My Anime Shopping Tree & My Cold Prodigy Wife!
Episode : 39

Chapter : 77

"Very well, Jasmin," he agreed after a moment's thought. "Your discretion is paramount, remember? What you see, what we discuss, stays between us."

"Yes, my lord! Absolutely!" she promised fervently, relief and excitement washing over her face.

"Good. Then gather more empty buckets – sturdy ones, preferably wooden – and meet me near the weeping willows by the secluded pond in one hour. We have ash to collect."

Leaving Jasmin scrambling to find suitable buckets, her mind buzzing with bewildered excitement, Lloyd headed towards the estate's numerous fireplaces. He needed ash, specifically from hardwoods like oak or maple, burned cleanly. Softwoods like pine contained too much resin, producing a weaker extract unsuitable for his purposes. He spent the next hour moving discreetly through quieter sections of the estate, collecting cooled ashes from hearths, carefully sifting out chunks of unburned wood or debris, explaining his actions vaguely as 'soil enrichment experiments' to any curious servants he encountered. It was dirty, mundane work, a far cry from commanding lightning wolves or manipulating steel, but utterly essential.

An hour later, several buckets heavy with fine, grey hardwood ash sat beside the tranquil pond. The weeping willows trailed their green tendrils in the still water, the air peaceful, disturbed only by the chirping of birds and the low murmur of Lloyd explaining the next step to a wide-eyed Jasmin.

"Now, Jasmin," Lloyd instructed, gesturing towards one of the buckets. "We need to draw out that hidden potency from this ash. Rainwater is best, but pond water will suffice." He indicated the rudimentary setup he was constructing: punching small holes in the bottom of one bucket, placing it over another empty bucket, and layering straw or small pebbles in the bottom of the top bucket to act as a filter.

"We layer the ash carefully over the filter," he demonstrated, scooping handfuls of the fine powder. "Then, we slowly pour water over it." He took a dipper of pond water and began trickling it gently onto the ash bed. "Watch closely. The water passes through the ash, dissolving something hidden within it, something powerful. This liquid that drips out," he pointed as the first cloudy, brownish drops began to seep through the drainage holes into the collection bucket, "carries that power."

Jasmin watched, fascinated, her eyes fixed on the slowly dripping liquid. It didn't look like much – just dirty water. Yet the Young Lord spoke of it with such seriousness, such caution. "This… this is the special water, my lord? The hidden fire?"

"In a weak, impure form, yes," Lloyd confirmed. "This is the essence we need. But it's not yet strong enough for our purpose. We’ll need to pass this water through the ash many times, letting it dissolve more and more of that hidden substance. Or," he added thoughtfully, "we might carefully boil some of the water away later, concentrating the potency."

He met her gaze, his expression serious. "But listen carefully, Jasmin. This liquid, even now, is not like normal water. It’s… aggressive. Caustic. It can irritate the skin, and if it were stronger, it could cause burns. Never touch it directly. Handle the buckets with care, avoid splashing. Understand?"

Jasmin nodded solemnly, her eyes wide with a newfound respect for the seemingly innocuous dripping liquid. It wasn’t just dirty water; it was something potent, something requiring caution. "Yes, my lord. I understand. Extreme care."

She watched him work, slowly, patiently adding water, monitoring the dripping liquid accumulating in the lower bucket. The process was slow, tedious.

"But why, my lord?" she finally asked, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, her voice barely above a whisper. "Why do we need this… this strong, burning water? You mentioned the fat…"

Lloyd paused, looking up from his work, meeting her curious gaze. He offered a small smile. "An excellent question, Jasmin. It comes down to transformation. A kind of alchemy, perhaps, though simpler than what the Guild masters practice."

He picked up a small twig. "Think of the fat," he drew a simple chain shape in the dirt, "like this. Long chains, greasy, content on their own, unwilling to mix with water." He then drew a small circle next to it. "And think of this special ash-water as this – energetic, eager to react, to change things."

Chapter : 78

"When we carefully combine the right amount of heated fat with the right strength of this ash-water," he drew the circle attaching to the chain, breaking it, "a wonderful reaction happens. A transformation. The ash-water breaks down the fat molecules. It rearranges them. Creates something entirely new." He smoothed the dirt. "It creates soap – special particles that have one end that loves water and another end that loves grease. That’s how soap cleans, by grabbing the grease and letting the water wash it away. And," he added significantly, "it also creates glycerin, a natural softener that makes the final product gentle, not harsh. Well, you know what it is? A simple dimple Soap."

He looked at Jasmin, gauging her understanding. Her eyes were wide, not just with confusion now, but with dawning wonder.

"You… you are making soap, my lord?" she breathed, the pieces clicking into place. The tallow, the mysterious ash-water… it was all for soap? "Not buying it, but… creating it? From ash and fat?"

"Precisely," Lloyd confirmed. "But not the harsh stuff used for scrubbing floors or tanning hides. We're aiming higher. Gentle soap. Luxurious soap. Soap fit for a Duchess… or perhaps even," he added with a wry internal smile, "an Ice Princess wife who looks perpetually displeased with the state of the world."

Jasmin stared at him, then at the slowly dripping bucket containing the potent ash-water, then back at him, awe shining in her eyes. The Young Lord wasn't just knowledgeable about court matters or fighting; he understood the hidden connections between things, the secret ways to transform simple, even dangerous, substances like ash-water and common fat into something refined, valuable, useful.

"My lord," she whispered, shaking her head slightly in disbelief. "You… you possess such incredible knowledge. About… about many thing." The praise was heartfelt, bordering on worshipful. It wasn't just about soap anymore; it was about witnessing a mind that saw possibilities where others saw only waste.

Lloyd simply smiled, turning back to the dripping bucket. Knowledge was power, yes. But right now, this slowly accumulating, potentially caustic liquid felt more immediately valuable than any bookish theory. He had the fat, he had the means to create the alkali. The soap empire, however small and rustic its beginnings, was officially under construction.

—-

The patient dripping continued, echoing softly in the quiet sanctuary by the pond. Hours passed under the dappled sunlight filtering through the weeping willow leaves. Lloyd and Jasmin worked steadily, collecting the brownish, potent liquid – the lye solution – as it slowly seeped through the beds of hardwood ash. They refilled the top buckets with fresh pond water, carefully managing the flow, their initial awkwardness replaced by a shared rhythm of focused labor. Jasmin, despite her initial bewilderment, proved a quick study, her natural dexterity translating surprisingly well from butchery knives to managing buckets and monitoring dripping rates.

Lloyd watched the accumulating liquid in the collection buckets, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Alright, Jasmin," he finally declared, straightening up and wiping a smear of grey ash from his cheek. "We have a decent volume now. But quantity isn't enough. We need the right strength."

He gestured towards the murky lye solution. "This 'hidden fire' within the ash-water… it needs to be potent enough to properly transform the fat. Too weak, and the reaction won't complete, leaving us with greasy sludge instead of soap. Too strong, and we risk having unreacted, caustic lye left in the final product, which would be harsh, even dangerous, on the skin."

Jasmin nodded solemnly, absorbing the information. "So how… how do we know if it's the right strength, my lord?" she asked, her curiosity piqued again. "It just looks like dirty water."

"Ah," Lloyd smiled, reaching into a small pouch at his belt. "For that, we rely on a simple, time-tested method. One often used by old wives and traditional soap makers." He produced his secret weapon: a fresh, ordinary chicken egg.

Jasmin blinked. "An egg, my lord?"

"Precisely," Lloyd confirmed. "Nature provides its own measuring tools, sometimes. Watch." He carefully took one of the collection buckets, swirling the brownish lye solution gently. Then, with utmost care, he slowly lowered the raw egg into the liquid.

They both watched intently. The egg sank straight to the bottom of the bucket like a stone.