168 Date?

Once breakfast was finished, Ryan went to the Workers' Association while the younger siblings went to the academy. The only ones still at the dining table were Lily, Shui and Lilia. Shui thought that Lilia also needed to go to work, but since she remained seated, he decided to get up instead. Unfortunately, she didn't allow him to escape.

"Stay, I have to talk with you and Lily." Lilia said this without any emotion present in her tone, but it was still enough to make Shui's blood run cold.

He sat up with both hands on his knees as he faced Lilia who gently rocked Matthew to sleep. Shui knew that there was no longer a path for retreat, so instead of Lilia, he chose to be the one to start.

"So..., um, you wanted to talk about something Aunt Lilia?"

Lilia looked at both of them as if staring into their souls. The two in front of her were both precious to her. Although she had mixed feelings, happiness was definitely one of those emotions. While she felt sorry for her daughter, Shui had the right to make his own choice. However, that didn't mean she could give up on her coupling either.

"You two, didn't do anything right?"

"No no no, nothing happened."

Shui knew he was a little too desparate to prove his innocence, but he hoped that it got through to Lilia.

"Really? But you still slept in the same room?"

"That's-"

"That is the case, but nothing that you should be worried about happened."

Shui wasn't sure if he should deny it, but Lily told the truth without hesitation.

"Lily!"

"We can't lie, Master. That would only make it more suspicious."

"That's, true, but-!"

"Lily is right. I'll believe that you two didn't do anything inappropriate, but that doesn't mean something couldn't have happened."

Shui found himself without an argument so he surrendered and nodded as if pleading guilty.

"By the way Lily, I've been wondering, why do you call Shui, Master?"

Shui first reaction was to flinch, but Lily gave a straight answer.

"Master has saved me and my family many times so I swore to serve him with my life."

Her answer didn't seem problematic, but before Shui could enjoy relief, Lilia continued.

"That is very admirable of you. So, since you swore to serve him, does that mean if Shui wanted your body you wouldn't resist?"

"Wait!"

"Probably not."

"Lily!"

Shui was shocked at both Lilia who asked the question, and Lily who gave the terrible response, but the two went on with no regard for him.

"That makes sense. He is cute enough to seduce both men and women."

"I don't think men needed to be mentioned."

"Of course. As I've already sworn myself I have no reason to resist, but even without that it would be very dangerous if he added a 'please'."

"I'm still here you know."

"That's fair. Alright, I'm willing to welcome the newborn child if necessary."

"How did the conversation reach there?"

"Thank you, Aunt Lilia."

As the two then proceeded to shake hands, Shui couldn't believe what he was witnessing, but he would soon realize that it would have been better if he was ignored.

"Now then, as we just mentioned, if Shui really wants to then he can seduce almost anyone. Therefore, I need to make sure to teach him well."

"Huh?"

"I agree. I'll go to Fairies' Wardrobe to fill in for you." said Lily before she prepared to leave.

Shui had a bad feeling about what was coming, but it was too late.

"Thanks. Okay, Shui. Now that you're an adult, I'll be very thorough in your sex education."

With his vast and constantly increasing knowledge, Shui didn't think Lilia could teach him much, but what she lacked in breadth, she more than made up for with depth. Her lesson was so graphic in description that sometimes he felt like looking away despite not actually seeing it. The childbirth arc was especially stomach-churning.

'Aunt Lilia, scary.'

When Lily came back, she saw Shui hunched over with tired eyes. She felt sorry for her master, but she toughened her heart because she believed that it was for the greater good.

"Master, are you okay?"

"I don't want to think about it. This is probably gonna haunt me even after I leave."

"Oh, so you're leaving soon?"

Before responded, Shui looked up at Lily. He didn't remember if he sensed it when they reunited, but he could now detect the tightness in her chest. She wore the same cheerful smile, but he could now tell with certainty that she was hiding it.

"...Yeah."

"I see. Tell me when you decide on the date."

As Lily went to prepare dinner, Shui remembered Sia's rant. He hadn't thought much about it, but with this higher awareness of their bond, he couldn't help being more conscious of her feelings. He had no intention of staying in Cyrus forever, and he knew she wouldn't ask that of him either. However, he still wanted to reward the one most loyal to him.

"Lily, let's go out tomorrow."

Shui's sudden proposal made the knife in Lily's hand freeze.

"Is that a, date?"

"It's whatever you want to call it."

Usually, Shui would get flustered at her insinuations, but he acted mature this time, and finally kept his dignity as her master.

"Okay."

Even though she tried to hide it, he knew she was happy.

Just as Shui promised, the next day both of them were strolling around Cyrus in casual clothing. Since they already ate breakfast, Shui took her to a place that was said to satisfy all women.

"Are you sure? This is all so expensive."

"Don't worry about it. Just treat it as a couple gifts from me as thanks for all your help."

"But,"

"I said don't worry right? It's a servant's duty to accept their master's appreciation."

"I don't think I've ever heard that, but very well Master."

Although Lily always tried to keep a smile in his presence, Shui was happier when he saw her genuine joy and laughter as she went around with him. None of their worries were solved yet; they didn't even have an idea of how to do that, but that wouldn't stop them from being happy.

Despite his assurance, she avoided the expensive places and they somehow spent FIVE HOURS shopping for clothes. From places nowhere near Fairies' Wardrobe of course. And even though she also helped him find a few outfits and got the prices down, neither of them had bought much.

'Wait, is this how it's meant to happen? Seventy percent window shopping, twenty percent haggling and the rest is buying?'

Shui truly didn't understand how they spent so much time shopping and he didn't try to either. Looking at the blissful expression on her face was enough. She was in such high spirits that when she held his hand, he simply held unto hers as well. However, during this happy moment, there was someone who wasn't too happy watching them.

Cleia and Jade were also shopping in the area. Jade was reluctant since she knew who this was for, but she couldn't say no to her dear senior sister. As she watched her senior sister look at clothes while wondering if Shui would like them, she glanced at him walking hand in hand with another woman. She didn't recognize the woman, but whether she knew her or not wasn't the issue.

'I definitely can't let her see that.'

Jade quickly looked away from that scene while trying to figure out how she would hide it from Cleia's eyes, but she was too late. The moment Jade looked at them and froze, Cleia saw that she noticed something and followed her gaze. By the time Jade turned back to her, she found that Cleia was looking at them, with shock in her eyes.

"Se-se-senior sister, don't overthink it. They could just be friends or something."

Despite being the same one who wanted Cleia to get over Shui, Jade couldn't accept for her to be heartbroken. Even if it had to happen, she didn't want it to be like this.

Somewhere in her mind, Cleia saw through Jade's attempt and wanted to thank her for it, but she still couldn't tear her eyes away from that scene. Even more than Jade, as someone who always found herself thinking of him, Cleia was sure that they weren't just friends. At the very least, not like she and him were.

Her love hadn't even begun, yet it already seemed to be at the end.

"Jade, I'm feeling a little tired. Do you mind if we go back for today?"

"But, but senior sister-"

"Please."

Even though she wasn't the one who wanted to be here, Jade tried to stop Cleia from leaving, but how could she resist those eyes? There was no way she could.

"Okay."

As she walked behind Cleia who dragged herself away, Jade sent an intense glare at Shui's back.