Mia's eyes lit up. "But won't this cause you trouble?"
"Not at all. There are still spare rooms here. I'll tidy one up for you tomorrow."
"You're so good to me, Lucia." Mia Quinn hugged her tightly.
Lucia Lu patted her back and asked, "By the way, why were you looking for me?"
"I just got here, right? If there's a surprise exam, I'll definitely fail. So I wanted to ask you to talk to Fifth Highness for me, see if he could ask His Majesty the Celestial Emperor to let me skip it."
"You can just go ask him yourself. Why drag me into it?" Lucia laughed. "He may seem cold, but you don't look afraid of him at all."
Mia Quinn said, "If I ask, he'll never agree. If you ask, he'll say yes!"
"How does that make sense? You're new here, so skipping the exam is reasonable. He won't refuse you."
Mia Quinn said, "Why don't... we test it out?"
"How?"
"Let's go." Mia Quinn grabbed Lucia Lu and, in a flash, they arrived outside Sean Shaw's residence.
"Lucia, you hide first!" Mia Quinn said, full of excitement.
Lucia Lu, helpless, turned invisible.
So Mia Quinn knocked on Sean Shaw's door.
Sean Shaw opened the door, saw her, and frowned. "Why would a Divine Maiden come here so late?"
"Fifth Highness, I'm here to ask for your help," Mia Quinn said.
Sean Shaw replied, expressionless, "I'm busy."
Mia Quinn pouted. "I just want to ask if you could talk to His Majesty the Celestial Emperor for me. On his birthday, can I skip the exam and go straight to the Celestial Palace? I miss my Divine Mother..."
Sean Shaw said, "If I recall correctly, the Phoenix Divine Lord said you'd take care of yourself, keep up with the group, and never hold anyone back. If you ask for special treatment right after arriving, aren't you contradicting yourself?"
"Uh... but I really don't have enough time. I'll definitely fail, but I still want to see my Divine Mother..." Mia Quinn pleaded, eyes full of hope. "Fifth Highness, could you please ask His Majesty the Celestial Emperor for me?"
Sean Shaw said, "No."
Mia Quinn was so frustrated she bit her lip and sent a sound transmission to Lucia Lu: "See, Lucia? I told you he'd refuse!"
Lucia Lu: "..."
"Lucia, it's your turn to come out."
Lucia Lu appeared and walked over from around the corner.
Sean Shaw saw her, and his expression instantly softened, even carrying a hint of a smile.
"Fifth Highness," Lucia Lu greeted with a bow. "Well, Mia dragged me here, so could you help her out this once? Please?"
Sean Shaw glanced at Mia Quinn and said, "Fine, but just this once."
Mia Quinn let out a dry, sarcastic laugh. "Why is it that when I beg and plead, I get a 'no,' but Lucia just says a word and it's 'just this once'?"
Sean Shaw seemed to realize it too; his gaze flickered, and a hint of embarrassment touched his lips.
Lucia Lu suddenly felt very cheerful and smiled, "Fifth Highness, even if Mia skips this surprise exam, she'll still struggle with the next formal one. Could you tutor her?"
"I don't want him to tutor me!" Mia Quinn pouted. "Anyway, I'm moving in with Lucia, so she can just teach me more!"
"Moving in together?" Sean Shaw was surprised.
"Yep," Lucia Lu said. "She... is afraid of the dark when she's alone. So I'm letting her stay with me."
Sean Shaw was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright. Once Father's birthday is over, I'll come over at night to help her catch up on the earlier lessons."