The main hall they were sitting in was like a small throne room of a king. There was a main throne-like chair lying near the wall on a slightly raised floor as compared to the rest of the floor of the hall.

In front of that little throne, there were eight other normal chairs. The arrangement of those chairs was such that there were four of them on each side in front of the throne. So four chairs were on the left of the throne in the arrangement of a column.

Similarly, the other four chairs were on the right with the same seating arrangement. Both the rows of chairs faced each other.

There was also a stuffed head of a ferocious beast hanging on the wall just above the main throne. Its appearance was like that of a boar with tusks but magnified by a few times. Its tusks were blood red in colour as if washed in blood.

Its face was contorted into a ferocious expression as if it was about to attack someone when it was beheaded. Since then, its ferocious expression had been frozen.

Rokas was sitting on the main chair. Only three of the rest of the chairs were occupied. Kai and Conan were sitting on their chairs. In addition to them, another chair was being occupied. It was a short-statured person. He had a cunning expression on his face.

He was one of the sons of Rokas. This son of his was responsible for representing the Rokas clan in the city centre.

He was also responsible for dealing with the representatives of the two other ruling clans. He had to deal with all kinds of schemes and intrigue all day long.

Although he had a short stature but nobody dared to take him lightly. Otherwise, there was a great chance they would go missing.

The rest of the chairs were empty and belonged to the other brothers. They were empty because their owners were not available at the time. Two of them would remain empty as long as the clan hall stands because their owners had died many years ago.

Rokas did not remove them after the deaths of his two sons. They served as another remembrance of his sons for Rokas. Two guards were also standing near his throne as protectors and errand runners.

"Father, please be lenient with him. He just lost his wife." Kai tried to plead for leniency toward his younger brother.

He could easily detect a barely restrained rage shimmering in his father. He knew that his father would lash out at his brother if he was to be angered further by his younger brother's actions and it would result in a bad outcome.

James was brought in by the main door just after a minute. It was as if they were standing right outside and waiting for the summon.

His two usual guards were also flanking him as he entered the hall. His eyes were lifeless and hollow and he was walking like a husk.

"What do you have to say about your behaviour last night?" Rokas asked while barely holding his rage in when James came and stood in front of him.

James was looking down when he was asked to explain his behaviour. He raised his head after a few seconds and replied while staring into the eyes of his father,

"That accursed child killed my beloved. We were living so happily for many years and he had to come and ruin it. Father, please let me end his pathetic existence. I should avenge her. The longer he lives, the greater curse he..."

"Shut up." Rokas said slowly to end his son's maniac rants but his son continued, not listening to his father's command.

Rokas's face turned red with anger and a slight pressure started leaking from his body. It was a pressure on the soul but it was very small, barely discernable. People were aware of the concept of souls because cultivation involved souls at later levels.

"I SAID SHUT UPPPP!!!" Rokas roared loudly while fully running his second-level cultivation and a slight pressure descended over the room.

James stopped his rant immediately after seeing the state his father was in.

"YOU DAMN DISAPPOINTMENT. THIS IS WHAT I TAUGHT YOU???", Rokas's voice was so loud that the entire manor along with a couple of blocks of houses and shops surrounding the manor could clearly hear what he was saying.

"THIS IS HOW I RAISED YOU?? SO THAT YOU CAN POINT YOUR DAMN SWORD TOWARDS AN INFANT. YOU DISGRACE."

Kai and Conan were fearing that their father in his anger will get up and strike James down where he was standing. The third brother had an indifferent expression on his face.

Fortunately what they feared did not come to pass and they exhaled a breath of relief.

Rokas forcefully calmed himself down after his outburst and started talking

"You are to remain in the detention hall for the next one month. You are not to go anywhere during this period of time and will remain locked inside."

As James kept listening to his father's words, his face turned white as a sheet. Nobody in a sound mind wanted to be isolated from society for a whole month locked in some room.

Rokas kept talking without caring about his son's changing expressions.

"Your food will be delivered on time. An additional room will also be built inside for your other needs. During this time, you have to contemplate your actions for the next month, whether you did something wrong or not. After your one month of isolation is over, we will see whether you need extra help or not. You have already brought disgrace to me so many times. Don't disappoint me any further."

Normally, detainees were allowed to go out for some basic needs under the watchful eyes of the guards. But here, James was being stripped from that privilege in addition to his month-long detention. Another room was being built especially for him attacked to the detention hall.

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"Take him away to the detention hall.", Rokas ordered the guards accompanying James.

After looking at his father with a pleading expression for a few seconds and not getting any kind of positive response, James could not help but turn around and leave.

He walked out of the hall on his own not requiring the guards accompanying him to drag him away forcefully.

This was the most the clan head could do for his youngest son. He was hoping that it would turn well and James would be able to realize his mistakes and return to normal after a month.

If he did not, he had no choice but to take James to Agoross for mental therapy. He would have to pull some strings to get a meeting with a psychiatrist.

Psychiatrists were always a rarity because most have been herded to the front lines by the sects and front line armies to treat the mental traumas of the soldiers fighting there day and night.

Rokas did not want to play psychology with his son when he did not know much about it. He thought it better to let a specialist handle the situation.

Thinking about what would happen one month later if James did not recover, he almost had a headache. (Ah. Damn it. We will see when it happens. No need to mull over it right now.)

Now that the thing with James was taken care of, it was time to handle other pending matters. He looked towards his eldest son Kai and asked, "How is she? Is she conscious?".

"Yes, father. She became conscious an hour ago. Should I bring her here?", Kai replied while preparing to stand up. With his father's nod, he stood up and headed out.

After a few minutes, he stepped inside with a bandaged Maria in tow. He sat back in his seat. Maria had a worried expression on her face.

Last night, when everyone had spread out to search for her, a guard stumbled upon her just a few minutes later in a certain dark street. He almost crushed her under his boots due to darkness.

He was carrying a torch with him. That was why he was able to stop himself from stepping on her. Even then, he was barely able to stop himself and almost fell on her due to the suddenness of the situation.

The guard was at a loss, not knowing what to do with an unconscious Maria lying in a small pool of blood.

Every guard had to carry a light kit of bandages with some medicinal powder during their duty. But due to the nighttime and suddenness of the situation, he forgets to tuck his kit into his pocket.

So as a sensible adult, he shouted for help and tried to remove her from the ground carefully, fearing that the freshly scabbed wound will reopen due to sudden movements.

Fortunately, Kai and a few other people were in the vicinity. They immediate converged on his position.

After seeing Maria's condition, they bandaged her head wound quickly without uttering any word. Kai put her on his shoulders and after ordering the soldiers to recall the search and inform his father, ran toward the manor.

"Explain yourself. Give us a reason why we should keep you alive." Rokas asked for her explanation in a threatening manner.

Maria knew that her next words would decide her fate. So she calmed down her beating heart, took a deep breath and opened her mouth to reply,

"I was rushing towards the manor when I turned into a narrow dark street. I could not see a slippery fruit husk lying at the sharp turn and slipped after stepping on it. I could not control my fall and knocked myself out after my head hit the nearby wall. I don't know what happened after that. When I woke up, I was in a room in your manor".

Maria explained everything quickly in a few breaths.

Clan lord stared into her eyes for almost a minute. He was trying to search her face for any sign of a lie. But he failed to detect any abnormality.

For Maria, that one minute felt like a lifetime. She was terrified of that gaze and that one minute passed excruciatingly slow. A single flinch and she would not be let go and put in a cell for further investigation.

Rokas looked for his eldest son. His son understood and walked out of the hall again. This time, he returned with a soldier.

That soldier was clearly waiting for his turn outside. Kai nodded toward his father and sat down on his seat. Rokas looked toward the soldier.

As if on cue, the soldier put his right hand on his chest with a closed fist and bowed down. The guard started talking,

"Master, after young master Kai left with lady Maria, we brought more torches to the scene. There, we saw a small pool of blood and a crushed husk of an unknown fruit. That husk was indeed slippery after testing. We also found some blood on a nearby wall."

"You are dismissed." Rokas dismissed the soldier and then looked toward Maria.

"That settles it then. You are allowed to leave. You can rest in the manor if you want."

"I am most thankful for your hospitality. But I shall take my leave. I have an apothecary to run."

Maria replied respectfully. She was also relieved that her tribulation had come to pass. She could rest easy now.

She bowed lightly towards Rokas. On his nod, she exited the hall and started walking towards her apothecary at a small pace.

Now that another important thing was taken care of, his face softened and a small anticipatory smile blossomed on his face.

"Bring Rosa here. Tell her to also bring the child with her." He ordered the guard standing near him. The guard bowed down to him and left for Rosa.

Due to some obvious reasons, he could only see the face of his grandson last night. He was not able to carry him in his arms and give him some grandfatherly love.

After a few minutes of waiting, Rosa entered while carrying a baby boy. She bowed her head lightly and waited for his commands.

"Give him to me." Rokas asked for the boy to be handed to him. Rosa obeyed his command and handed the baby to him.

After taking the boy, he looked at the boy in his arms lovingly and started kissing him on his cheeks. The child was half asleep and did not cry due to the sudden assault on his cheeks. But he was woken up completely after that.

Then like a normal grandfather, he started making strange sounds to make the child laugh. The child was barely a day old so he failed spectacularly.

Kai and Conan had smiles on their faces. The cunning brother also had a small smile this time and he showed a rare soft expression. He was always thinking about many things and did not smile much.

But seeing the face of an innocent child always brought him some relief and a brief break from those tiring things.

They were well aware of their father's soft spot for little children. Their children faced the same situation when they were born and that continued for many years until they all grew up.

After a few minutes of playing with the child, Rokas looked up and his loving expression turned serious. Now was the time to make some serious decisions.

"As James is not in his right state of mind, I as this child's grandfather have absolute rights after James to name him. I want this child to be independent and powerful. I want him to seize happiness all by himself. I name him Jacob. After seven days of mourning, a grand feast shall be held for his birth. After that, he will remain under Rosa's care until James becomes sane enough to decide his fate."

Traditionally, parents had full rights over the children till they turn adults and become capable of their judgements. The same was for the clans. A father could disown a child and the child would no longer be a part of the clan.

"Should he own the child. Then it is well and good. But If he disowns him, Jacob will remain under Rosa for the next fifteen years until he becomes an adult. Then he can decide his own destiny. Nobody is allowed to treat Jacob badly, otherwise, I will have his head. As for the remaining children of James, Conan will take care of them until James gets a grip on himself. Dismissed."

After saying everything, Rokas ended the meeting and stood up. He was mentally tired. He wanted to rest for a couple of hours.

Seeing that, everybody stood up. They waited for Rokas to leave the hall while carrying the child. After he left, the rest followed in suit.