I’ll Die to Prove It

"Go. Don't come back to the Palace Guard Barracks!" That was the Celestial Emperor's voice.

"Father Emperor, not only did you hit me, now you want to send me away? All for a Spirit Beast?" That was Princess Quinn Xiao's voice.

"Is that just any Spirit Beast? That's Senior Azure Flame!" said the Celestial Emperor.

"So what if it's Azure Flame? She may have served the Holy Lord, but the Holy Lord's been dead for over a hundred thousand years! You're the Celestial Emperor now! Why would you send me away just because of something a Spirit Beast said?"

The Celestial Emperor took a deep breath and said, "Quinn, as a member of the imperial clan, how do we endure through the ages?"

Quinn Xiao said, "Endure through the ages? Just be strong enough! If you're weak, you'll get beaten up!"

"That's not wrong. But our Divine Dragon Clan has ruled the Three Realms for so long not just because of strength, but because of winning the hearts of the people! It's not just about power—virtue matters even more!"

"Why are you telling me all this? I'm just a girl, I can't be Crown Prince!" Quinn Xiao said impatiently.

The Celestial Emperor said earnestly, "Ever since your grandfather took the throne, Azure Flame, Bones, Noctis—all those old subordinates of Emperor Ray Quinn—have left one by one.

To the outside world, it looks like we drove them away!

Our Divine Dragon Clan's credibility just keeps sinking lower and lower!

Now that Senior Azure Flame has finally come back, you actually told her to get lost?

Do you realize how much public outrage that's going to cause?

Quinn Xiao: "Then why did she even come back? She left for tens of thousands of years—what's she doing here now?"

"Enough!" The Celestial Emperor took a deep breath. "Forget it, there's no point explaining it to you. Go home. And stop coming to the Palace Guard Barracks."

"No!" Quinn's voice trembled with tears. "I want to stay with Darren Xuan!"

"Then take him with you and leave!" the Celestial Emperor snapped, his patience gone.

"Father! Am I even your real daughter?" Quinn broke down, sobbing. "Is Sean Shaw the only one you care about? Are the rest of us just extras? You treat those three from the Lu Clan better than me and Fourth Brother!"

The Celestial Emperor: "What nonsense are you talking about now?"

Quinn didn't answer. After a moment, the voice of the Celestial Empress came through: "Quinn, what's going on?"

"Mother." Quinn answered the Messenger Charm. "Father hit me today and wants to send me away... Waaaah!"

The Celestial Empress's fury flared instantly: "Celestial Emperor! What are you doing? You keep kicking your own daughter out—aren't you ashamed?"

"Empress," the Celestial Emperor tried to explain. "She—"

"I don't care what the reason is—no!" the Empress snapped. "If you treat Quinn like this, I'll die just to show you!"

The Messenger Charm call ended abruptly.

Quinn was still crying.

The Celestial Emperor took a long, heavy breath. After a while, he said in a muffled voice, "Fine. Just go home for now."

Quinn ran out, still sobbing.

Lucy Luan sighed and sent a voice transmission to Sean: "I'm heading out too."

"Weren't you here to see my father?" Sean asked.

"No need now," Lucy replied.

Sean got the message. "You go ahead! I still have things to discuss with him."

Lucy nodded.

She turned and left, but soon spotted Azure Flame nearby.

"Senior Azure Flame." Lucy greeted her respectfully. "Are you waiting for Fifth Highness?"

"Yes," Azure Flame nodded. "He seems to have important business with the Celestial Emperor—not something I should overhear."

Lucy nodded, then asked, "Senior Azure Flame, back then, why did you and Bones leave Drake Abyss for the lower realms?"

"Why else? New emperor, new courtiers!" Azure Flame replied. "The Gatekeeper, Emperor Evan Xiao, Emperor Ray Quinn—they all had sky-high prestige. Even we, their followers, got swept up in it. But no ruler likes having powerful old-timers hanging around, so we left."