The scene he was met with was heart-rending. His sisters-in-law were weeping lightly with hands on their mouths while looking at his wife.

The maids present there were rubbing his wife's hands and feet to keep her slowly cooling body warm. His wife's eyes were half open and she had an expression of extreme pain on her face. She barely had any breath remaining.

Just seeing her condition stabbed into his heart deeply. He felt as if someone was tearing through his chest with a knife.

He also realized a dark truth that they were losing her quickly. He stood at the entrance of his bedroom in a daze.

He was shaken out of his reverie by Rosa. She was holding a scalpel.

"I have felt the baby's position. His position is all wrong and cannot be delivered. James, we are losing her. Lady Maria could handle such a situation but she is not here. We have a choice here. Either we save the baby or the mother. You decide." Rosa had already judged the situation. They could not waste any more time waiting for Maria.

She sadly realized that only one life could be saved now. They had to act fast otherwise both lives would be lost.

Seeing hope, James held her free hand and said, "Please save her. I don't want the baby. Just save her. Please."

He had a pleading expression as he held the old maid's hands. His entire world was crashing down quickly. She was his only hope right down.

"Ok. Now, you go out. You will not be able to see what I am going to do next. Go out."

James knew what was coming. He won't be able to see what was coming next. They were going to perform a crude surgery on his beloved wife.

They were going to get the child out as quickly as possible without caring about the little life. He had seen blood and death before so he was not afraid of any of them.

But even then, his wife was involved right now. He did not have enough mental strength to watch the surgery of his beloved wife. So he turned around and stepped out of the house.

After dealing with James, she turned back toward Cassandra. She looked towards the scalpel she was a scalpel. Her hand was shaking a bit due to nervousness.

Although she had used it a few times during her seventy years of life, it was only for cutting sick flesh from some wounds. She had never done such complex things before. She had only seen operative deliveries a few times by the hands of Lady Maria.

But it was the moment of truth. Lives were on the line. She could not hesitate now. The stakes were too high. She had to save the young madam quickly. She also had a silver of hope in her heart that the child would survive by a great stroke of luck.

So she made a determined expression and came to stand near Cassandra. After that, she inserted the scalpel below Cassandra's exposed belly button without any hesitation.

She did not dare look at Cassandra's face. They did not have anything to make her unconscious. They could not also knock her out forcefully due to her sensitive condition. So she would have to bear the pain of her flesh and child sac being cut out.

Rosa was slightly aware of what she was doing. She knew that she had to incise the child's sac and cut the cord. After that, she would have to forcefully pull the child out of the pelvis.

During the operation, the child would suffer from many life-threatening injuries and would swallow harmful fluids into his lungs and stomach. After that, the pressure on the mother would disappear.

The blood was already being transfused and the risks of blood loss were averted for now. But she could not guarantee anything. She was not the medic here. She was just an experienced old maid.

Suddenly everything became quiet. All the sobbing sounds stopped and the intermittent sounds of the young lady's breathing could not be heard. Only intense rubbing sounds could be heard.

Someone was also tugging her clothes from behind. She realized that something was very wrong and quickly raised her head. She looked around.

The other madams were holding their hands over their wide-opened mouths and looking at Cassandra with horrified expressions.

(No.) She thought inwardly as she quickly looked at her. Her mind went blank at the scene. Cassandra had stopped breathing and her eyes were opened. She was making a face of intense pain and her eyes were not moving. Her pained face was frozen just like a statue. There was not even a single twitch.

(We lost her). A dark thought invaded her mind and exploded like crazy. She looked at her hands and saw them trembling.

(How could this be? She was laughing and smiling for just a few hours. She even talked to me this evening. But everything is gone in the blink of an eye. All is lost now.) This was her last thought as she went into a daze due to sadness and horror. She was sinking into the abyss of desolation.

Suddenly, she thought of something else and came out of her daze with a start. (No. Not all is lost. We still have the baby. We can still save him. Not all is lost.)

She made a split decision there and then, worthy of her age and experience. Even the most experienced could slip at critical junctures.

She had to save the baby at all costs. She knew that the baby could remain alive for a few minutes after her mother's death.

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She had once heard Lady Maria talking about it. She said that a baby is fed by a mother through the cord.

So a baby did not need to breathe in the womb. After dying, the mother's reserves of nutrients in blood take some time to run out and a baby can live for a few minutes.

She immediately removed the scalpel from the incision she made and moved the scalpel downwards.

She made a long incision just above her private parts and kept making the incision deeper without caring for anything till she saw the baby. She quickly wiped away all the blood from the incision with a spare cloth.

After doing that, she quickly widened the gap and took the baby out. The baby was alive and she thanked whatever higher being there was out there.

A new life breathed for the first time in this world. It was a boy and he started crying. She cut the cord and handed the baby to the nearby maid.

After that, she tied the cord quickly and went back to the dead body. She crudely sewed the large wound. There was a lot of blood and she knew that she had cut many important blood channels. But the young lady was already dead.

She could not care for an illogical thing such as the risk of blood loss when the patient was already dead. She closed her eyes after cleaning her hands.

There was no joy in this childbirth. Everybody was sobbing. Rosa was also shedding silent tears. She did not know when she had started crying. But she could care less.

She took hold of the baby and tried to silence the crying boy with broken soothing voices. The baby became quiet at that. She wiped away her tears and stepped out of the house to inform James.

A few minutes ago, James was standing outside and waiting for the news. He was worried sick. He was also sad at the loss of his child.

Somewhere in his mind, he also wanted a miracle to happen and his child to survive along with his mother. He soon heard the sound of a baby crying.

A slight hope blossomed inside of his heart. He unconsciously started smiling. He started thinking that a miracle had indeed happened and he would not lose the baby.

He did not even think about losing his wife. The baby's cries ceased soon after that and he started waiting with newfound hope.

A couple of minutes later, he saw Rosa stepping out of the house while holding a newborn baby. He stepped forward to take the baby and thank the maid.

But the look in the eyes of the maid made him stop in his steps. The eyes of the old maid in front of him were hollow.

He could also spot a few tears on her cheeks. Her eyes were barely able to hold any more tears. He could also hear some sounds of sobbing from inside.

He quickly realized that something was wrong and had a dark premonition. Before he could ask anything, the old maid in front of him opened her mouth.

"I am sorry. We could not save her. Before I could take the child out, she had already passed away. We could only save the child." Rosa said in a shaky voice while barely holding her tears back.

She also held out the child for him to hold. She hoped that his newborn son could reduce his sadness of losing his wife.

James did not take the baby and stood rooted in his place. His mind could not register Rosa's words in time. It was as if thousands of lightning bolts thundered in his mind simultaneously and he could not think of anything.

His mind turned blank for a few seconds. Then suddenly, he ran inside and took in everything.

His wife was lying down on their bed. Her face was frozen and her eyes closed. His sisters-in-law and maids were all weeping.

Something broke inside of him. He ran towards his wife while calling her and held her head between both of his hands.

"No. Cassie. CASSIE. PLEASE WAKE UP. I AM HERE. YOU CAN STOP ACTING LIKE THIS NOW. PLEASE STOP. IT IS NOT FUNNY ANYMORE. CASSIE. PLEASE TALK TO ME. TELL ME THAT IT IS ONLY A JOKE. LOOK, EVERYONE IS SAD NOW. PLEASE STOP. CASSIEEEEE!!!"

James started weeping while holding the cold body of his wife in a hug. His clothes stained with his wife's blood, he kept wailing loudly.

The loss of the most loved person in one's life is one of the most traumatic experiences a person can ever face in his lifetime. His/her entire world shatters and everything becomes grey and dull.

He/she cannot get enjoyment or pleasure from anything. Without him or her, everything seems meaningless. Only those who know the truth of the world and have strong willpower could pull through. Otherwise, they become an empty shell of their previous selves, waiting for their dull lives to end.

This was what James was facing right now. He had just lost the most treasured person of his life.

Suddenly he thought of something and his eyes turned red and his facial expression became that of anger and hate.

Putting his wife down with great care, he ran outside and pointed his finger at the baby Rosa was carrying.

"YOU!! YOU KILLED HER. YOU CURSED ABOMINATION. HOW DARE YOU KILL MY WIFE. I WILL KILL YOU AND AVENGE HER. NOW DIE." while saying that James took the sword out of its sheath and moved towards Rosa.

James had lost all his senses in sadness and desolation. He could not think straight at all. He wanted to vent his sadness and anger on the most obvious cause of his wife's death.

Although the infant was the cause of his mother's death, that was not a deliberate act from him. He was not even aware of what was happening around him. But his father, James, was hell-bent on striking him down with his sharp longsword.

"NO, YOUNG MASTER. PLEASE STOP. HE IS INNOCENT. HE DID NOT DO ANYTHING" Rosa knew that James has lost his mind and can do anything. So she shouted towards him to stop his mindless behaviour.

She tried to shield the defenceless innocent child with her body and turned to the side when James struck. He could not control his strike in time. His strike left a long gash on the side of her back.

"GIVE HIM BACK. LET ME END HIS ACCURSED EXISTENCE."

Suddenly Kai arrived at the scene. He was carrying an unconscious Maria on his shoulders like a sack. Her head wound was crudely bandaged to stop the bleeding.

After seeing the long gash on the maid's back, and listening to the words of his younger brother, he guessed what was happening and that the time was critical.

He immediately threw Maria down and rushed towards his younger brother. Before James could do anything, Kai collided hard with his younger brother and tackled him to the ground. He held him down tightly.

"LET ME GO. LET ME GO!!!" James tried freeing himself from the tackle but Kai held him down strongly. Due to the difference in cultivation, James could not do anything.

"Stay down. You are out of your mind right now."

Kai replied while tightening the grip on his brother.

James slowly ceased his resistance and started crying.

Gradually, everyone arrived at the scene. Rokas came a bit late. He himself went out to search for Maria. He rushed to the clan quickly after getting the news of Maria being found.

Watching the scene, he found it a bit strange. Rosa was being tended to by the maids and there was a long gash on her back.

In addition to that little James, who was crying, was being held by the guards. Another guard was carrying his sword and there was blood on it. There was also an infant being carried by a young maid.

(What happened? Why is Rosa injured and why is James being held by the guards? Did someone attack?) A few questions popped up in his mind. Seeing that his son was in no state to answer him, he ordered Rosa to tell him the details.

Rosa quickly told him everything that had happened in the past half an hour. She did not miss anything. After listening to her, his eyes turned cold and he looked at his youngest son coldly.

"Take him away." Rokas ordered the guards that were holding James. They immediately took him away.

Rokas, with his sons in tow, entered the house and took the sight in. He released a sigh of exhaustion.

He was also a bit sad. But could not show it in front of anyone.

(She was a lovely child. Alas. Everything has an end. Maria better have an explanation or a head will roll tomorrow.) He thought inwardly and lamented at the loss. He was also a bit furious.

"Clean everything and prepare for her burial."

After ordering the maids, he moved towards his quarters while thinking about the behaviour of his youngest son.