Rui continued explaining his encounter with the Whisperer. From how he found her to his request of her, and her counter-request of him, and their tentative agreement. Then he described his meeting with the Empress and what happened.
"All in all, Empress Schlieffen was different from how the Whisperer portrayed her," Rui remarked in thought even as he gently patted Amare under the blanket, wrapping his body around hers. "She was correct in that the Empress is deeply hateful and angry with us for decentering Grinolia Island from the center of the world, which is pushing her away from neutrality. However, where she was wrong was in how irrational she thought the Empress was. The woman struck me as remarkably objective in her decision-making, detached from her emotions. I believe that if I convince her that maintaining her neutrality will be for the better for her nation, she will agree to it. And so…"
