Ambrose chatted with Sares through the entire night. Only when the old druid was so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open did Ambrose let him return to sleep. By then, dawn was already breaking.0

The night of idle conversation had not only helped Ambrose avoid that mysterious dark force but also yielded a number of useful details about the dream immersion ritual.0

At this point, he was almost certain that the Dreamveil Barrier and the dream immersion ritual were essentially the same thing—more precisely, two variations of the same magical system, with certain effects modified.0

However, he still hadn't managed to learn the prayer required to enter the natural dreamscape. He had not dared to push too deliberately, lest he arouse Sares' suspicion.0

Word arrived from the Emerald Council: an elder druid would personally come to discuss potential cooperation between the two nations. Ariel was delighted upon hearing the news. Finally, real negotiations with the druids!0

Ambrose, on the other hand, sighed. "Don't get your hopes up. They clearly don't intend to negotiate seriously."0

Ariel blinked. "Why would you say that? They're sending someone to talk, aren't they?"0

"We represent the Ragetide Kingdom. You're a princess, the heir to the throne. The fact that they're sending only one druid to meet us, instead of inviting us to the Emerald Tower to speak before the full Council, is already a significant slight."0

Ariel still lacked experience. Unlike Ambrose, who had centuries of political instinct, she couldn't read their attitude from such circumstantial details. The friction between the Ragetide Kingdom and the Emerald Dreamwood was evidently worse than Ambrose had anticipated. Despite arriving with full ceremony, they weren't even able to secure a proper diplomatic reception.0

Still, Ambrose didn't particularly care. The alliance had only ever been a convenient pretext. Whether the talks succeeded or failed made little difference...0