Four.

"No, make your hands softer, but your movements bigger," my mother instructed me in the courtyard. I decided to do a dance for the festival instead of playing the zither. Well, it was more like I had to dance because Tyrian decided he was going to play the zither for my dance. My mother was going to instruct me herself. She spent the first week teaching me how to cultivate enough for some of the tricks that were going to be in the dance. It was nothing too complicated, just making it rain down flower petals, but it still consumed a good amount of internal energy with the surface area I had to cover with the petals. She was finally teaching me the dance and Tyrian practiced the song off to the side.

I'd only learned a quarter of the dance and I was already out of breath. This wasn't easy. I didn't see how my mother did it all the time when she was younger. My mother's skills for dancing was known throughout the Heavenly Realm as graceful and flawless. I knew my skills would never be to her level, but for now, I was just trying to get my father off of my back. I sighed before sitting at the table under the pavilion to sip tea as I took a break as my mother laughed at me.

"Amie, the dance is almost halfway finished," my mother tried to assure me. I was having a hard time remembering why I agreed to this in the first place.

"Why do the girls always have to go through ridiculous rites to prove that we're worthy to exist in this society?" I asked as I poured myself a cup of tea. I turned over another cup before pouring tea for my mother. She smiled before sitting next to me.

"It's tedious at first, but once you prove yourself a bit, this society is more inclined to provide you with more freedoms. That's how it was for me," my mother recalled with a small smile. I huffed out a breath as I shook my head.

"It's so dumb," I muttered under my breath. My mother chuckled before placing a hand on the back of my head.

"This is only the first step. I promise things will get easier for you after this. You are of age to start thinking about getting married, but your cultivation is still not strong enough to protect yourself. I just want you to be safe," she assured me. I sighed before standing suddenly.

"Let's get this over with," I said with a new dreaded determination. I spent the rest of the week finishing the dance and cultivating. My mother wanted me to do a trick at the end of the dance where I would make flower petals rain down but my poweress was still too low. I had to cultivate to make it look more impressive. My father even had a new lilac dress made for me. I had my signature color in shades of purple like my mother had hers in shades of pink. It was the most flattering on me and matched my eye color.

The day of the festival, I bathed in flower petals and had my hair washed and styled in a way that had the top half styled away from my face and the bottom half of my light brown hair hung down to my waist. The lilac dress had sheer sleeves that was more in the style of the Floral Island while the rest of the dress was more traditional to the Heavenly Palace culture. The dress flattered me and had a bit of sparkle that I liked.

After we arrived at the main dining hall of the Heavenly Palace, we were immediately stopped on multiple occasions as other immortals came to greet my father and the rest of us. I kept a polite smile on my face as I curtsied in greeting the the various immortals. It was a nuisance, honestly. I found myself getting bored of the preface of the Heavenly society, but to be fair, I always hated it. I knew I was going to have to keep my mouth shut, smile, and curtsy for most of the night. It was tedious and bothersome. We slowly made our way to our table closest to the Heavenly Emperor's table. I sat off to the side of my parents with Tyrian. I sighed as I popped a grape into my mouth.

"Amie! You can't eat yet," Tyrian hissed at me. I sighed before grabbing the flask of wine. Tyrian clicked his tongue at me before taking it from me and setting it on the table beside him.

"Do you really want to get drunk before you dance?" He asked me lowly. I smiled slightly and pat his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Ty. I won't embarrass you today," I assured him.

"Heavenly Emperor arrives!" A loud voice announced. We all stood and bowed in the direction of his table. The Heavenly Emperor was my actually my grandfather. He doted a lot on my mother when she was younger and now he doted on me. When we did visit him, he was always happy to see us.

"Greetings Heavenly Emperor," the entire room said simultaneously.

"Everyone! Thank you for coming. We're going to start the evening off with a performance from Crown Prince Yong's children: Tyrian and Amethyst," Heavenly Emperor announced. Tyrian and I stood before bowing to our grandfather. I smiled softly at him before I went to stand in the middle of the now empty floor. I curtsied before getting into position. Tyrian nodded to me before he started plucking at the strings of the zither. I started the dance and tried to remember all the tips my mother gave me. I tried to keep my hands soft and my shoulders relaxed. I spun around the floor and went through the steps, trying to keep my eyes off of the floor. I tried to keep eye contact with the immortals in the room. Towards the end of the dance, I summoned my internal energy and magic and did the trick with the flower petals as I finished. I was slightly out of breath, but I tried to make it seem like the dance was effortless. Tyrian came to stand next to me before we bowed to the sound of applause.

"Good! Very good! Amethyst, come here," my grandfather said excited. He glanced around the room before smiling again.

"Everyone, eat, enjoy!" Heavenly Emperor released everyone to their dinner.