When Leo went to the princess that afternoon to bring her the tea and desserts he had been cooking for hours, he was more tired than before, but also determined.

Because he couldn't wait to let the princess, his only ally in there, taste his delicacies prepared with care.

Several cookies of various shapes and designs, two different types of muffins that had used the same dough base, and a giant strawberry cake full of cream and super soft.

He doubted that the princess would eat all of that alone, but he really wanted to offer her as much as he could, even though he was really exhausted from what he had cooked.

So exhausted that he didn't even think about knocking before entering the library, where he had been told the princess used to take tea.

“Willy Wonka has arrived!” He announced his presence without paying attention to what he was saying for a moment, and entered quietly with the tray overflowing with stuff.

“What?” an extremely offended male voice greeted him.

A voice that clearly did not belong to the princess.

And in fact, Leo had interrupted what clearly seemed like a lesson between the princess and Persian of Lumai.

SO LUCKY!

“Oh, forgive me. I came to bring afternoon tea” he changed his attitude hoping to make a good impression.

“Yay! Finally! Those sweets look amazing!” Opal jumped up, eyes shining, and immediately walked over to Leo ready to eat.

“Wait a moment, princess! We have to finish the lesson, and the taster must taste before offering his sweets” the teacher, however, called her to order in an authoritative tone, eyeing Leo with suspicion.

Leo avoided objecting, because he necessarily had to bring Persian to his side, so he just gave the princess an apologetic smile and kept quiet.

“But Percy! I'm hungry! Can't we resume after tea time?” the princess sat down again, but pouted, and Leo considered which side to take. Persian could give him information, but the princess was the only thing that was keeping him there, so it was much better to keep her on his side.

“The cookies are still warm. Better not let them cool down” he tried to suggest, pointing to the sweets.

Only after speaking, he realized that the best choice would have been to remain silent. But Leo was physically unable to remain silent for long.

The princess's smile widened.

“Exactly, Percy! Better not let them cool down!” she stood up again, ready to eat.

“No, we have to finish the lesson on deities. And you, go out and don't meddle” although Persian's words were authoritative, his lips trembled a little. It was clear that he wasn't very used to being stiff and cold.

“Well... you could make a flash quiz” Leo tried to suggest, absently, discreetly observing the library and noting several interesting books: "World maps", "The long and precise history of the seven kingdoms" (there were seven huge volumes), "Uses and customs of ... * insert city *" (there was a volume for each kingdom). They looked like books placed there just for him to read and give him a hand.

Sure, if he could read them without being caught.

“A... what?!” Persian asked, observing him with extreme confusion, and adjusting his glasses on his face.

“What is a flash quiz?” the princess joined, tilting her head but looking interested.

“I mean like, I don't know, ask some quick questions and if the princess gets them right, tea time is right away, otherwise the lesson continues... or something. It's also a refresher, isn't it?” maybe Leo was too tired to think clearly, but it seemed like a good idea. And the cookies were really cooling, and the cream on the cake was melting.

“Oh… well…” Persian seemed pleasantly surprised, but also troubled.

“Yes! Good idea! You are also a genius other than a great cook! I'm ready, Percy!” the princess clapped her hands enthusiastically.

“Okay, okay. It seems… reasonable. But you get out!” Persian yielded to the princess's requests, but ordered Leo to go away, to keep his promise to the prince.

But Leo wanted to listen to the flash quiz, hoping to get new information, so he eyed the table on the balcony outside the library.

“Shouldn’t I start setting the table for the princess?” he proposed, pointing at that.

“It seems more than fair to me” Opal gave him the green light, and Persian didn't have enough power to object.

Leo was walking out of the room after all, and it was unlikely he could hear from outside, right?

Persian had definitely underestimated Leo's hearing.

“Perfect, then I'm going” the boy started to push the cart, but he crashed into a shelf, and dropped several books.

“Be careful!” Persian reprimanded him, approaching to see the damage.

“Forgive me, I'm still new here and I haven’t slept much, but I'll put everything in place!” Leo, mortified, began to collect the books.

“In the meantime, let's start, Percy, let's not waste time!” the princess encouraged him.

Persian hesitated a few moments, but finally gave in, and the quiz began.

“Okay, who are the seven gods? Main names and characteristics” he started with a simple question.

Leo finished tidying up, and started walking out to the balcony, feigning disinterest in the situation, but actually with pricked ears ready to assimilate even the smallest information.

“Jahlee, the god of gems, of the underground and the coolest of all! Then there is Veer, the god of fire and metal. Laasya, the goddess of light and foresight. Kalea, the goddess of water, and underwater nature., I would like a lot to go to Katrang…” the princess began to respond with extreme confidence. It was a gold mine of information.

“…then there is Flora, the goddess of flowers and the earth; Omish, the god of death and darkness, and finally Noella, the goddess of ice, snow, and protector of the north” she concluded the answer when Leo exited to the balcony.

He could still hear everything, albeit with less clarity. One thing was certain, it looked like Game of Thrones.

There was also the protector of the north.

Although, honestly, with the god of death and the goddess of foresight, Leo didn't understand how Jahlee could be considered the coolest of them all.

No offense to the deity in question.

“You have grasped the main points. What is the hierarchy of the temple?” Persian continued, with a somewhat more difficult question in the belief that Leo was now out of earshot.

To seem even more distracted, Leo started whistling a bit to himself.

But he listened to every word.

“So... deities, eventual demigods, then the high priests, senior practitioners and newbies”

“You forgot a role” Persian pointed out.

“Right! But there hasn’t been a saint in centuries, they are not valid. However, they would be between the gods and demigods” the princess promptly replied.

“Third question... what is a divine blessing?” Persian continued the interrogation.

“It is a blessing that a deity can assign to a human being in case he stands out for some reason. But he can't give them to anyone. There are rules”

“Exactly. What kind of blessings, how are they recognized and what rules?” Persian continued, completely forgetting that Leo was just out of sight but not hearing.

And honestly, Leo couldn't do much with that information.

He would have preferred to know more about the world, not about the gods.

And he highly doubted that any deity would want to give him a blessing, given how much a walking disaster he was.

Besides being an outsider in that world, let's not forget it.

“There are so many types! There are blessings of protection, blessings that grant particular abilities, the mildest ones can last forever, the most important ones, which save a person’s life or confer magical powers, have a limited duration or a maximum number of uses, which is usually the magical number seven. The blessing can be recognized on someone only when it is in use, because it emits an aura of the color of god. And... in the case of a skill, their eyes become the color of the deity who gave the blessing!” explained the princess with confidence.

“I see that you are really prepared. Okay, the last question: how can you contact a deity?” Persian surrendered to the evidence that the princess would interrupt the lesson early, and asked a rather simple question.

“They can only be contacted in the temple, through high priests or demigods. They can only manifest themselves bodily during the full moon, but they practically never do so, and they cannot act directly in the affairs of humans, but they offer us their wisdom with decrees and suggestions, sporadically” replied Opal, a little uncertain.

“This chapter requires revision, but basically you answered well. You can go out on the terrace for tea time” Persian sighed and noisily closed the book, before dismissing the princess.