Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.

-The Enchanter of Fairy Tail-

Chapter 50: Leaps of Faith

Year: X758. 26 years till Canon begins.

Cade POV:

Since my discovery of what was on page 20 of the spell book, I had been focusing hard on trying to train up and better control the attacks from my Disappear spell.

I had spent a month out in the fields away from Magnolia practising the spell and trying to get the magic cost required for the spell a bit more under control, the time taken to cast the spell as well as the power of the spell itself.

During this month of training I found that it was very hard to reduce the damage and actual explosion of the attack. Sure more damage was nice and all, but I was a bit afraid of accidentally destroying anything like a house that may be nearby. In the end, I decided to try to save the spell if I was away from any structures.

I did also test it out in the Fairy Tail guild hall and accidentally blew a giant hole in the first floor that led down into the basement. Master was horrified by this and chased me away from the guild in anger. That unfortunately meant that I would be unable to use that spell in the guildhall from now on.

As for the time and magic cost of the skill? Well they were somewhat improved upon during my training. I still had to focus on drawing out some internal anger to use the spell, but it wasn't as bad as when I first had to cast it. The magic cost was something that took practise time and time again to get better at. It didn't take as much magic as before, but it wasn't a spell that I could consistently use over and over again.

In regards to what the Magic Council had to say about the spell, Org was easily fooled by Yajima's trick of not fully revealing what the spell did. The Magic Council went by thinking that I had learned a simple small explosion spell.

Gildarts was curious to see how his Crush Magic stacked up against my Disappear spell. A quick fight between us showed that his Crush Magic was able to blast right through my spell. On the other hand, if I casted my spell correctly to where it would explode before hitting his Crush attack, the power of the explosion would destroy Gildarts Crush attack. An interesting discovery.

Not much else had been happening since that last month. We were now in the new year, and while spring was coming, the heavy breeze of winter persisted like a drag.

The miracle tree did not have it's new leafs fall off like I had expected. Instead the leafs remained on the tree, only being blown off if there was high winds. Yet, I swore that the branches had the leafs grow back the very next day. It truly was a miracle tree.

I had been making moves to go on some more jobs whenever I could to earn some money for me and my mother.

Mother also said that as my 16th birthday was coming up, it would soon be time for her to show me all the important things in life such as paying taxes, organising the funds down the basement safe and all other sorts of paperwork. Knowing that this heap of information was coming my way in the coming months was just delightful to know.

As for where I was right now, that was currently helping Pierce and Charles with some shopping, as last night there was a terrible storm that blew some branches into a window which then smashed it apart. I decided to help the two men find a window to replace that one.

We were in Magnolia and were quite literally, window shopping. We had found a shop that sold windows, and we were explaining the correct measurements that we needed to the shop keeper. I was looking at some stained glass windows, while Pierce and Charles talked with the shopkeeper.

As I was looking at a window that had a partially nice pattern on it, I heard a voice from behind me.

"Hi Cade!"

I turned and saw Lilly standing there with a smile on her face. She was wearing a nice patterned light blue shirt with a pink skirt. She had some black shoes on with some long socks, to help warm her legs up. Why she chose to wear a skirt in low temperatures like this is beyond me. Perhaps her washing machine malfunctioned.

"Oh hi Lilly!" I greeted her with a weird warm feeling enveloping me. "What are you doing in a window shop of all places?" I asked, curious.

"I saw you go in from outside and I came in here to see you." She explained with a nod.

"You came in here just to see me…? O-Oh, you didn't have to…!" I said as I put my hand on the back of my head and smiled awkwardly.

'Why do I feel like my face is turning red all of a sudden!? Ugh, I'm hopeless…' I gave an internal sigh.

"But I am curious now that I'm here. Why are you in a window shop?" Lilly wondered as she put a finger on her chin, tapping it.

"Oh, well the storm last night ended up smashing a window in our home. We had to come down here to get a new one." I answered for her.

"Will it be expensive?" She questioned with mild interest.

"Eh. Pierce and Charles are handling that side of things. I just came here to keep them company." I informed her.

"So, how have things been with you and your mother?" I asked, wanting to keep this conversation going.

"Mothers been pretty good. She's been doing good at work and we've been having some fun together." Lilly said. "How've things been on your end?"

"Oh you know me. Training up my magic, going on jobs, running away from Rune Knights; the usual routine for me!" I smirked.

Lilly laughed a little as I said that. I joined in and we were both laughing for a bit, before we calmed down.

"Well, I have to get going. Got some stuff to do at home." Lilly said, as she gave me a wave. "See ya Cade!" She said as she turned away from me and left the shop.

I wanted to say something to Lilly at that moment before she left, but the words failed to form and exit my mouth.

But… what was I going to say to her? I wanted to say something, but what?

Yet again I found myself struggling to understand what was going on with me. Was this a growing thing perhaps?

I nearly thumped my head off the wall of the shop, I'm failure to understand what I was experiencing. In any case, it could be something that I could deal with later.

'Maybe I should try to talk to someone about the feelings - but who?'

As I went back to looking at the stained glass windows, I failed to notice that two servants had been watching the whole conversation play out.

No POV, Pierce and Charles:

Pierce was currently dusting one of the many bookshelves that were in the library of the manor's library. While there were so many to dust, it was quite easy to sweep all the dust off using a big duster. It took less than a few seconds to do so, as the man had experience at this point after working here for so long.

After this he was meant to tidy up the lounge and then try to slot in that new window with Charles. That might prove to be a bit tricky, but he had a feeling that himself and his old friends had what it took. Then there was dinner, in which the only issue was choosing what to cook for Cade and June.

They normally wanted a surprise as all the food was good. Those new recipes that Cade brought home a while back were the real deal. Almost every dish was amazing to eat.

As Pierce was cleaning the final shelf, he heard a knock on the door, before it opened and he saw Charles walk into the room.

"Good to see you Charles." Pierce remarked as he dusted himself down, before walking over to his friend. "How goes the cleaning upstairs?"

"Finished. I'm now waiting on you to help me with the window. Then it's dinner, and then I'm done for the day." He grinned at his speed of completing his tasks.

"Hey, hey, hey." Pierce said getting a bit defensive. "It's hard to wipe all this down. Plus I need to clean the lounge after this." He pointed a finger at the direction of the lounge.

"Here's an idea. How about we do the window now?" Charles suggested.

"Hmm." Pierce thought about this. "Yes that would be smart. Means I'm not holding you up. I did just finish cleaning the library, so we could head now and do it."

"I've already got the window in position." Charles said. "Besides, there's something I want to talk to you about." Charles looked a little apprehensive when he said that.

Pierce was a bit confused by that. "Well alright then. Let's do the window and then you can tell me what it is that you are wanting to talk about."

"So what is it?" Pierce huffed as he lifted the window up.

"I was wondering…" Charles started, as he to lifted up the window, which cut him off slightly. "If you heard that conversation that Cade had with Lilly earlier today. You know, in the window shop." He asked.

"Oh. That." Pierce replied dryly. "Yes I heard it…" He said as he slotted the window into the frame that was already in the wall. "Did you find it strange the way Cade had acted there? He seemed rather nervous."

"Yes, for the last few months Cade has been acting rather strangely." Charles added as he made sure the window was secure and not loose. "I've seen him with Lilly before and he always seemed so happy and relaxed. Back then, I swore he was sweating buckets being around her." He muttered.

"Can't believe we're gossiping about him in his own house. And while we're working on top of that!" Pierce realised with a sigh. "But you are right. Now he seems nervous to just be around her." Pierce said as he screwed in the window.

Both he and Charles were somewhat silent as they screwed in the window. It was as if they had a feeling that they knew what happened to Cade, but felt to embarrassed to say it. Like it would be a breach in their friendship with Cade.

Charles was the one to speak up. "Do you think that he… you know." He muttered at the end.

"That he what?" Pierce asked.

"You know!" Charles hissed back a bit louder, he was also trying to keep his voice down in case Cade or his mother heard them. "Do you think he's fallen in love you idiot!" He hissed at Pierce.

"Love? Cade?" Pierce was struggling to believe this. "Cade has never seemed to show romantic feelings towards someone before." He stated.

"Well what do you think the red face and the awkward laughs were about back there? That's not just an embarrassed comment or a bad joke." Charles stated as he finished screwing in the window, before giving it a simple pat. "That's the kind of stuff that happens when a man is interested in a women."

"Do you think that Cade knows that he's fallen for Lilly? He has never acted like this before in the past. I remember when I first fell in love. I simply didn't know what I was feeling, except that I loved it." Pierce sighed after remembering his past.

"Well of course he would know. How could he not know what love is?!" Charles argued back.

"Yeah I get that he would know what the meaning of love is." Pierce stated with a bit of annoyance. "But do you think he has felt romantic love before?" He made sure to be extra clear to his friend here.

"Well he-"

Charles closed his mouth as he then realised why Cade was actually so anxious all of a sudden.

Charles mumbled words under his breath as he moved his hand across his face, rubbing it slightly. "He doesn't know what he's going through." He said, muttering those last words in sorrow.

"You think we should help him with that?" Pierce suggested. "We can just tell him what it is that he is feeling. That way he can chose to act on it on however he wishes."

"And want if he does actually love Lilly?" Charles asked after. "What do you think we should do then?"

Pierce mulled a few options over in his head, before he came to a conclusion. "I say we help him." He decided as he stood up straight.

"Alright then. We'll talk to him about it after dinner." Charles affirmed with a nod.

After that discussion the two men headed downstairs to make the dinner for the day, as it was getting a bit late. When Cade and June were eating it, Pierce went and cleaned the lounge to get that out of the way with.

When Cade had finished his dinner, he went upstairs to his room. The two butlers saw this and gave a nod to each other.

"Oh? What's up with you two?" Asked June with some curiosity at their nod there.

"Oh, erm… we just realised that we had to clean something upstairs M'Lady!" Pierce quickly said.

"Yes! It is a rather big task, and we decided to do it when Cade headed upstairs." Charles backed him up.

"You finished your other tasks for today, right?" June questioned. "If so, then you can leave afterwards." She informed them both.

Both Pierce and Charles were relieved at that answer, and they both excused themselves before heading upstairs to see Cade. When they got to his door, they gave it a light knock.

"Come in, you don't need to knock." Came Cade from the other side of the door.

Pierce opened the door, and both of the men saw that Cade was lying on his bed facing up at the ceiling. The windows were shut and the curtains were draped back, meaning there was very little light in the room.

Cade looked up to see who it was. "Oh! Sorry you two. Didn't think it would be you that was knocking." He apologised, Cade now choosing to sit up to address them.

"Ah there is no need to apologise." Charles said with a smile of reassurance. "If you don't mind me asking, is everything ok?"

Cade gave him a small look of surprise. "Oh, well I was just trying to deal with some weird things that have been bothering me for a few months now." He answered as he scratched his head.

"What sort of things?" Pierce asked not long after Cade said that.

Cade hesitated for a moment, as if he didn't want to speak about it. He did answer them both though. "Some weird… feelings." He mumbled, as his face turned a bit red.

Both Pierce and Charles were dumbfounded at that exchange there. What a coincidence that Cade was thinking possibly the same thing that they came up here to talk to them about.

Pierce and Charles now fully entered the bedroom and closed the door behind them. "You know if you may someone to talk to about these… feelings, then you are more than welcome to talk to us." Charles comforted Cade with a nod.

Cade gave a sigh, before looking up at the two men. "A-Alright." He said nervously.

"For a few months now I've felt some… strange feelings towards certain people now. Erm… w-women to be precise." Cade was now beet red. It seemed to be taking all he had to explain this to his friends.

While most people would have maybe sniggered or laughed at this, Pierce and Charles made sure to respect Cade, and did their best not embarrass him in any way.

Although, a small part of them were quite amused at the fact that Cade was essentially asking them for help with love, when they always teased him about it when he was younger.

Still; they maintained their focus and continued to listen.

"For some reason, I now feel really happy when I'm talking to some girls now. When I was talking to Lilly today I was feeling really happy about seeing her. I felt a warm and comforting feeling inside me." Cade gave a small smile at that.

"The issue is that I'm not too sure what I'm feeling right now. I… like this feeling, I think! I don't feel it that much, but it's always nice when I do. And… I don't really want it go away..." Cade said softly. "So please tell me, what is it that I'm feeling!?" He pleaded with them.

Pierce took a deep breath, while Charles nodded his head in understanding of what Cade was feeling. They both looked at each other before they gave a nod of approval to each other.

"You see Cade." Pierce began. "These feelings that you are experiencing now, are a sign of love." He explained.

Cade then turned bright red again. "L-Love!?" He said with shock.

"As in a serious love for someone that you are romantically interested in." Charles clarified.

"Yeah I know what kind of love you mean!" Cade responded quite flustered. "B-But that's what it is? L-Love?"

"Yes it is." Pierce confirmed. "I'll be honest Cade. I am a little surprised that you didn't know what it was that you were feeling. When I was your age I was able to figure out that I loved a girl that I had met for a few months now."

"Well I've been busy fighting monsters and wizards since I was ten!" Cade argued. "Forgive me if I've been too busy to realise that I love someone!"

"So you do love someone then. We are confirming that just now right?" Charles spoke up.

"Well – I mean… I… um…" Cade tried to avoid answering that. "We're just – no we're just friends!" He muttered with a bit of anger. Cade then turned away from Pierce and Charles, his face still red.

There was a moment of silence before Pierce spoke up.

"Let me guess: You have these weird – now confirmed to be romantic feelings to someone that you have always seen as a friend. Correct?" Pierce questioned, feeling he knew the answer.

Cade (who was still looking away) slowly nodded his head.

"And you are not sure how to approach this situation. Whether it be to move forward with these feelings, or try to bury them. Correct?" Pierce added on.

Cade nodded again.

Pierce hummed a little, before he turned to Charles. Charles just nodded his head, as if he knew what his friend was going to say next.

"Cade. This person. It's Lilly isn't it?" Pierce asked with certainty in his voice.

Cade hesitated. It seemed like even he was beginning to realise the feelings he held.

Cade slowly nodded his head, before he fell face-flat on his bed for a moment. He seemed to say something that could not be made out due to his his voice was muffled. He later say back up and faced the two men again.

"Ugh…" Cade muttered with sadness. "I've fallen in love… But… why did I have to fall in love with Lilly…?"

Both servants gave a light gasp of surprise. They weren't expecting that.

"Do you… not want to love her?" Charles questioned with curiosity.

"Well I – No it's just that-" Cade tried to explain himself. "She's my childhood friend. It… might feel weird if I date her." He answered with defeat.

"Who says?" Pierce argued. "Who says it might be weird?" He questioned with a small ounce of seriousness.

"Me!" Cade exclaimed as he gestured his hands at himself. "I just think it would feel weird if I date my childhood best friend. And what if she's already dating someone!?" He cried with a bit of fear at the idea.

Pierce and Charles chose to ignore the fact that Cade seemed to show signs of fear at the idea of Lilly seeing someone else. They could tell that was a clear excuse. They instead chose to focus on the "best friend part".

"So you seem to think that it might be wrong for you to ask Lilly out as your girlfriend. But tell me this Cade." Charles stated. "What does your heart tell you?"

Cade then seemed to stop and think about that.

Where before he held a firm face at the idea of not wanting to get together with Lilly as he thought it was strange, Cade now seemed to really think about what his heart and his feelings wanted. Pierce spoke up next.

"The way I see it, I think you should follow what makes us human above all else: Your feelings. Cade, you've been feeling these feelings of yours for a few months now. While you may think that it may be wrong, your heart has been trying to tell you to push forwards and accept them. Buryijg them will only cause more hardships as you grow older." Pierce stated with a small smile.

Cade was silent for a good few minutes, with his company in the room leaving him to think about this in peace. Cade then opened his mouth to speak up.

"What… what if she doesn't lo-"

"Love you?" Charles answered back for him. "Yes. That is the fear that drives many people away." He said with a small hint of sadness. "It may seem daunting to ask her, when you yourself may not know how feels towards you. In cases like that, it's simply a leap of faith. We have no idea if our loved one may or may not love us back. We have to take the plunge to see where we land after. Besides, haven't been taking leaps of faith since you joined Fairy Tale?" Charles raised an eyebrow in a small but humorous manner.

Cade was silent for another few minutes. This seemed to be quite the decision to think about for the young man. He was clearly giving this great consideration.

"…"

"… Mmm…"

"Leaps of faith…" Cade muttered. "I've really been taking quite a few of those for a few years now. Weirdly enough, it didn't feel like it. While I didn't feel that nervous with them, this seems to take the cake as the most terrifying…" He gave a small chuckle saying that, with a weak smile afterwards.

"So? How do you feel now?" Both men said in accidental unison.

Cade now gave them a much more firm and pleased smile, one that the two men preferred to see on the young Master. "I think… I think I know what I should do!" He declared with seriousness.

There was a fire in the boys eyes that wasn't there before. He now seemed more assure of himself than he ever was before.

Cade then surprised the two men by hugging them tightly. "Thank you both for helping me." He said with happiness. "If it weren't for you both then I'm not sure what I would done!"

Pierce and Charles returned the hug, happy to have done their duty to help Cade with his issues. When the hug broke they had a look of happiness and relief on their faces.

"So. Do tell me this. Do you… plan on doing what you have to do, say… tomorrow?" Charles asked, not being able to contain his curiosity.

Cade gave him a smug look. "Maybe. But don't you have jobs to do here tomorrow?" He questioned.

Both of the servants began to make some basic excuses and attempts to wave away the question. Cade just rolled his eyes and chuckled at the two of them.

"Again, thanks for the help. I'm gonna stay in here for the night. I'll be alright." Cade assured the both of them. "I'll see the both of you tomorrow then?"

"Yes we will." Pierce said as he and Charles gave a farewell to the young Master, before they left the room and closed the door. When they did so, they moved away from the door a little to the point where they could talk without Cade hearing them.

"Charles." Pierce grinned.

"Pierce." Charles grinned.

"We did it!" Both men cried as they hi-fived each other.

"I'm so relieved!" Charles declared with enthusiasm. He gripped his friends hand tightly. "It's good that we were able to help Cade like that."

"Oh yes. I fear how he may have been if we hadn't seen him there." Pierce remarked, as he looked back the door to Cade's room.

"By the way, we ARE going out to see if he'll ask the big question to her tomorrow right?" Charles asked.

"Of course!" Pierce retorted. "We'll find a way to sneak out." He assured his friend.

"Now then. How about we head back home? I'm feeling a bit drained now." Pierce added, as he yawned.

With their important talk all done, Pierce and Charles headed back to their home, which was not far away to see about getting some early rest for tomorrow.

As they left though, they failed to notice that a lady in the manor was watching them leave; her having heard the whole conversation.

She smiled, and wiped a tear away. "Cobalt. I don't think we could have asked for two better servants." She said sincerely, hoping her husband could hear her from wherever he was.

The Next Day:

When the next day came, Pierce and Charles made sure to wash themselves and headed into the manor to begin working for the day. June was always nice enough to let them have some of the food in the manor, which meant that they have to need to have breakfast before.

As they made their way into the manor, they quickly spotted Cade walking down the stairs, him looking a bit tired still, with him rubbing his eyes. While Pierce and Charles moved into the kitchen to make some breakfast, they made sure to keep an eye on Cade when possible.

Breakfast was soon made, and the two men made sure to clean the staircase and the lounge; that way they would be able to see where Cade is going when he leaves the dining room. After a few minutes of cleaning and making sure to shift an eye to look at the staircase, they eventually saw Cade head up the stairs to get dressed.

Pierce looked out from the lounge and gave a small nod to Pierce to indicate that Cade would be leaving soon. They had a plan to request an hours break in Magnolia to June. They would use this if Cade got on alright with his "big decision".

When Cade came down the stairs later, him looking a bit tidier then usual he moved to exit the manor and head down into town. When the door to the manor shut, Charles moved over to request their break.

"Ah excuse me M'lady? Could Pierce and I have a break down in Magnolia today?" He requested kindly.

June just closed the book she was reading, before she smiled at him. "Yes of course. As long as you are back in say, an hour, I have no problem with it." She approved kindly.

Charles thanked the lady, before the two men then hurried out of the manor and down into town to see how Cade would do. They were able to catch up to him, with Cade being not far ahead of them. However, both servants decided to keep back a fair distance, as to not let Cade see them coming. They didn't want him to feel overwhelmed by their presence.

Upon reaching Magnolia, Cade moved through into the town with Pierce and Charles moving closely behind him. They had to duck behind some buildings to wait for Cade to keep moving, as he sometimes stopped and seemed to think carefully about something.

Eventually after around an hour of walking and sneaking, Cade seemed to spot Lilly across from him, looking into a shop. Cade hesitated for a moment before he approached her. He took a few deep breaths and slapped his face a little, before moving to approach the girl.

Pierce and Charles both watched carefully from an alleyway. They were perhaps just as nervous as Cade.

Cade slowly made it to Lilly and cleared his voice. "Hey Lilly…?" He greeted her, with as much confidence as he could.

Lilly turned around to see Cade. "Hey there Cade! How're you doing today?" She asked with a big smile.

Cade opened his mouth to speak.

Charles was nervous.

Pierce was nervous.

Cade was… probably petrified.

And then… Cade spoke.

"Want to do something tonight?" He suggested with a smile.

Lilly was a bit surprised to hear that. "Do something… like what?" She said with interest.

"How about you come over to my place! You can have dinner with us, Pierce and Charles make some great food!" Cade said with confidence.

Lilly suddenly looked interested to hear the option of dinner come up. She thought on something for a moment before answering. "Sure. I love the food you have at your place." She smiled at Cade.

Cade looked overjoyed at this acceptance. "G-Great! Think you could come over at say… 7:00pm?" Cade asked.

"Sure. No problems with me on that." Lilly responded. "I'll see you at 7:00pm then?" She said.

"Yes! I'll see you at 7:00!" Cade said with a smile as he walked away from Lilly, giving her a wave as he left.

"Cade?"

Cade froze as Lilly called for him. He turned back around to face her. "Y-Yes?"

Lilly seemed to pause at what she was going to say. "Is this… a normal dinner?" She asked carefully.

Cade looked very nervous all of a sudden. Pierce and Charles were not much better. Cade nearly spluttered the next few words out of his mouth.

"W-Well I mean we can put on some extra good food! Erm maybe we can talk a bit during the dinner. Maybe we can… wear nice clothes…" He mumbled at the end, fidgeting his feet as he did.

Lilly took a few quick silent breaths as she quickly replied. "Oh erm yes! Th-That's great! I can do that!" She cheered with a somewhat shaky tone.

"R-Right!" She said. "I do have to go now! I'll see you at 7:00pm!"

Lilly then turned away and walked away quite quickly. Cade sighed heavily as she left, him then walking back the way he came to the manor.

Pierce and Charles darted back behind the alleyway to avoid being seen. They saw that Cade has varying looks on his face as he walked by them. Mostly looks of joy. When Cade had left earshot, Pierce spoke up.

"What was that? I thought he was going to ask her out?" Pierce whispered to his friend.

Charles however, seemed to understand what Cade was doing. "I see… if Cade is doing what I think he is doing, then he is being smarter about this." He said with approval.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Pierce asked his friend.

"You see, Cade is playing it safe here. He wants to do more steep things with Lilly without actually asking her out. He wants to see where she stands with her feelings towards him. This whole dinner thing is a way for him to try and tell her that he is interested in her." Charles explained.

Pierce slowly nodded his head in understanding. "Right… I get it." He muttered. "Hey! If there's going to be a big dinner tonight, then shouldn't we have to head back to the manor right now?"

"Yes. You should be heading back. That's your break over now." Came a familiar female voice from behind the two men.

Both jumped in recognising the voice. They turned and saw June Philipe standing there with her arms crossed, and a smile on her face.

"Gah! How long have you been there M'lady?!" Pierce said in shock.

"D-Did you hear the whole conversation there?!" Charles questioned.

June just turned away from them slightly, her smile widening. "What conversation are you talking about?" She humoured as she walked away.

Cade POV:

*ding dong*

'A-Ah! That's Lilly there!' I thought with surprise.

Today and yesterday were perhaps the most stressful days of my life so far.

Yesterday, I chose to speak up the feelings I was having to Pierce and Charles. Through that discussion, I learned that I had fallen in love with Lilly… something which I struggled to understand and accept at first. But Pierce and Charles said that I should be following my heart and the feelings.

With that in mind, I thanked the two men and decided to do as they said, that being to follow my heart. When I decided to accept my feelings and stop ignoring them, I felt a sense of relief and like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders that I had been carrying for a while now.

Today I then decided to ask Lilly over for dinner, something that I had never asked someone before. Yes, she had came into the house before and stayed there long enough for dinner to happen, but this was the first time I requested her over.

When I got back to the manor, I changed into some more nicer clothes. I wasn't wearing a suit or anything that posh, but I was dressed quite appropriately for the big event for tonight.

It took me a while to find mother to tell her what was happening tonight. But I eventually found her in the lounge. Could have sworn I checked there when I got back to the manor, but maybe I just missed her.

Mother was delighted to hear about the invitation and said that she would have Pierce and Charles set up a lovely dinner for us. I then saw Pierce and Charles awkwardly walk through the front door, them trying not to see me.

A few hours then passed, with me getting a bit nervous about the dinner. It was the doorbell ringing that almost had me jump out of seat.

When the doorbell rang, I quickly moved to the front door to open it, before Pierce and Charles could.

There stood Lilly, wearing the same red dress that she wore for the Harvest Festival a few months back. She gave me smile when she saw me open the door.

"Cade. Ready for dinner tonight?" She asked me with a small smile.

"Heh, I should be asking you that. I'm the one that invited you!" I said as I stood aside to let her in.

Lilly walked into the house and looked at what I was wearing. "Wow, you dressed up nice for this." She said.

I was able to stop my face from going red and chose to return the compliment. "Thanks, but look at you! You're wearing that lovely dress you picked out for the Harvest Festival." I complimented her.

Lilly giggled a little. "Thanks." She gave me a small smile that did cause me to turn a bit red.

It was then my mother walked into the room. "Oh, there you are Lilly! My, my, you dressed up nicely for this." My mother said. "Now then. Shall we move in for dinner?" Mother suggested as she gestured her head to the back of the hall, to the dining room.

The three of us moved to the dining hall and we saw some plates and cutlery on the table. Me and Lilly had a seat at the table, but mother did not.

"Don't mind me I've already eaten. You two can have the table to yourselves." She remarked as she then gave me a small look of mischief in her eyes. I just gave her a glare that I hope she took as a means to leave now.

Mother just smiled at me, before she called out Pierce and Charles. The two men came out of the kitchen and looked happy to see me and Lilly.

"Pierce. Charles. You will be tasked with making the dishes that Cade and Lilly want. After you do that, you are free to leave." Mother instructed them.

Pierce and Charles raised their voice to object, but my mother was faster.

"I said. You are free to leave. You understand what I'm saying right?" She affirmed in a bit more of a serious tone.

Pierce and Charles were forced to agree with that. Mother then wished that me and Lilly have a nice night, before she left the room.

Me and Lilly then placed our orders for the night. I let Lilly as first as she was the guest here. She ordered some spaghetti, while I ordered some chicken. Both were recipes that Master Han handed down to me, so we were sure for some good food.

Pierce and Charles then left us, and me and Lilly began to have a conversation with each other about the things in our lives. I was doing my best to make sure not to run out of conversation topics, as it would be rather awkward if we were forced to sit in silence until the food came.

After a while, our food came, in which me and Lilly tucked into our meals, us both satisfied at what we had picked out. After we had finished the meal, we did ask Pierce and Charles for some dessert. Ice cream to be more specific. When that came only a few minutes later, we ate that only to find ourselves full.

Eventually the date – sorry, night out came to an end. Lilly had to head home unfortunately, as it was quite late, and she had spent a bit more time here than she first through she would. As I led her to the door, I asked her how she enjoyed her time here.

"Oh it was fantastic! I loved the food and spending some more time with you!" Lilly answered with a smile.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." I said, relieved at her response. "So uh… would you… like to do this again sometime?" I requested with a bit of nervousness still escaping my lips.

Lilly turned her head at me and nodded. "O-Of course! I'd love to!"

Lilly then opened the door and exited out into the night.

"You gonna be ok going back? You always used to be scared of the dark." I cheekily reminded her.

Lilly puffed her face at me. "Hmmph. You always used it be scared of the dark as well!" She then stuck a raspberry at me with satisfaction.

I laughed at her gesture there, and to my surprise, Lilly joined in with me. When the laugh ended, Lilly turned her body away from me. "I'll be heading back now. I'll see you some other time!" She waved at me.

I waved back at Lilly and turned away from her, happy with how the night ended up.

"Cade?" Lilly said, before I moved away from her and closed the door.

I curiously turned back to see what Lilly wanted to say.

Lilly hesitated for a moment, before she spoke up.

"I don't know how many people tell you, you're actually quite handsome." She complimented with a thin smile, as her face turned pink. Lilly then turned away from me and ran back to Magnolia, which was illuminated by the streetlights in the distance.

The door then closed and I was left to my own thoughts. I was completely stunned by what Lilly said there.

'S-She… finds me attractive?' I began to think at a fast pace. "Does that mean that she-?!'

I was interrupted by mother who was coming down the stairs. "So? How was it?" She asked with a sly smile.

My face turned red from embarrassment, before I straightened myself out, and grinned at mother.

"I enjoyed it. And I know that Lilly did as well." I grinned, as I moved upstairs, happy that I chose to move forward with my feelings.

Aww. What a nice ending to that chapter. Do leave a review of your thoughts on that.

With that we are 50 chapters into this story! Honestly when I started this months back, I struggled to believe that I would get this far with it. But I'm glad that myself and many of you reading have as well. Whether you just wanted to brisk through the chapters or are invested in the story; I thank you for sticking around.

Still have no idea how long it will be until we get to canon, but hey! I'm making progress every chapter!

So, as I'm sure many of you saw… romance is coming into play in this arc. Well, rather for the rest of this story I guess.

Now, I'll admit this now, the romance that Cade will have is something that I seriously struggled trying to figure out. Part of me wanted a somewhat slow build up, but that would be hard as Lilly is never with him on jobs for obvious reasons. Some of you reading may like long romance stories (as do I), however, the actual romance wasn't one of the few main things I first thought about when this story came to mind. It's something that I did actually think about for a while and whether I even wanted one.

In the end, I decided to go through with it. As for the romance itself, I found it a bit tricky to write the romance between Cade and Lilly, with Cade deciding whether to stay as friends with Lilly or to move forward with his feelings. But I am satisfied with the end result.

Anyway, here's to another 50 chapters! Hope you enjoyed this one, and I'll see you in the next!