A Peacock Husband of Five Princesses by day, a Noble Assassin by Night-Chapter 92: The Neutralizing Agent

An hour later;

Penelope stirred awake, her body still aching from the explosion. As her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the room, she became aware of a figure sitting beside her—Nadia, aka Elowyn Garfeld (Moonstone).

The older woman had a knowing smile on her face, one that made Penelope groan even before she spoke.

"Let me guess," Nadia mused, her voice light with amusement. "You added atleast a 1.18:1 ratio of water to the Thyrelm sap instead of standard 0.83:1, which diluted the mixture too much. So, to compensate, you kept increasing the temperature to evaporate the excess water."

Penelope let out a soft groan, pressing a hand to her forehead. "I was careless, Grandmaster. I thought it was too sticky. So, I added more water, only to realize I added too much."

Nadia chuckled. "Well, my dear, when Thyrelm sap is heated to its boiling point—180 degrees Celsius—it breaks down and releases pure sodium."

Penelope sighed. "Yeah, and sodium reacted with water and caused an explosion."

"Exactly." Nadia leaned back, folding her arms. "And with all that water vapor from the evaporation; it seemed like you forgot to adjust the temperature settings thereby increasing the humidity. You created the perfect storm."

Penelope felt a wave of frustration with herself. She knew it already.

"What you need is—" Nadia began, but Penelope cut her off.

"A neutralizing agent. Something that binds to the sodium before it can react with water," she muttered.

Nadia smiled approvingly. "Good. Now, do you know which reagent can do that without compromising the integrity of your potion?"

Penelope frowned, running through possibilities in her mind. There were a few candidates, but finding the right one was the real challenge.

She closed her eyes, mentally reviewing the properties of each ingredient. And then, it clicked.

"Baking soda," she said firmly. "It's stable, won't interfere with the core ingredients, and it binds with sodium to form an inert compound."

Nadia chuckled softly, her expression warm yet full of wisdom. "But it will release Hydrogen, which is flammable. The answer to your problem is the Chlorine gas."

Penelope frowned. "But Chlorine gas isn't available in the market and it is quite toxic."

To which Nadia chuckled again. "Lucky for you," she said, tilting her head slightly, "the mountains had the exact ingredient you needed."

Penelope blinked in confusion. "What is it?"

"The reagent you were searching for," Nadia explained, "was Veilroot. Like the Thyrelm sap, when it is heated to its boiling point, it releases the gas of Chlorine, and if you mix them—it releases a stable compound, sodium chloride. In other words—"

"Salt," Penelope finished, her eyes widening.

Nadia nodded. "Exactly. Instead of causing a dangerous reaction, the sodium would have simply settled at the bottom of your cauldron as a solid block. No explosion, no catastrophe—just a lesson learned the easy way instead of the hard way."

Penelope let out a deep sigh, rubbing her temples. She felt too embarrassed to make a mess after talking big with the grandmaster the other day. She couldn't even make a simple tonic properly and here she was dreaming about creating the legendary philosopher's stone.

"Thank you, Grandmaster," she said earnestly after gathering her thoughts. "I truly appreciate your guidance. And… I'm sorry about the mess I made." She hesitated, her voice dropping with guilt. "I'll reimburse you for all the damaged equipment. I promise."

Nadia waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, don't be so serious. It's fine."

Penelope frowned slightly. That was… unexpected.

But then Nadia continued, her tone casual yet firm. "In fact, you can continue using my lab rent-free for as long as you need. And don't worry about the things you destroyed."

Penelope's eyes widened. "Rent-free?" That was an incredibly generous offer. She was prepared to pay compensation amount for all that damage. But instead, the grandmaster not only forgave her but even acted quite generously. "I—I don't know what to say." She hesitated. "I appreciate the kindness, but this is… a bit much, isn't it?"

Nadia simply smiled. "Nonsense. Consider it an investment in a promising young alchemist."

Penelope felt a flicker of pride at the praise, but a lingering doubt crept into her mind. Was she really worth enough for the Grandmaster's generosity?

She glanced at Nadia, studying her carefully. The old woman's expression was calm, unreadable.

But in reality, it had nothing to do with her or the association at all.

Nadia wasn't offering Penelope favors because of her status—she was doing it because of Kael. After all, which grandmother wouldn't want an excuse to spend more time with her grandson?

"You should rest, Penelope," Nadia eventually said with a firm yet gentle tone. "I'll go with Kael and Laura to gather the Veilroot."

Penelope sat up slightly, her expression shifting to protest. "No, Grandmaster. Ugh… I can't let you do that for me. It's my responsibility. I'll go myself once I recover—"

Nadia raised a hand, cutting her off with a knowing smile. "Oh, stop that. I'm not doing this for you. I have my own reasons to go into the forest. There are a few things I need to collect anyway."

Penelope hesitated, her lips parting as if to argue further, but she stopped.

"But—"

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"And besides," Nadia continued smoothly, "without an alchemist's guidance, it will be incredibly difficult for those two to find Veilroot. Veilroot is nearly indistinguishable from ginseng. Unless you want them to come back with a bag full of useless plants, I should go with them."

That gave Penelope pause. She read about Veilroot in the books; it is just that she never worked with them before. According to the books, it was indeed a tricky ingredient to identify—only subtle differences in texture and scent separated it from common ginseng. Even a skilled herbalist could be fooled if they weren't careful.

Still, she felt uneasy about accepting the help. "I don't want to be a burden," she muttered, glancing away.

Nadia chuckled. "Oh, dear child, you overthink too much. Consider this a simple errand, not some grand favor. Now, rest and recover. We'll handle the rest."

Penelope exhaled, finally nodding. "I thank you for the help. After your return, I want to treat you all to lunch."

"Sure, I will be looking forward to it," Nadia smiled, patting Penelope's arm and got up.