Chiaki was stunned to hear this.

In her father’s memories, her mother was the one who raised her?

She was the one who should have known her mother better than anyone?

Chiaki had no recollection of this… she did her best to recall the past, but couldn’t remember anyone that could have been her mother at all.

And then, she thought about the vague dream she had been having recently.

In her dream, she had apparently been calling out for “mommy.” Yet, she couldn’t remember anything after she woke up.

‘I also ‘lost my memory?’ Did I forget my mom, just as my dad did? Is my memory loss even more severe than my dad’s?

‘Nobody knows anything about my mom… it might all just be an illusion… a dream…’

“Tell me in more detail, Dad!” Chiaki regained her senses and realized that something mystical was highly likely to be behind this. She wanted to know more.

Yet, Shingo remained silent. It appeared that he didn’t want to say more.

“Tell me, Dad! Tell me everything. There might be some way to resolve this,” Chiaki urged.

“There’s no need,” Shingo stated lightly. “As I said earlier, there’s no meaning. She’s only a dream… a dream that bothers me alone. There’s no need for you to be bothered as well. She’s no longer here, or maybe she’s never even existed in the first place. Everything might just be my hallucination. There’s no need to search for the so-called truth. We only need to let this dream slowly disappear.”

“How can that be! That’s your wife, and my mom…” Chiaki wanted to convince her dad otherwise.

“Searching for the truth requires time and effort, and you might not even find an answer,” Shingo told her coldly. “And even if you receive an answer in the end, it might be much worse than the dreams you currently have. The truth could very well be ugly or cruel. Reality isn’t beautiful at all, Chiaki. You’re still young. It’s normal that you still have beautiful ideals for the world. Viewing youthful games of love as important, and believing that everything will be worth it no matter the result? Such naïve ways of thinking are suitable for your current age.

“But in reality, people will grow older, and their ways of thinking will change. The things you believe to be important now, your naïve ways of thinking, your beautiful ideals for the world… all of these will change as you grow older… that’s what maturity is.

“After you mature, you’ll understand that reality isn’t that beautiful at all. A beautiful dream is much better than the ugly reality. Although I have to deal with the bother of forgetting about your mother’s memories, I also feel the beauty from those memories. I have no intentions of keeping or rejecting those memories, because the reality is… she’s no longer here. It would be best to simply have this dream slowly fade and disappear. You don’t need to mind or care about such a thing. You simply need to live your own life.”

After hearing this, Chiaki was stunned, and didn’t know what to say.

She wanted to counter his words somehow, but couldn’t come up with anything as she looked at her father’s heavy expression.

Shingo silently finished his tea and then stood up.

“Wait!” Chiaki realized that her father was about to leave, so she hurriedly stopped him.

Shingo stopped in his footsteps and silently looked at her.

Chiaki still didn’t know what to say. But as her mind raced, she suddenly recalled Seiji!

Seiji would definitely know what to say here.

“Wait a moment…” Chiaki told her dad while taking out her cell phone and dialing Seiji’s number.

Seiji picked up almost instantly.

“Sei… Seigo…”

“What room number are you in?”

The moment that she called, Seiji replied in a steady voice.

It was as if he had been waiting for her to call.

No… he probably had indeed been waiting for her to call.

Chiaki felt reassured and told him the room number of the private room at the restaurant.

Seeing this, Shingo frowned slightly and started to walk off again.

“Dad, wait! Please wait for Seigo to come here and have a talk with him.”

“There’s nothing to talk about with an outsider.”

“He’s not an outsider… he’s not an ordinary person! He’ll be a help with the issue regarding mom’s memories!” Chiaki hurriedly tried to stop him.

Shingo stopped in his footsteps again.

“Not an ordinary person… what does that mean?”

“Er…”

Chiaki was unsure if she should tell him that Seiji was a spiritual ability user. It might make her father feel that Seiji was a scammer.

“He… He’s actually an amazing detective…”

Shingo had a strange expression after hearing this.

‘An amazing detective? A high school detective? You must have watched too much anime!’

Chiaki could easily tell that was what her father was thinking right now.

‘The truth is just like the plot out of an anime… or even stranger, Dad,’ Chiaki thought to herself.

“This isn’t a funny joke at all,” Shingo told her coldly. “If he’s someone with strange interests, you should immediately break up with him.”

It was apparent that her father had misunderstood.

“He doesn’t have any strange interests…”

‘Unless him starting a harem with me in it counts?’

“I thought that you were reasonable, Chiaki. I’m not against you having a boyfriend if you wish. But if he’s not normal, that’s another matter entirely.” A fierce glint appeared in Shingo’s eyes.

Chiaki felt pressured by her father.

But, the next instant, she actually felt a little happy because her father had shown some worry for her.

“Whether he’s normal or not, can’t you decide after you meet and talk to him?”

Shingo fell silent.

“There’s nothing to talk about… I forbid you from telling him about your mother.”

After he said that, he turned around to leave again.

“Wait a moment! He really can help out.” Chiaki tried once more.

“I doubt that he’ll be of any use… and even if he could be, there’s no meaning to it.” Shingo started walking.

“Wait, Dad…”

The famous artist walked up to the door and opened it. However, he instantly stopped in his tracks afterwards.

That was because someone had arrived outside the door.

A restaurant server had just led an incredibly handsome boy to the room.

“Pleased to meet you for the first time, Wakaba-san.” Seiji smiled politely. “I am Seigo Harano.”

Chiaki felt quite moved that Seiji had actually been waiting for her near the restaurant, which was why he had managed to arrive so quickly.

The famous artist who had an icy expression sat down once more across from Chiaki and her boyfriend.

When Seiji had arrived, he saw that Shingo Wakaba had been about to leave despite his daughter’s objections. Seiji immediately put out his hand to block the doorway, and said some taunting words. “You don’t even dare to face your daughter’s boyfriend?” Only then had the famous artist begrudgingly stayed.

“I apologize for being rather forceful just now.” Seiji started off with an apology. “But it’s so difficult to meet you, so I felt that I shouldn’t miss this chance… Let us have a proper discussion, Wakaba-san.”

Shingo remained silent with his icy expression.

“Dad told me about mom…” Chiaki was about to explain what she heard earlier to Seiji.

“I said, you’re forbidden from telling him about this issue.” Shingo immediately stopped her.

“Dad…”

“He’s an outsider. There’s nothing to say to him on this matter.”

Chiaki had an awkward expression after hearing this.

“I’m Chiaki’s boyfriend. Even if you don’t agree, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m her boyfriend, Wakaba-san,” Seiji spoke in a calm voice. “The issue regarding Chiaki’s mother is very important. I need to understand more.”

“It’s not important at all. Nor do you have the right to know about it,” Shingo stated coldly.

“That’s where you’re wrong. It’s highly important, because this is about Chiaki’s safety,” Seiji spoke in a serious tone.

“…Safety?”

“Yes… Only by learning more will I be able to better protect Chiaki.”

Shingo furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

“Chiaki needs protection?”

Seiji looked directly at Shingo and spoke in a serious tone, “That’s right. She’s currently in a potentially dangerous situation that might be related to her mother… or maybe even related to you, Wakaba-san.”