strained after she found out about Iris's arranged marriage. The fact that Irene could still stand being next to Iris was already surprising.

"Even though you two clearly have hostility towards each other, everyone knows that you wouldn't be able to kill him. You couldn't even bear to see the sheep heart we disected for science class!"

"Hey, hey! That's a creature's heart! Of course I wouldn't want to see it."

"Heh, just admit you're scared of biology and call it a day."

"Hmph."

The conversation then died down, replaced by the dull words that spewed out of the TV's speakers. After a long period of stale silence, Leon then grabbed both of their long-since empty bowls and headed to the kitchen.

"Hey Iris."

"Yeah?"

"I'll go get the guest room ready. Sorry, I don't have any change of clothes for you."

"That's okay."

As Iris listened to the sound of falling water and then the creak of a knob, she felt an urge to say something, anything. Some sort of distraction even if momentarily.

"Hey, Leon."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For letting me stay over."

She could almost hear him smile as he walked into the guest room.

"No problem."