The feast of the banquet was quite tasty.

Alex was served a platter of whole-wheat flatbread that they referred to as Chapati.

Biting into the bread, Alex was astounded by the taste.

'It's chewy and has the right amount of fat...' Alex savored the Chapati alone but Ashoka whispered to him, "The Chapati also goes great with the side dishes."

Alex rubbed his head in embarrassment and Hermes laughed at him.

There were, in fact, many side dishes presented upon the table.

A lot of the people seemed to be vegetarians, so there were very few meat dishes, and the monks didn't eat too much either way.

Alex served upon his Chapati a cheesy stew that he didn't recognize.

As he tasted it, he was surprised at the taste.

It was a tomato puree that was entirely coated with this extremely rich and salty cheese. It tasted fresh and at the same time quite rich.

"Ashoka, what's this cheese?" Alex inquired, and he decided to drop the formalities.

Ashoka seemed pleased by his colloquial speech, and he rubbed his mustache and replied, "Paneer, it's one of the great points of pride of our lands. The farmers do an excellent job at making it."

Alex thanked him for the information and moved on to another side dish.

The Chapati went well with every dish, but Alex particularly liked an eggplant and tomato spiced puree.

There were still flavorful chunks and the texture was just about right.

"Ashoka, I've got to say, I'm definitely going to learn a thing or two from your chefs..." Good food could bring even the strongest god to his knees, and Alex was tamed by this feast.

Ashoka laughed loudly and seemed happy and he said, "I think I'll get the same reaction when I eat some of your local delicacies."

Alex laughed off with Ashoka for a bit and the two felt like they were close friends.

Hermes commented, "You two instantly hit it off, making me feel like an outcast right here, Alexei-boy...?"

Ashoka seemed to get a sudden insight and clapped his hand, attracting the attention of the banquet-goers.

He stood up and said, "Our two guests right here should have a lot of stories on the mysterious western lands, would you like to share any?"

Hermes volunteered and coughed, and then recounted a famous festival back in Greece and Italy.

"The Saturnalia or Kronia is a festival dedicated to the worship of the Father of the Olympians, the Titan Cronus, and is held in...."

"During the Saturnalia, people eat good food, have fun and spend a lot of money..." historical

The story was interesting, and even Alex listened attentively.

Following that, the banquet was soon over, and Hermes told him, "I'm going to look around the city, alright?"

"Go on, but don't splurge on tea, you know we didn't bring a lot of currency...."

"Well, don't cause any trouble," Hermes winked at him.

'Am I that untrustworthy...?' Alex glared at the former.

Hermes proceeded to leave the palace and Alex left the banquet hall.

Upon entering the corridor, he perceived that there were many Brahmins who were discussing amongst each other. When they detected him, they quieted down, but they didn't realize that Alex had an incredible hearing and could still hear everything.

"Ashoka expressed his preference for Aarush and Ranya of the Madurai and Varanasi Brahmins respectively, what shall we do?"

"We have to be less gentle in our approach, send your son to the training temple in Tamil Eelam, I'll send our daughter to the colossal Himalayas for training."

"We don't have a lot of time..."

Alex unintentionally, or intentionally eavesdropped and understood the situation from the banquet.

It seemed there was some internal conflict about the inheritor to the empire.

'Imperial court drama is always ruthless, I hope Ashoka can mediate through this.' Alex remarked to himself.

Speaking of the Emperor, he seemed to be in an important discussion with the monks inside of the banquet hall, therefore, Alex decided to find a way out.

'Wait, is there any possibility Aadityapal is still here?'

Alex traced back his steps to find the courtyard where the latter was training and after a few failed detours, he finally found it.

Fortunately, the prince, in question, was still there.

He was still training with a sword, and his skin glistened from sweat under the setting sun.

Alex found a way into the courtyard and he felt the prince's gaze rest on him.

"Do we know each other?" The prince asked him, though he was still concentrated on the sword.

"I'm pretty sure we met back in Olep, though you seem very different."

Suddenly, the prince collapsed and started breathing heavily.

It looked like he overworked himself.

Alex helped him up and Aadityapal said, "Thank you, also, I'm sorry about my behavior back then."

'He's so different...' Alex couldn't imagine the arrogant prince from a year earlier apologizing.

"It's fine."

"Where is...-

"Bodhisattva Padmapani? He's back at his temple in Nepal, though it seems you left a big impression on him since he always speaks of you to Father."

'Oh...'

"And you? How are you going on with life?" Alex thought this was a pleasant discussion.

It reminded him of the time he met an acquaintance he didn't like from high school after graduation and found out that they've grown a lot, and they had a nostalgic and hilarious conversation afterward.

Aadityapal frowned and replied, "Terrible, haven't you heard of the news?"

"What news?"

"Father is abdicating, and Ranya and Aarush are the most prominent candidates for the throne."

He was speaking anxiously, and he continued, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE REST OF US IF THEY GET THE THRONE?!"

Alex listened attentively.

The prince sighed and said, "If Ranya gets the throne, we will be exiled to Buddhist temples in remote mountains."

He made a short pause, and then continued, "If Aarush gets the throne, well, we'll all die in mysterious circumstances."

Alex gulped and realized that the acquaintance of his was in an urgent situation.

"And, what makes it so that they will get the throne?" Alex wanted to know why Ranya and Aarush were particularly favored.

"Ranya is under the training of the sun god Indra and will likely inherit his Vajra, while Aarush is training under the moon god Chandra, none of us can compare."

"Wait, did you come to Olympus to prove yourself?"

Aadityapal laughed self-depreciatingly and nodded, "I even failed at that..."