In the afternoon Jace got out of the hotel and decided to buy some presents.
Since this area bordered the North Borough, which was significantly better than Cherwood, it was a place for upper-middle-class or rich people.
So Jace was positive he would find something good out there.
After roaming the streets here, Jace once again confirmed that this place was indeed better than Cherwood.
For Janet—Jane's little sister who was somewhat of an artist—Jace bought some stationaries for studying and art.
He believed Janet would like this, as he knew her well enough.
For Jane, he bought a pendant watch that ladies use; it was silver and had small but intricate, simple patterns.
With a long and adjustable silver chain, the chain could also be detached and the watch could be used as a brooch.
It cost a pretty penny, but it was a good one.
Along with that, he also bought her a perfume with a fresh floral scent.
Jace kept walking around looking for something to buy; it was a good experience buying things that you like.
But he knew that this is exactly how people become shopaholics, so he decided to buy only one thing and go to his hotel room.
As for what that one thing was, it was sweets.
Jace had been craving chocolate ever since he got here.
It took him a while to find a shop which sold chocolate; he first checked out three stores, but he didn't find any chocolate.
He did find caramel, but he never much liked it.
So he went a little deep and finally found it; he walked into the shop and came out with a smile and a box in his hand.
Chocolate would likely not be found in any other middle-class areas; only in North Borough, Hillston Borough, and West Borough could it be found.
Of course, Empress Borough was a given.
The box of chocolates cost him 5 pounds, which was quite a lot. But he had more than enough money.
After that he went to his hotel room, where he practiced more of his powers, then took a nice and long bath, then he went to sleep.
The next day, after Jace had his breakfast, he decided it was time to go home.
He checked out and hired a carriage straight to Cherwood.
——
After a carriage ride of about an hour, Jace was there, in the Crimson Lane.
He made his way to his apartment; on the way, he performed a coin toss divination.
Opening his door with a key, he entered the apartment.
The apartment was well-kept even after more than a month's absence, which made sense because Jane or Janet likely came here quite often.
Especially Janet; since Jace was gone, she likely put her hand on his study station in his bedroom.
He dropped his bag in the corner and removed his coat and hat and hanged them; with that, he walked to his bedroom to confirm the divination he had made.
Since Jane would likely be at her work and wouldn't come back for the next three days, there was only one person who would be in his room.
He opened the already half-open door to his bedroom and looked around in the room, and there he found her.
Janet had her head rested on the desk on her books; she was sleeping. Jace walked closer and looked at her.
'Oh, she's drooling.'
He looked around his bedroom and found some of her things; the bedroom itself smelled like the two sisters.
Jane's apartment was a single-bed apartment similar to his, but the three sisters lived there together, so they didn't exactly have privacy.
But things got better for them when the older sister, Jenna, moved out three years ago and started working full-time.
The whole household was only of 3 sisters; two of them worked while the youngest sister studied.
Sigh. 'So much for my room.'
He knocked his knuckle on the desk to wake up the drooling girl.
*Tok, tok.*
Janet was startled and instantly jolted up in the chair, and looked around hurriedly.
"Hu—aha!" she made a weird sound.
Looking to her left, she found that besides her stood someone.
Startled, she pushed away the chair and stepped back from Jace. Then she finally looked at the man's face, only to find out that it was Jace.
"Jace!—haa." Saying his name, she sighed a sigh of relief.
She brought her hand to her chest and took a breath to calm herself.
"It's just you, Jace. You startled me; I thought it was a burglar!"
Jace raised his eyebrow. "A burglar in broad daylight?"
"Well, what was I supposed to think?!" Janet replied quickly as she glared at Jace.
Jace once again looked at her. Janet was wearing a simple white sleeping gown; her face, which had similar but younger features like Jane, was slightly withered.
Her hair was haggard, she had dark circles around her eyes, and drool at the corner of her face.
Jace smiled and looked around the room. He saw a small mirror which he picked up; he then turned to Janet, who was still processing the situation.
He bowed to her and offered her the mirror with elegance.
"Oh! How beautiful you look, my beloved princess. I wish for nothing more than to capture your beautiful appearance so I could forever cherish it!" Jace said with an overly dramatic voice and flare.
Janet had a confused expression on her face. She hesitantly took the mirror from his hand and brought it before her face.
Her eyes widened looking at her current appearance.
She let out a startled yelp and ran out of the bedroom, likely to the bathroom to fix her appearance.
Meanwhile Jace smiled and walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where he started preparing tea.
When Janet finally came out of the bathroom, Jace was sitting on the sofa sipping tea.
Janet had washed her face and fixed her gown, hair, and her manners as she walked into the living room like everything was fine.
Her eyes still had dark circles around; she likely stayed up all night studying.
Walking towards him, she sat on the sofa besides him, picking up the tea Jace had already prepared for her.
She took a sip and nodded in appreciation of the good tea.
Looking sideways at Jace, Janet asked, "Where were you?" Her voice was a little stern.
Jace replied without looking at her, "I wasn't far away. I was right here, learning and doing some things—"
"Jane was worried!" Janet cut through. She sounded angry.
She looked at Jace. "You just left without saying anything."
Jace looked at her with a small, apologetic smile. "I said to her that I would be gone for a few weeks. When my stay there extended, I even wrote her a letter," he said with a soft voice.
Janet scoffed. "A letter that said, 'I'm still alive, it will take a few more weeks to come back.' And where did you even go, and what do you mean by 'learning and doing some things'?" she asked sarcastically.
Jace sat there for a moment without saying anything. He put down his tea and leaned to the left side of the sofa behind the armrest and pulled out some boxes in his arms.
He showed them towards Janet and said with a smile, "I come bearing gifts."
Janet's eyes instantly lit up as she recognized the boxes. They were the high-quality stationary she had dreamed about getting: multiple shades of pencils and advanced geometric measurement instruments.