It was the next day, and quite a fine one at that. A few clouds were scattered throughout the bright blue sky allowing the sun to freely rain down on the quint town of Redwood. The cool spring breeze kept the town from becoming too hot that it wasn't fun to be outside, instead it was a perfect day to go for a leisurely walk.

An older man with slicked back blonde hair and a clean shaven face sauntered up the hill towards the Bluegold residence, carrying a large basket filled with an assortment of foods. By the smell alone you'd do that whatever's in that basket was scrumptious.

While the man was older, only a few wrinkles and a hint of white in his hair gave away his age, for the most part he appeared young and healthy with an air of confidence around himself. He had tiny beads of sweat dripping down his temple since he had spent his entire morning rushing around the town square purchasing food items from specific shops in order to fill the basket.

Even though he made sure to keep fit for his age, running in the early morning still tired him plenty.

Stopping at the front door, he wiped the beads of sweat off his face and took a look over his black suit, making sure there wasn't any dirt or mud that found its way on to it. He tightened his tie, checked his hair using a pocket mirror he carried with him, and then cleared his throat.

‘I'm ready!’ he told himself.

It was a big day for Peter, and he needed to showcase his best self to the young classholder who had arrived back in town just the other day. His father had tried to convince the classholder of his generation to stay, but alas, the wider world was much more tempting for people of their caliber. Now it was his shot at securing a better fate for Redwood by getting Jane Bluegold to live here— she didn't even need to do anything, just living here made Redwood that much more.

He was a little lucky in the fact his daughter and Jane seemed to be friends— well Danielle was friends with everybody so it wasn't too much of a surprise— but it definitely helped. He discussed with Danielle the past few days trying his best to gather information on Jane; what was she like? What were her hobbies? What were her favorite foods?

Even small things like knowing someone's favorite food can help when trying to get on someone's good side— he would know best, he's mastered this art form over his twenty year time as Redwood’s mayor. That's why he filled the basket with food Jane liked, it wouldn't convince her with just that alone, but any amount helped in the grand scheme.

The one thing he needed to remember though is to not be pushy, take things one step at time and slowly by surely convince her to stay in Redwood. Listening to his daughter talk about her, she seemed the type to hate pushy people and he would hate it if he scared her off so soon.

Jane seemed like a pretty interesting woman after hearing more about her from Danielle. He knew of her beforehand, even before she was discovered as a classholder, and putting together his old memories with more detailed information from Danielle, he could tell she was a fascinating person indeed.

They met briefly when the town held a celebration for her before she left for the academy, but in all honesty, he didn't really know her that well— but hopefully that would all change starting from today.

Knock Knock Knock.

Putting on his best smile, he checked his pocket watch one last time and waited at the Bluegold’s front porch. He heard a muffled shout from inside the house and then footsteps began to approach the door. With a creak the door opened revealing the face of the person he was here for.

Jane’s tired eyes opened a little wider, surprised to see the mayor of town show up, but then she remembered Danielle telling her that he was gonna show up sooner or later.

“Morning mayor.” She greeted him from the doorway, a little uncomfortable seeing him wearing a fancy suit while she stood there barefoot in her ‘pajamas’.

“Good morning Jane, how has your last few days been? Getting used to being back home?” He energetically asked, trying his best to break the air of awkwardness.

“Feels like I never left.” She monotonously replied and stepped back, “Come on in, mayor.”

“You can just call me Peter!” He gave her a toothy grin and stepped into the Bluegold residence whilst handing Jane the large basket. “Here's a basket of some sweets and other delicious snacks for you to have, take it as a welcome home gift from the town of Redwood.”

Jane peered into the basket and saw all sorts of food she loved; there were some chocolates from Harry’s, fresh bread from Greta’s, and even a batch of exclusive meat buns from Amy’s that sold out almost immediately everyday.

‘He’s really trying his best to appease me huh.’ Jane thought to herself but after smelling the aroma coming from the basket, she knew it was working.

“Did you come to tell me about the celebration you're holding for me?” Jane put the basket down and asked him.

He shrugged with a raised hand, “You caught me red handed.”

Jane nodded, “Well Danielle told me you'd swing by soon enough and here you are— Want anything to drink?”

“Just water would be great, thanks!”

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She led the mayor further into the house and sat him down in one the comfy chairs in the living room, then slid him a glass of water over the table. Sitting opposite to him with one leg crossed over the other, she took a sip out of her own water and waited to see what he had to say.

“Lovely place, haven't been in here for quite a while.” Peter commented but seeing the blank look Jane was giving him he thought it was best if he got right to it.

“So you know about the celebration from Danielle right? I'm thinking of holding it roughly a week from now. I'll announce it to the town later this afternoon and give people some time to prepare themselves.” Peter explained and paused giving Jane time to ask anything if she wanted to, but she just nodded.

“Of course the celebration is going to be in the town square, we’ll have decorations, shops can sell their food and we'll run a host of activities for the town. The big thing that needs to be there is you!” He gestured towards her.

She paused for a second then asked, “What does that mean for me? What do I gotta do— Also, do I have to be there in the first place?”

Peter cleared his throat, “Of course it's your choice whether you want to show up at all, unfortunately the celebration is meaningless if you don't want to. That's another question I've come here to ask you— will you participate?”

Jane leaned back in the chair in thought.

Should she go? I mean there wasn't any reason not to, unless she didn't want people to know who she was and keep people from knowing about her. Except if she wanted to start her own business here using her powers, then people would find out regardless.

Really the only thing she didn't want to do is to be showcased around like some zoo animal or be made to make some sort of speech— she hated speeches.

But she had already decided she was going to participate already for many reasons; one was to not disappoint her parents, they for sure wanted to see their daughter celebrated, and another was because missing out on the fun in life was something she didn't want to do. There were a few other reasons but they didn't matter because she was already going to go.

Celebrations were a way to bring everyone in town together, get a chance to meet new people, and give young couples a chance to have a great time together. It was something great, and as a graduate of the academy, she wouldn't let speeches scare her away from having a good time.

“Sorry, that question was pointless, I already decided I was gonna come. Just don't make me do anything too embarrassing.” Saying that brought the biggest smile onto the mayor's face.

“That's great! I'm so glad you’re choosing to come!” The mayor leaned back as well, now relaxed that one his main worries was out of the way. “As for your other questions, really the only thing that I'd love to have you do is show yourself to the town, maybe give a speech or showcase your powers.”

“A speech… maybe, but I'll definitely showcase my powers— that's fun anytime.” Jane replied.

“Great great, okay I'm thinking we start the celebration with you on the stage, then you showcase your powers and whatever else you want to do, then the celebration can begin. Does that sound good to you?”

“Ya works for me.”

“Okay amazing! I'll swing by here a few days before the celebration to give you some more details.” Peter said before he heard the door to the house open and saw Jane’s parents walk in from their morning chores.

“Mr and Mrs Bluegold! How are you two doing!” He got out of the seat and gave Rosalie a friendly hug even though she was covered in dirt, and Jeff a firm handshake.

“Mayor! What are you doing here?” Rosalie asked, and looked behind him to Jane sitting on a chair.

“Just talking to your daughter, mainly about the celebration coming.” Peter smiled. “I'll release an announcement later today about it.”

“Oh yes, the celebration! Fantastic! I can't wait to see my darling girl become the star of the show!” Rosalie energetically stated, much to Jane’s slight annoyance.

“Your daughter will be amazing, I'm sure of it! She is going to bring about a world of change for Redwood if she decides to stay here.” Peter subtly brought up the topic.

“Well I sure hope she stays, but she's a grown woman now, she can choose where she wants to go with her life.” Rosalie replied.

“Of course of course, wherever she goes I bet will become a fair bit better than before.” Peter complimented her and then looked out the window seeing it was almost afternoon. “Sorry folks, I wish I could stay longer but work is calling— Oh yes Jane, I forgot there was something else I had to talk to you about but I'll leave that for the next time we meet. I'll come talk to you soon with more details about the celebration as well.”

“Alright.” She replied and watched the mayor give them one last goodbye as he left back down the hill disappearing as suddenly as he came— That's just how the mayor was.

Jane took the basket the mayor had given her to the dinner table and shared some of it with her family for lunch, saving them the effort of having to make lunch and giving them an extra delicious treat.

After she filled her belly with happiness— something she couldn't thank the mayor enough for— she left home towards a place she had not visited ever before. She lied to her parents about where she was going, she didn't want them to know just yet what she had plans of doing. The place wasn't in the town square but it was right nearby, sandwiched in between the town square and the residential district of Redwood.

The place wasn't a store— at least not in the conventional ways— but instead was partially a kingdom run building as well as a house. The place was called Evergreen’s and it was where anyone in town that wanted to purchase property went.

Property and land in any Trinium city or town was owned by the kingdom and they would hire someone to become a towns realtor who would be put in charge of managing and selling properties in their stead. Villages and small towns with less than a thousand people didn't have a realtor because their population was so small that it wasn't worth sending a realtor, but everywhere else had one.

Redwood’s realtor was a younger woman named Angeline Evergreen who had just taken over the business from her mother. Like most shops in Redwood, Angeline ran the ‘business’ on the first floor while she lived on the top floor, saving her time from commuting and tax from having multiple properties.

Being a town realtor was a blessed job. You would get a salary from the government, meaning even if no properties were sold, you would still make money, and it was a secure job since only the kingdom itself could replace you. While for the most part it was a simple job that made a lot of money, being a kingdom run job was serious and if they screwed up big time, it could mean disastrous consequences for them.

Today Jane was visiting because she wanted her own place to live in— and hopefully get Mira to live alongside her when she came to Redwood. Their plan they discussed before leaving was to hopefully find a place to live together, but there were some complications.