After downing her drink in one gulp, Miwako turned to him and asked, "Is there something you need, Mitsuyu?"

Guangyou said to her, "Um, could you put down the wine and come with me somewhere?"

Miwako turned to look at Kōyū with a puzzled expression and asked, "Where are we going?"

...

"Come in first."

Miwako didn't move. She glanced at the decorations around the room and the nameplate on the door, and asked, "This should be Shinichi Kudo's house, right?"

Kōyū nodded and made up an excuse: "Well, I just asked Shinichi... Shinichi-nii-san for a bit, saying I wanted to read in his study for a while."

"Oh, but you're looking for..."

Miwako nodded, then suddenly sniffed and looked at Mitsuyu.

She hadn't noticed it outside, but once inside the enclosed space, she sensed a faint smell of alcohol on Guangyou.

She frowned, caught up with Guangyou, and asked, "Guangyou, have you been drinking?"

Guangyou seemed not to hear her question and walked straight to the study.

Miwako looked around and followed.

The study in the Kudo residence is the most extravagant room in the entire building; the huge circular room contains only a desk at the very back.

At a glance, there are densely packed books, and they are all the kind that you can tell at a glance that most of them have been read, rather than some pretentious young people buying books just to decorate.

"A person with a wealth of knowledge naturally exudes elegance"—this saying is indeed true.

This is especially evident in Conan's father. He is handsome and charming. If he were to go out and shout, the female fans would probably line up from the study to the door.

In contrast, Conan's charisma requires a long period of time to appreciate, while Yusaku's charm is immediately apparent upon first meeting him.

This is also the difference in experience and background brought about by age.

"Kuangyou, you haven't answered my question yet. Have you been drinking?" Miwako strode to the desk, placed her hands on it, and said reproachfully, "Don't you know it's bad for kids to drink?"

Guangyou said to her, "I don't like drinking, this is for you."

Miwako pointed at herself in surprise and asked, "Me?"

Kōyū took an unopened can of beer out of the bag and placed it in front of Miwako: "I saw what happened just now."

"What a scene."

At first, Miwako didn't react, but after a few seconds, when she realized what Kōyū was talking about, her face turned bright red.

"Who else saw it besides you?"

Miwako feigned composure, placing both hands on the table and fiddling with her right fingers with her left.

"The group of police officers who came today, as well as Yumi-neechan and Ayumi and the others."

Guangyou took a mystery novel from the bookshelf, flipped through it casually, found it uninteresting, and carefully put the book back.

Miwako sighed, rubbing her forehead. But what's done is done; she could only deal with it as it came.

She suddenly looked up and asked, "What did Takagi say today? This place tells him whether he likes it or not. Was that the line you said?"

The child in front of me doesn't look very old, but the things he says occasionally are completely different from those for his age.

Guangyou readily admitted it this time, nodding: "It's me, but you're not wrong."

Miwako thought for a moment, then said, "But I'm also very confused right now, and I don't know how to tell Takagi. He's a really nice person, and I don't want to hurt him because of me."

Kōyū asked, "Is it because of Officer Matsuda, Miwako-neechan?"

Miwako hesitated for a moment, thought about it, and then nodded.

"Does Miwako really like Officer Matsuda that much?"

Kōyū didn't realize that just seven days of being together was enough to make Miwako miss him for three years.

Miwako nodded, then shook her head, and answered with her head down, "I don't know."

Guangyou pointed to the beer in front of her and said, "Have a sip, alcohol can numb your senses."

Miwako thought about it for a while, and she was quite conflicted. First, she didn't want to drink in front of her child, and second, she was really confused.

"Go ahead and drink, I really won't drink."

Kōyū reached out and pulled off the tab on the can of beer, then pushed it to Miwako.

Miwako slowly reached out, picked up the beer, and took a small sip.

After watching her drink it, Guangyou got up and stood by the bookshelf. After searching for a while, he took out a very thick book from the bookshelf.

After flipping through a few pages, Kōyū looked at the book and said to Miwako, "The way to remember people is through emotions. These emotions include friendship, family, and love. At the same time, you can also remember someone because of negative emotions such as guilt and self-blame."

After reading for a while, Kōyū closed the book, placed it on the table beside him, and asked, "Miwako-neechan, why did you remember Officer Matsuda?"

He strongly suspected that Miwako did have feelings for Matsuda Jinpei, but only feelings, while Matsuda Jinpei also had feelings for Miwako.

The text message Matsuda sent just seconds before his death revealed his feelings for her to Miwako. By then, Matsuda had already been engulfed in flames and passed away.

Kōyū believes that rather than the claim that Miwako deeply loved Matsuda Jinpei and only missed him for three years, it is more accurate to say that the negative emotions brought about by the sudden withering of a love flower that had not yet blossomed, combined with a faint affection, created a unique feeling.

It is precisely because of this feeling that Miwako has remembered it from then until now.

So much so that when Miwako sees that Takagi's disguise is very similar to Matsuda's, she loses control of her emotions.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!