Adriana chuckled with her melodious voice falling like flower petals.
She was amused at Tang Yue's earnestness and warmly introduced her to a couple of the alchemy disciple elves.
Disciple elves were the lowest grade subordinates in the alchemy association.
They were either beginner students or people like Tang Yue who lacked a cultivation base but still wanted to make something out of themselves.
The disciple elves usually took care of the small errands in the alchemy association, including segregating and handling all the ingredients such as herbs and cauldrons, as well as tedious chores such as waste disposal.
Since Adriana was busy at the moment, she handed over the job of familiarizing Tang Yue with the various association departments and procedures to the two disciple elves loitering around in the reception area.
After chatting with Tang Yue encouragingly for a few more minutes Adriana left the alchemy association branch with her palace aides.
Unlike the old man sitting outside, the disciple elves did not dare to treat Tang Yue badly. After all, she was a royal consort.
The elf Mila patiently brought Tang Yue around and showed her the various halls.
The alchemy association was a huge place with miscellaneous facilities, such as the room in which the herbs were stored.
Most herbs were pre-ordered for the day, were segregated, and parceled for the respective recipients.
Then there was another room in which the cauldrons were scraped clean, clearing out the gunk at the bottom, typically formed after a pill forging experiment.
Tang Yue committed this particular room to her memory because it was especially pungent. Even her skin felt assaulted by the ungodly stench.
"Your highness let's not stand here. Some of these vapors can be quite toxic." The disciple elf explained and moved on to the next couple of rooms.
The last few rooms were mainly storage areas and a medicinal shop to sell the successfully concocted pills.
The elf continued chattering next to her, while Tang Yue slowly brewed a strategy in her mind.
"Mila, what is the procedure for joining the association as a disciple elf?"
Tang Yue gently smiled and asked the question, instantly surprising the disciple elf Mila.
"But, your highness, that is… please check with one of the masters."
"If your talent in the alchemy art is explosive, then there is no need to spend any time as a disciple elf."
Mila tried his best to persuade Tang Yue.
Why should a royal consort like her unnecessarily lower her status and do menial chores and physical labor?
Of course, these basic menial tasks were designed for a reason.
But still, someone with the potential of a royal consort should easily be able to skip these fundamentals and focus on the more important details.
Tang Yue could only smile in return. It was clear that her infamous reputation for being a crippled trash has not yet spread in the elven territory!
Mila's words did not deter her one bit. She still continued enquiring him, "Where can I talk to a master?"
Mila immediately became silent, hesitating to answer her question.
The only master who was free and available right now was the mean old man sitting at the entrance.
So, he did not want to push the delicate royal consort to a beast like him.
Later on, if there was some sort of incident, the entire blame would eventually end up on a nobody like him.
Mila looked at the persistent royal consort and knew that there was no other option.
This woman did not look like she was going to back down at any time soon.
"Your highness, master Dranuk is the only one available right now."
"If I may, I would like to offer my humble suggestion. Please visit our association again tomorrow and speak to an alchemy master."
Tang Yue nodded, understanding what the disciple elf was trying so hard to indirectly imply.
Obviously, the man sitting outside was a bully and a mean grouch.
But unfortunately, she was not in a mood to postpone things that needed to be done and walked straight over to the condescending old man at the entrance.
Today or tomorrow, one of these days she would eventually have to face that old man. It was not really a big deal for her.
A few derogatory remarks in exchange for a quick power up? Who wouldn't grab such an opportunity?!
After all, power was everything and without that, she would always have to feel fragile and worthless.
And thus, Tang Yue willingly walked over to the devil.
The old man snickered as soon as he saw her. "Leaving so soon, my lady?" He condescendingly asked her.
"Mmmm. Not yet. I want to become a disciple here."
Tang Yue looked at his eyes that were filled to the brim with mockery and faced him head-on.
The old man immediately broke into a burst of loud laughter.
"Why would a flower vase… cough…cough... flower such as yourself want to become an alchemy slave, your highness?"
He slapped his thighs obscenely and chortled.
"Pretty princess, being an alchemy association disciple requires you to train very hard and meet strict deadlines."
"You need to stay up long nights and work hard. You won't even get your beauty sleep, pretty princess!"
"You might even have to venture deep into the perilous forests and harvest precious herbs."
"Who knows, some enemy might even end up capturing and enslaving you? He could then ravage you endlessly for days together till his heart's content! Ha Ha Ha."
A lustful look appeared on the old man's grinning face, as he sneered and spoke, with a straight face.
However, Tang Yue's gaze still did not waver. She just stood there silently and patiently watched his antics.
After a few minutes, the old elf finally stopped.
A cold glint appeared in his eyes, as he minced his words with a sneer on his face. "You asked for this. Don't blame me later."