Present day.

Maid Rosa entered the bedroom and observed the situation. Cassandra was lying on the bed and judging from her face she was clearly in pain. The flaring of her constant dull pain resulted in her cries.

She was bleeding. And it was not stopping anytime soon. For the past hour, they had tried their best to stem the bleeding. They also had some success but all they could do was slow it down by giving her some medicine. They did not manage to stop it completely.

The bandages were already soaked with fluid. She handed over the spare clothes and antiseptics she was holding to the maids present there. They started cleaning Cassandra's legs with them. They had already used up all the bandages available in the clan. So they had to resort to spare cloth pieces now.

She had some inkling about Cassandra's situation. She knew that the membranes had ruptured and the baby was about to come. As for the constant bleeding, there seemed to be an internal injury that was causing it.

Rosa has faced such situations before. It was rare but it had happened in some pregnancies before. The baby was delivered before its expected date of delivery due to some reasons. The situation she was facing right now was one of those.

Most of the time, the baby was safely delivered without any complications. But there was always a chance of complication. There was one such complication right now. It was the constant bleeding. Only qualified people were able to deal with such complicated situations.

So she could not take the risk. She had to be safe than sorry. That's why she called for Lady Maria, the only medical practitioner in the city and did not decide to wait for the baby to be delivered.

Rosa knew that medical practitioners had vast experiences with childbirth. Because they were the only people available who knew what they were doing and they faced such situations many times during their medical practice.

She was a maid. So she did not have the experience that a professional had in childbirth complications.

By now, Cassandra's situation was much worse than before. She was slowly bleeding out. If something was not done soon, her life and the life of the baby would be in extreme danger. This made Rosa much more anxious.

Time was of the essence and there was no sign of Maria. They did not know what to do.

Most of the other madams were sitting near Cassandra's bed. One of them was standing due to anxiety. "What is the situation with the young madam?" asked Rosa from a nearby maid.

"The baby is coming. We are trying our best to stop the bleeding but it is not stopping. It seems that the membranes ruptured before time and the child's sac is also injured." replied the maid with worry.

"Got it. Don't worry. Lady Maria is most probably on the way right now. We have already sent guards after her." She tried to soothe the worries of everyone in the room, including the madams present there.

But she did not have any success. They had been waiting for an hour after all. It was a very long time in such serious conditions. No words could soothe their worries. Their eyes could not help but tear up after seeing their younger sister's condition.

Meanwhile, outside of the house, James was waiting for the guards that were sent to find Lady Maria. He was counting down to five minutes after which he would ask for help from his brothers to mobilize the entire guard unit, to even mobilise the soldiers if the need arises to be.

In the living quarters of the central building, clan head Rokas was sitting down on a mat knees down. He had his hands on them and had a frowning expression on his face. He was waiting for the news for the past hour.

Suddenly, a knock was heard and he slowly said "Enter". The door was opened and a person came in a guard's uniform. He came in front of the clan head, put his right hand on his left chest side and bowed down in respect.

"Report soldier."

"Master, some guards were sent to search for Lady Maria outside of the walls. They have not reported back until now." replied the guard with respect and politeness.

"Hmm. Very well. Deploy the guard unit and search for her. I need her found as soon as possible. After finding her, bring her directly to my son's quarters without any delay." With a heavy voice, he ordered the guard for a deployment.

"Acknowledged. Your command is our life, master."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

After saying this, the soldier retreated out of the room while facing the clan head and moving backwards.

After getting out of the room, he closed the door and quickly ran towards the guard quarters. It was a building on the north side of the clan grounds. The building had many rooms in it and it housed nearly 50 guards.

After reaching the guard quarters, he informed the guard captain about the clan head's orders.

After hearing the guard, the captain rushed all of the guards out of their rooms and they all ran towards the last known general location of Lady Maria. They were barely able to put up their upper garments and a sheathed sword before going out.

Meanwhile, James counted to zero and ran towards his eldest brother's quarters. He was the leader of both the soldier and guard units.

Although several maids and guards were standing near him and waiting for his commands, he could not stand still and had to move due to his worry. He was not allowed to see his wife right now and he was too restless.

So he decided to go and talk to his brother himself. His brother's house was not too far away from his house.

After running for a few seconds, a final turn came ahead of him. Just as he turned around the final corner, he ran into his brother and crashed into him. He could not stop or control his body due to the suddenness of the situation.

"Brother Kai, the guards are not coming back. Can you please get the remaining guards to search for the lady?", said James as quickly as possible while trying to get his bearings after colliding with his eldest brother who was much stronger than him.

"Woah there. Calm down, Jamie. Father already ordered the guard unit. Take it easy. Everything will be all right. She will be found immediately. Most of the search area should have been covered by now. Moreover; the whole family is with you. Your sisters-in-law are also present there with your wife. It will end soon.", Kai replied while getting ready to catch his younger brother in case he fell in the aftermath of the collision.

Kai was a very muscular fellow. He was even taller than James. He had black eyes and blonde hair like his younger brother.

His face was greatly tanned and there was a scar that ran from below his left ear to his chin. He liked to exercise much and was in the later stage of the first level of cultivation. He was also the leader of both the soldier and guard units.

After hearing his elder brother, James released a breath of relief and went back to his abode accompanied by his elder brother. His other brothers joined them on the way and his father was already waiting for them outside his house.

"Father." said James while nodding to his father. His father replied by nodding back. He then said, "Come stand with me, my son. Everything will be alright. You are a big man now. Don't be afraid."

"Ok, father." replied James while he stood with his father along with his brothers. They then started waiting for the news.

After getting consoled by his father, brother and the elderly maid one after another, he was a bit calm and his rapidly beating heart slowed down.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the farmhouses, Lady Maria was checking the pulse of a little child lying on a hay bed. A couple was accompanying them. The face of the child was similar to the couple standing near them. They were his parents.

Lady Maria was a middle-aged woman. She was a bit short and had long black hair. She used to live in the nearby greater city with her parents.

After getting taught by an apothecary there for a few years, she started her practice in the city.

Later she heard about the newly upgraded towns in the east and the gears in her mind turned. She immediately applied for a transfer to the city of Worlen at the prospect of extensive practice due to lack of competition.

Very less apothecaries wanted to come here due to the lack of facilities and distance from their families. But Maria decided to sacrifice that all for a chance for greater practice. In addition to that, she did not have many relatives in the city at all. So her application was quickly approved.

That was one of her best decisions and she was proud of it.

"Sister, don't worry. Take these medicines and feed him one portion every day. He will be as healthy as a horse in the next few days. This is just a bad tummy. His vomiting will cease after taking the first portion." Lady Maria said while handing a dark potion to the female there. They stated thanking her profusely after that.

"It's okay. It is my duty after all." replied Maria while chuckling.

That was a common occurrence for her. Health was a great blessing. No amount of wealth could replace it. Whenever someone became sick, she was their saviour from pain and suffering. Even the kings and great cultivators were no exemptions.

The gazes that her patients directed toward her were like they were looking at an angel. She took great pleasure in it.

So she took her practice seriously and tried to help her patients as much as possible. She also made some extra efforts when the Rokas clan was involved. She was indebted to their generosity.

Although it was slightly against her medical ethics, her debt to them was too much. She required herbs to concoct her medicinal potions. Some herbs were costly. So she had to charge their cost to her patients.

In these areas, people were not that rich. Sometimes, whenever she told the patients about the treatment fees, they made heart-wrenching expressions and could not afford the treatment at all. This was after she excluded her counselling fee and asked for the costs of the medicine only.

It stabbed into her heart greatly whenever someone died just because they could not afford the treatment. She even spent from her pocket sometimes in order to help the patients. But she could not do it for much often. She also had to eat after all.

That was also one of the reasons she did not have to face any kind of competition after coming here. People were too poor. Those practitioners did not want to live a difficult life.

But the Rokas clan became generous to her and gave great discounts to her while she bought the herbs from their merchants. Due to this, she was able to help more of the sick who could not afford original treatment costs. She was also living a good life.

If she did not give the Rokas clan preference over other clans, she would not have been able to live comfortably. So she decided to ignore the medical ethics in the case of the Rokas clan.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door and someone shouted from the outside,

"Open up the door." After the shout, the door was knocked again loudly. It was as if the person outside was in a hurry.