Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

"Chi...Ms. Chibo,"

A flicker of unexpected panic crossed the man's face. He looked embarrassed and stammered as he explained.
"Yes, yes... After parading through the streets as a samurai this morning, since I didn't have any other plans, I just... went out to wander around and look around."

As he spoke, he subconsciously let go of his female companion's hand.

"Oh? Mr. Mito is also interested in Kabuki?" Shizuka Ikenami asked with a strange expression, her gaze shifting between the two men.

"Huh? Kabuki?"

The man seemed to only then realize what was happening, and hurriedly waved his hand, his smile somewhat stiff.

"No, no... I thought there would be another magic show. It seems I was wrong!"

As he spoke, he eagerly grabbed the arm of his female companion and started to walk towards the exit.

"A mistake? We originally planned to see a song and dance performance..."

His female companion was clearly reluctant, her exquisitely made-up face showing a puzzled expression. She seemed to want to correct him, but Mito Hayato stopped her with even more force and a stern look, almost forcibly pulling her away from her seat.

"Something's strange..."

Sitting behind Hayashi Hideaki, Hattori Heizo, with his keen observation skills, whispered out the doubts of the others.

"That man's reaction was a bit too tense and unnatural. He seemed... very unwilling to be seen by people he knew, especially Ms. Ikebab, appearing with his female companion."

"Isn't it obvious?"

Kogoro Mouri immediately put his gossipy reasoning skills, sometimes wildly accurate and sometimes completely off-topic, to use, chuckling and lowering his voice to guess.

"Those two clearly weren't in a legitimate relationship! They were most likely having an affair! That's why the man was so nervous and quickly made an excuse to slip away after being spotted by Miss Chibo, an acquaintance of his!"

Chikage Tomizawa, however, was focused on something else entirely.

“Ms. Ikenami, you said before,”

She turned to Ikeba Shizuka and confirmed in a low, serious voice.
"The real boss behind the scenes at the mall a thousand days ago was named Shinzo Mito, right? That Mr. Mito just now..."

Ikenami Shizuka seemed to be thinking about something and replied absentmindedly, "Mito Hayato, Mito Shinzo's only son, and the future heir to the Mito family business."

"That guy...is Mito Shinzo's son?"

Upon hearing this, Tomizawa Chikage stood up without hesitation, her gaze fixed on the exit where Mito Hayato had disappeared, and quickly chased after him.

"Qianying!" Lin Xiu instinctively tried to stop her.

However, Tomizawa Chikage moved extremely quickly. Her figure darted nimbly among the crowded seats and quickly disappeared into the flow of people heading to the exit, giving Lin Xiuyi no more time to dissuade her.

Lin Xiuyi's outstretched hand froze in mid-air before she could only helplessly lower it.

"I hope nothing bad has happened to Chikage-nee?" Orisaka Midori asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Chikage isn't impulsive." Lin Xiuyi shook his head, then changed the subject, his gaze falling back on Ikenami Shizuka, "But you, you seem to be quite familiar with the Mito family?"

"Actually, we're not that close,"

Ikeba Shizuka gently tapped her smooth chin with her index finger, seemingly choosing her words carefully, a look on her face that was somewhere between helplessness and amusement.
"However, we did have some less-than-pleasant interactions."

"About a month ago, I went on a blind date with Mito Hayato, arranged by my family."

The girl shrugged, her tone relaxed, clearly unconcerned about the experience. "A blind date?"

Reiko's round eyes widened in surprise, as if she had heard something unbelievable.
"Chi Bo... Sister Jinghua, are you... getting married?"

In the young girl's mind, blind dates seem to be directly equivalent to the prelude to marriage.

"How could that be! You silly child, listen to me carefully!"

Shizuka Ikenami was amused by Reiko's erratic thinking and chuckled as she gently pinched her soft cheek.
"It was just a regular meeting arranged by an elder, and the process was quite boring. Nothing came of it after that."

After she finished explaining, she seemed to remember something and added,
"By the way, not long after that, I also attended a wedding banquet hosted by the Mito family with my elders."

"A wedding banquet?" Reiko's attention was indeed diverted. "Is it Mr. Mito's wedding?"

“No,” Ikeba Shizuka’s expression turned strange, a mixture of disbelief and absurdity flashing across her calm eyes, as if she had remembered something extremely incredible.

She furrowed her brows slightly, as if hesitating about how to phrase her words.

"The main characters at the wedding are..."

She spoke slowly, her tone punctuated by an odd pause.
"Mito Hayato's father, Mito Shinzo, and..."

At the crucial point, she stopped abruptly, shook her head, and did not continue.

His hesitant expression only fueled everyone's curiosity.

"Who is the bride? Sister Jinghua, tell me quickly!" Lingzi shook her arm relentlessly, her little face full of persistence in wanting to get to the bottom of things.

Unlike Reiko, Lin Xiuyi didn't urge him. He keenly noticed the strange look in Ikeba Shizuka's expression.
Combined with her reaction when she saw Mito Hayato with that alluring woman, a bold, even somewhat absurd, guess instantly formed in her mind.

"Judging from your embarrassed expression, could it be..."

Lin Xiuyi narrowed her eyes slightly and tentatively asked in a soft voice,

"The bride at the wedding... is that the woman who was acting intimately with Mito Hayato just now?"

"what?!"

His words were like a bombshell dropped on a calm lake.

The few people who had been just curiously eavesdropping were all stunned, as if they had been frozen in place.

After a brief silence, Eri Kisaki was the first to come to her senses.

She rolled her eyes at Lin Xiuyi, annoyed, and retorted rationally,
"Stop daydreaming and making wild guesses! Mito Shinzo is Mito Hayato's father. If that woman is the bride, then she is Mito Hayato's stepmother."

"Do you think a son would bring his stepmother on a date at a celebration and act so intimately with her?"

Her words drew nods of agreement from everyone, and Kogoro Mouri slammed his fist on the table in agreement: "That's right, Shuichi, your guess is way too far-fetched!"

"Even if Mito Hayato is utterly despicable, she wouldn't stoop to doing something so unethical, would she?"

Just as everyone was questioning Lin Xiuyi's words, Ikeba Shizuka spoke up.

"Lin Jun guessed correctly; that young lady was indeed the bride at the wedding." (End of Chapter)