Chapter 5 - Shock and the Impossible

Covered from head to toe in a mysterious full-body suit of armor, the task of carrying the unconscious stranger turned out to be a much lighter task than the staff originally thought it to be.

The alloy that the entire attire the unknown stranger was wearing seemed somewhat similar to kevlar, however, it still had the cold touch and shine of some form of metal. It felt smooth to the touch as well as cold just how any other steel, iron, or similar ore would have reacted to the current climate.

The team of servants and guards couldn't help but glance at the unique helmet that perfectly covered the figure's head, not leaving anything as it melded into the chest panels without leaving any crack, crevice, or seam at all. It was solid, without any edges found on the surface, a genuine masterpiece of craftsmanship. The dark matte ebony unknown material had a peculiar-looking visor that looked somewhat similar to a lightning bolt, only it was horizontal instead of being vertical. Its deep purple, almost violet tinted glass gave no sight into the unconscious resident inside, it was reflective.

Still, it made them wonder… wasn't the stranger's vision severely limited if that was his only line of sight?

The more they looked at it, the more perplexed the servants and the head butler became. How did this man even get out of it at all? How did he equip it in the first place? There was no start, nor an end found anywhere.

It was as if the whole armor was cast and molded with him already being inside of it... But that couldn't have been the case, could it?

"Place him down on the bed, then you can all go and leave us!" A rough, and powerful voice reverberated from behind. The old man, Lord Raven exclaimed with energy and vigor that was quite uncanny and uncharacteristic of him since the last decade.

With the exception of the Head Butler and Mrs. Genna Raven, the rest of the growing crowd never even heard of the old man raising his voice. Heck, he rarely even spoke, most of his wishes were conveyed through the Mistress of the head butler himself.

They all looked shocked and even startled when they heard the thundering shout. After placing the unknown man down, the servants quickly turned around and after bowing respectfully at the old man, all but one alighted from the ground floor guest room.

The Head Butler stayed behind, but took some steps to back away from the bed and stood by the door. His back was straight, and his eyelids looked closed. Yet, it would have been a mistake to think he was careless; those with more experienced eyes could have noticed how he kept a straight battle-ready posture. Despite how he looked he was still on high alert.

"Haven't you heard, Harold?! My husband has ordered everyone to leave. That includes you as well!" Noticing how this old man still hasn't left, Genna looked at him with a frown and spoke with a slightly raised, arrogant tone.

"I apologize for my action, Milady Raven…" Harold bowed in a deep respectful bow, showing the proper etiquette as he responded calmly. His face remained looking at the ground, though his eyelids never parted apart, he continued after a light cough. "…However, my first and foremost duty is to watch over and keep the Master safe."

"Humpf! So after the several decades of service under OUR family, you have grown quite arrogant, Mr. Harold…" Genna uttered with a disdainful, contemptuous tone. She flicked her right hand in a dismissive manner before she asked with a haughty, snide expression on her face.

"And if I may ask… who gave you such an order that makes you worth risking angering me?"

"The old madam did, Milady Raven." The butler replied without hesitation. Though his tone was stable, it sounded as if a hint of pride was also fused behind his words. Nevertheless, even if that were the case, no emotion was revealed on his clean-shaven, somewhat wrinkled face.

"Wha-?" Genna looked shocked upon hearing such a response. A moment later his surprise however quickly began to sour as he processed the meaning behind the old butler's words. She scowled and clicked her tongue as she began to express her displeasure. "What do you mean, 'The old madam', Harold? She is…"

"ENOUGH! SILENCE!" Before she could have a chance to finish a roar boomed boisterously from beside the bed frame. Hearing the angry, powerful predatory war cry, Genna's figure trembled, she quickly slouched her shoulders, shifting her dominant presence into a more subservient one.

Her face showing slight fright, she took an extra moment to calm herself and force her mask, the loving smile upon her smooth face before she slowly turned around.

Yet, when she did so, she once again shuddered at the sight of the angry, borderline feral expression of Lord Raven. She was utterly shocked at the grand change, this great transformation he had suddenly seemed to have undergone. His lifeless, listless husk of a body now radiated an aura that resembled the fearsome business warlord, the true leader. The Lord he once was and a side of him everyone thought had already died.

"Y-yes, my dear… I am sorry… I will make sure that Harold will receive his just' punish-"

"I SAID… ENOUGH!" Lord Raven roared once again. "I was talking about you and not Harold! What part of what he said could you not understand?!" As if a dragon's reverse scale was touched, Lord Raven's anger was only rising with each spoken word.

Feeling his blood pressure reaching dangerous levels, the old man closed his eyes and took several large breaths of air to calm himself down. With each lungful of inhaling, he kept the air stored in his diaphragm for several seconds before with a slow, steady control he exhaled.

Each passed round cleared his mind and calmed his unsettled heart a bit, taking him several minutes before he could return to a mostly normal state.

*Groan…*

Suddenly a soft sigh came from behind, from the bed. A subtle sound of a groan escaped from the confines of the strange faceless metal mask.

Not sure if he were the root cause of the masked figure's pain-filled soft cry, or perhaps it was of a different cause, Lord Raven still stiffened up upon hearing the soft, barely audible sound.

Even though it was distorted and should have been unfamiliar… Somewhere deep down, it resonated with the old clock still ticking inside him and made it pump in a faster, more agitated rhythm.

Despite the impossibility of it all, Lord Raven couldn't calm his nerves. Suddenly his thirst for air increased once more, he began to hyperventilate.

"W-w-what…" He stuttered, muttering to himself as he slowly turned to face the bed again and ignored everyone else entirely. Hesitantly, he stepped forward and knelt down beside the bed frame. He placed his shivering, trembling right arm over the metal chest plate.

He wanted to feel it, no matter how childish or futile it may have sounded, he wanted to feel his breathing.

As if reacting to his touch, the stranger's arm fell off beside him, his previously tightly clenched gauntlet softened up, only to let go of a strange, slightly burnt piece of paper.

When Lord Raven's eyes followed the crumpled parchment and noticed what was hidden inside it his eyes went wide with utter shock and disbelief once more.

——

As the stranger's grip eased up and released that crumpled piece of yellowish-tinted paper, none expected that the old man would have such a strong reaction to it.

Harold, the butler, instantly shot forward arriving instantly to the left side of the old Master. As if he wasn't even walking but blinking, he crossed the albeit meager distance with a blink of an eye.

His right hand gently placed at the palpitating old man's back, whilst he reached and gently grabbed Lord Raven's left wrist with his left hand. He held it firmly, but not with too much pressure, knowing the fragile, weakened state of his.

"My lord… Are you alright? I would suggest that…"

Yet, before he could finish his thought and speak up, the words froze in him as well once he glanced over to the paper on the floor.

His eyes instantly went wide, his jaws fell. If he weren't a trained veteran, even he himself would have had a hard time controlling his chaotically thumping heart.

As if frozen in time, both master and servant were gazing at the floor, unable to believe their very own eyes.

What they were looking at was just simply impossible. No matter from which angle you looked at it.

—-

After seeing his husband's strange, overlay exaggerated reaction, Genna followed his suit and walked over. Meanwhile, he grabbed his son, Robert's left hand, and without giving any chance for the boy to complain or resist, pulled him over as well.

As they got to the right side of the old man and looked down, Genna couldn't help but be confused…

'H-how is this possible? W-what is going on?!' She screamed inside her head.

Genna couldn't help but deeply frown and even grow somewhat worried as well as perplexed at this newfound mystery… No matter how impossible everything seemed to be, the facts were clearly laid out in front of them.

They could only try their best to process it and hopefully find a justified, valid and reasonable explanation. Otherwise not just the old man, even Genna couldn't guarantee her own sanity…

The repeated yelps and shocked cries caused the staff stationed outside to grow increasingly anxious and agitated. Unable to contain and hold their worry at bay any longer, the closed door was suddenly pushed open and the staff once again swarmed inside.

Old man Raven being the first to somewhat come back from his stunned reverie, slowly turned over to look at the pile of paper and hunched over.

His shaking legs, shivering, trembling posture caused the staff to go even more worried. Scared that something might happen to their beloved Old Master, the maids hurried to his aid.

Looking down, Lord Raven only managed to reach halfway before his body froze once again on the spot. As his gaze focused more on the crumpled, aged material, his confusion just grew even further.

'H-how is this possible?! W-what is going on?' His thoughts echoed inside his mind, amidst the raging storm of emotions. His heart rate once again speeding up, he was once greedily thirsty for clean air.

His expression turned pale as he was gradually overcome by dizziness, his steps finally faltered, he had to take a step towards the back.

This gave just enough time for Harold to also break his temporary shocked paralyze, and quickly reaffirmed his hold over the man. His right hand supporting him from behind, Harold grabbed Lord Raven's left hand and threw it over his neck.

"My Lord, please be mindful of your health! Let us go, you should take a rest. The recent events have clearly tired you out." He spoke in a respectful tone as he exerted just enough strength to not be too forceful, but still be able to guide the old man, despite him not wanting to take a single step.

"N-no… Let me go, I need to know… I NEED TO SEE!" However Lord Raven refused to leave or even take a single step. His eyes were darting back and forth between the strange armored stranger and the piece of crumpled, corrugated parchment.

Halting his steps, Harold heaved a heavy, emotional sigh before he looked at the nearby worried-looking maid.

"If I may ask, Little Sue…" Harold nodded towards the floor, which the maid instantly understood.

"Yes, right away sir!" The young, teenage-looking girl wearing a traditional maid attire hurriedly nodded and quickly reached for the paper on the floor. A moment later he gave it to the head servant, Harold.

—

Taking only a single moment, Harold took an extra breather to calm his nerves. From what he had already seen, he was fairly certain that this was what he believed it to be. Even though that should not be possible…

The crumpled up piece of paper, as they finally unveiled the secret it held within turned out to be an old family photo of his now-deceased wife and his then 10-year-old son! The family in the image were happily smiling into the camera as they stood side by side, embracing each other with visible love and affection.

In the image, the man that looked to be Lord Raven himself, though appearing to be several decades younger. He was brimming with strength and vitality, a drastic contrast of the current husk of his former self.

Whilst Harold frowned the more he looked at the image, Lord Raven and even Genna as well went deathly pale, albeit for different reasons. Whilst Robert was confused at what was going on, even he could understand that the image had an extraordinary value to it.

What he couldn't understand, however, was that if this were the case, what was it doing in the hands of this strange figure?

Lord Raven was visibly trembling the more he kept looking at the image. His mind just couldn't accept this reality as the truth. It was impossible!

Suddenly as the thought came to his mind, he hurriedly reached for his back pocket and pulled out his purse. Hurriedly, he opened it up and just as he remembered, pulled out the exact same image from it.

The only difference was that his version was neatly folded and preserved in a much better condition than the other one. However, it was undeniable that the two images were one and the same.

"H-how could this be?" He muttered, asking with shaking hands.