Five.

My Heavenly Emperor Grandfather had me sit next to him and talk with him for a while before I was able to go back to my own seat. I ate passively as I talked with Tyrian. He was just glad that we made it through the performance without any problems. Honestly, I was too. The performance had been stressing me out and now it was finally over. Someone I didn't recognize approached our table before bowing. The guy was decent looking. He had very pointed eyes, light-colored hair, and amber, almost orange, eyes.

"Greetings to Prince Tyrian and Princess Amethyst. I'm Elzen. Little prince of the Fox Clan," he introduced himself. I found myself giggling. I never heard anyone refer to themselves as "little" anything. Especially a man as old as he looked. He looked around my age or younger even.

"Fox Clan? Fox Clan Leader Enya is your mother?" Tyrian asked. He nodded before his eyes landed on me.

"Your dance was beautiful, Princess Amethyst," he complimented me. I smiled politely, but I was honestly ready for him to walk away already. I hated keeping up the pretense of the daughter of the Crown Prince of Heaven.

"Thank you," I responded. I excused myself before going to find Floral Goddess Peony. I would've rather been in her company than dealing with everyone else. I followed her around the party as Heavenly Emperor finally retired away for the evening. I was getting tired myself. I saw my father off to the side and went to ask him if we could leave.

"Please allow me to court your daughter," someone bowed to him. I froze before peeking to try to see who it was. As far as I knew, I didn't get along in a friendly manner with anyone else here, so this was coming as a surprise. When the guy lifted his head, I saw it was Elzen, the little fox prince from earlier.

The nerve.

My father hesitated before he sighed.

"Amethyst... she's not ready to date yet. And I'm sure your mother would have her own ideas about you dating Crown Princess Aivi's daughter. Even still, my daughter needs to focus on cultivating right now," my father gave excuses for me. I let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he wasn't ready to marry me off yet. But he was right, I needed to cultivate more, and maybe cultivating properly would keep me from being perused too early. I was this old already but I still felt like a child sometimes because of my weak cultivation and poweress. I felt like I couldn't do anything for my own. I took a step back and snuck away. I went to find my mother standing with Tyrian and my Second Uncle.

"Little Amie," my Second Uncle Tase smiled at me as his wife stood beside him. I found myself smiling back at him.

"Uncle Tase!" I greeted him with a quick curtsy. He chuckled before pinching my cheek gently.

"You're so much like your mother; such a free spirit," he joked. My mother pushed his shoulder gently.

"Can we find father and leave soon?" I asked my mother. She nodded with a small smile as she touched my cheek gently.

"It is about time to go," she agreed. We went and rounded up my father before saying goodbye to everyone and heading home. I sighed as I watched everyone sit in the dining hall. I stood nervously as I prepared myself for what I was going to say next. The festival and Elzen made me realize that I was practically powerless right now. I didn't want to feel so out of control anymore.

"Father, I want to go study at Heavenly Cloud Cultivating Academy," I announced. My family all stopped to look at me. My father actually looked a little proud while my mother just looked worried. Tyrian looked confused.

"I think that's a great idea. Amie, you're finally starting to get serious," my father responded.

"Well if you're going, it only makes sense for me to go with you," Tyrian sighed like an old man before he sipped his tea. My mother set her cup down before she walked past me, grabbing my wrist and dragging me along with her. I followed as she pulled me into my own room and closed the door behind us.

"Mother," I said confused.

"What happened?" She asked knowingly. I felt my cheeks blush, feeling caught.

"What do you mean?" I tried to feign ignorance. My mother sighed as she shook her head.

"You're just like me, Amie. I know you better than you think I do. You want to go to Heavenly Cloud to run away from something, meaning something happened. What happened?" My mother asked again. I sighed before sitting on the edge of my bed.

"The little fox prince... Elzen. He asked father permission to court me. I don't want to date anyone. I don't want to be married off, but most importantly, I don't want to be helpless and powerless," I spilled. My mother relaxed a bit as she nodded in understanding.

"Fox Clan Princess Enya's son?" She asked. I nodded.

"Okay... it would be best to go to Heavenly Cloud then. You can learn a lot there. You might even rank up in cultivation. If you can, try to stay away from anyone from the Fox Clan. Enya and I don't have a good history, and I don't doubt that she'll take an opportunity to take her anger out on my daughter," my mother advised.

"Do you think I'll be able to cultivate well. It's no secret that I'm the weakest one in our family," I said, slightly ashamed. My mother shook her head as she came to sit next to me.

"You're not weak, Amie, you just like to play. You can't call yourself weak if you've never cultivated properly. Plus, Heavenly Cloud has a test in order to get in that reads your potiential. It'll tell you clearly whether or not your weak," my mother assured me. I actually felt a little better getting caught by my mother. At least I could talk to someone about how I truly felt.