As Jace's spiritual intuition stirred, he woke up drowsily and sat upright.
It was dark, but he could hear footsteps in the hall that were making their way into his bedroom.
He adjusted the bathrobe on his body and blew his grogginess away.
But instead of doing anything, he just sat right there and waited for the person to come in.
From the stride of the person and his intuition, he had already figured out who it was—it was Natalie.
Besides, she was the only one who knew about this place other than Catherine, but Catherine never came here.
Thinking of the last time he met Natalie, the images of their intimate night flashed in his mind.
For the last two months they had not met.
The reason was simple: because Jace had started acting, and Natalie too had dived deeper into acting as a Conspirer.
So they didn't need or have a chance to meet, but this was going to be... awkward.
'How am I supposed to act here?' he thought.
But he believed it would be even more embarrassing for Natalie, as her demeanor that night was embarrassing for her.
But knowing her, she would likely act as if nothing ever happened and focus on the matter at hand, so he decided to do the same.
Clack.
The door opened, and Natalie walked in...
Looking at Jace, she removed her hat.
She was dressed as she usually was, with a white shirt, black slacks, and a black overcoat.
Her hair was tied back in a low bun, with a few strands framing her face.
"Hey," Jace said as he rubbed his eyes. He showed a casual front, but he was quite a bit nervous on the inside.
Natalie, meanwhile, looked around the bedroom. It was dark since it was midnight, but as a Hunter, she had no problem seeing in the dark.
The first thing she noticed was Jace, who sat on the bed with only a bathrobe. his hair seemed a little messy, likely meaning he was sleeping and just woke up due to her presence.
The second thing she noticed was that Jace was a Sequence 6, but she had expected this and wasn't really surprised about it, she was a little curious about his new powers though.
The room, however, was filled with various types of clothes—for men, women, and even uniforms.
Other than that, the one thing she found peculiar was the fact that every set of clothes smelled different as if worn by different people.
... but there was a faintly similar scent on all the clothes.
As a Hunter, every one of her senses was enhanced, so her sense of smell was superhuman.
Natalie knew Jace's abilities of Sequence 7, as she had worked with him many times before, but his Sequence 6 powers were a mystery to her.
As she looked around, she had a faint idea as to what one of them might be, because the faint scent that was on all of the clothes was similar to that of Jace's.
But it was still quite bizarre to even think about.
Nonetheless, "Hm," she nodded to Jace's greeting and sat on a wooden chair that was before the bed.
"You are a hard man to find, Jace," she said, looking at him.
Jace smiled. "As you can see, I've been busy," he said as he gestured towards the clothes in the room.
Natalie didn't say anything and just looked at him for a moment. Jace was sitting on the bed with only his bathrobe, and it was slightly loose around his chest, which allowed her to see a fair bit of his neck.
She recalled their intimate night that they were both pretending never happened.
Her mind was snapped back to reality when Jace noticed her staring at his neck, and he stood up, adjusting his robe around his collar.
"I'll... freshen up a little. Why don't you wait in the living room? I'll be back in a minute," Jace said awkwardly as he walked to the bathroom.
"Ah, yes," Natalie replied as she got up and walked into the living room. She couldn't believe she was just staring at him.
Sitting on the couch, she poured herself a glass of water.
—
'Why the fuck was she looking at me like that?!' Jace thought as he washed his face and dressed up in a casual shirt and pants.
'Could it be she wants some more of me?' he wondered as he looked at himself in the mirror while stretching his finger across his jaw line with a smile.
Haaa. He sighed and shook his head at his narcissism, then walked out of the bathroom.
He made tea for both of them, which was weird considering the fact that it was 3:00 AM, but Natalie didn't say no, so he made it anyways for both of them.
In the living room, after serving the tea he sat on a single-seater opposite of Natalie.
Jace took a sip of the steaming tea. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Nat?" Jace asked casually with a smile.
Natalie, being Natalie, didn't beat around the bush. "I want the formula for Sequence 5 of my pathway," she said while setting her cup down on the table before her.
'Mm?' Jace was caught off guard a little. According to him, it had been only a little more than three months since she became a Sequence 6. It should still take a few more months to digest the potion.
As if sensing his thoughts, Natalie said, "I heard that advancing to Sequence 5 requires completing a ritual, so I just want to be prepared."
"Ah, yes," Jace nodded in understanding.
"How is your acting going?" he asked.
Natalie then explained how she had been acting and conspiring against people, which included bringing down local gangs, exposing the corruption of nobles and police officers, and whatnot.
Jace agreed with her methods as they were smart and effective. 'As expected of a Conspirer' he thought.
"What about Sarah? Did she advance to Sequence 6?" he asked.
About two weeks ago, Natalie had asked Catherine to contact him and get the Sequence 6 formula of Telepathist from him for sarah, which he had given gladly for money.
"Yes, about two days ago she advanced successfully," Natalie said.
Jace gave a genuine smile. "Oh, that's great," he said out loud to Natalie.
But inwardly, he screamed.
'Oh crap! This can't be good for me!'