The expressions of the nobles found to be dark green began to turn ugly.
From their initial panic—lowering their heads to look at their shoulders, faces pale and at a loss—they gradually changed into something else.
They began inspecting one another. The person beside them was dark green; so was the person across from them. Even that viscount in the back row who usually mocked them at balls had a faint green tint spreading across his shoulder.
So many people had been contaminated.
Some people slowly straightened their backs.
An elderly viscount with a flushed face stood up. He was in his early sixties, with a graying beard, a booming voice, and an angry red face.
"Enough!"
The Main Hall fell silent for a moment.
"I'll tell you what that stuff is. It's just an herb." The old viscount's voice drowned out all the whispers. "Someone sent it to us, saying it could prolong our lives and strengthen our Eerie power. I drank it. I admit it."
He swept his gaze across his colleagues whose shoulders had turned green.
"But so what? Who else here drank it? Step forward!"
There were two seconds of silence.
A voice came from the back row. "I drank it too."
Another voice came from the left. "It was delivered to my estate half a year ago. My health truly improved quite a bit after using it."
A younger viscount stood, clenching his fists, his face flushed. "There were no adverse effects. I've had far more energy these past few months. What crime is that?"
Then came the fourth, the fifth.
A voice then rose from the Merchants' Guild section. It belonged to a guild member. His voice was quieter than the nobles', but every word was clear as he stood.
**"Others in the Merchants'