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Chapter 222: Finally Able to Leave (1)
🕑 Added 2025-02-13 16:19:33 +0000 UTCThe next afternoon, a long convoy passed through the town of Schwangau and headed toward Neuschwanstein Castle, finally stopping in the castle’s inner courtyard.
As the door of a luxurious car opened, Dracula stepped out, dressed in elegant attire.
Two nights ago, Dracula had come alone in the middle of the night, mainly for convenience. But now that a formal agreement had been reached and he was handing over some of his earthly assets as payment to Josh, a proper visit with his entourage was necessary.
"Welcome, Prince Vlad!" Josh stepped forward from the entrance of the main building to greet him.
As Josh watched Dracula's skin shimmer slightly in the sunlight, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. As expected, the ultraviolet light that was deadly to ordinary vampires had no effect on this ancient creature.
With that thought, Josh's gaze shifted to the entourage behind Dracula. Were they vampires, too, immune to sunlight?
"You don't have to look. They're not vampires," Dracula said, patting Josh on the shoulder and drawing him in like an old friend. "They are all humans—my business agents and lawyers who handle my worldly affairs. They will be transferring the appropriate assets to you. Of course, some properties in Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary may be a bit tricky due to the situation there. But with your skills, I doubt it'll be a big problem."
Although Dracula was the progenitor of the vampire race, he had little interest in managing their affairs. If his descendants hadn't acted recklessly and provoked Kamar-Taj back then, he wouldn't have been forced to sign that damned treaty with the Ancient One. Nor would he be in his current predicament.
The Ancient One didn't care if Dracula actually ruled the vampires. Since he had signed the treaty, any trouble caused by his kin would be his responsibility.
Because he avoided interfering with vampire matters, his wealth had no ties to them—it was all personally owned. That's why he was free to use it for business with Josh.
Of course, Dracula wasn’t about to hand over his most valuable treasures—artifacts with supernatural properties. Most of what he offered was real estate or shares in various businesses.
As for the "complications" he mentioned in those countries, it was undoubtedly related to the Soviet Union.
Those countries were still under Soviet control, and even if the Soviets withdrew in the future, they would continue on a Soviet-style path for decades.
A key feature of that path was the nationalization of private property.
However, as Dracula pointed out, Austria had some discreet dealings with the Soviets. If handled properly, it wasn't impossible to keep those assets intact.
While these transactions were highly secretive, they were no secret to someone of Dracula's stature.
"I see. Well, I'll leave the negotiations to my people. Since Pince Vlad likes Latour, I had some brought in. Would you care for a drink?" Josh, reassured that Dracula's entourage wasn't full of vampires, nodded and motioned for Lynden Schneider, who had flown in from Paris, to handle the business talks. Meanwhile, he accompanied Dracula to the terrace for a drink.
Josh didn't like alcohol, but he could drink when he needed to. Dracula wasn't a heavy drinker either. Under the warmth of the winter sun, the two sat back, sipping fine wine and chatting about various topics.
A transmigrator and an ancient creature made an interesting pair, and they got along surprisingly well.
Dracula's fluency in Chinese, including many dialects, impressed even Josh, who marveled at the vampire's vast knowledge.
Still, basking in the sun with a vampire felt a little... strange.
"Sir, we just received word—Mr. Stark wishes to visit. What are your orders?"
Just as the conversation was getting lively, Jiaying suddenly stepped forward to report.
"Oh? He's coming so early?" Josh was surprised, but also slightly worried.
He was aware that as the news of his arrival at Neuschwanstein Castle spread, invited guests had begun to arrive.
Most of the early arrivals were minor figures hoping to socialize. Even though they had invitations, they weren't important enough to stay in the castle itself.
After all, the wedding would host over 3,000 guests, while the castle only had about 300 rooms.
Excluding private halls and chambers, fewer than 50 rooms were available for honored guests—which was already quite a generous number, considering Neuschwanstein was a private estate, not a hotel.
Including the recently renovated nearby castle of Hohenschwangau, the total number of guest rooms reached only a hundred.
Only those with extremely close ties or high status were allowed to stay at Neuschwanstein. Others had to stay in the town's hotels, which had been prepared in advance.
During this time, the town's original population of a few thousand had taken on roles as service staff. In addition, to ensure that the wedding ran smoothly, Josh had brought in a large team of hotel staff from major European cities, covering almost every language. That way, language barriers between guests and staff wouldn't be an issue.
However, as one of the world's top scientists, a wealthy American tycoon, and someone with a decent relationship with Josh, Howard Stark undoubtedly had the qualifications to stay at the castle.
However, given Howard's particular... talents, Josh had decisively assigned him to Hohenschwangau Castle on the other side of the mountain.
Josh wasn't worried about Howard charming Margaret away, but many of the guests staying at Neuschwanstein Castle were European royalty.
While most European royal families adhered to monogamy, rules were just rules—people were unpredictable.
In other words, there were quite a few lonely and neglected noblewomen among them.
Despite their lack of political power, the royals still represented the image of their respective nations to some extent.
If any scandal broke out, it wouldn’t just embarrass the royals—it would reflect poorly on Josh as the host.
Hohenschwangau Castle, on the other hand, housed mostly second-tier government officials and wealthy businessmen. Even if Howard got involved with someone's wife or daughter there, it wouldn't cause as much of a stir.
Of course, Josh knew that this arrangement wouldn't completely prevent Howard's antics. But not inviting him wasn't an option either.
The best he could do was assign people to keep an eye on him.
What Josh hadn’t expected, however, was that Howard would arrive so early—with more than a month still to go before the wedding.
The guy just couldn't sit still.
"What's the matter? You look worried about this Howard guy," Dracula asked, noticing Josh's subtle expression.
Josh, having few reservations about Dracula, briefly explained Howard’s personality and, naturally, highlighted his particular... talent.
"Hahaha! What an interesting person! I'd like to meet him," Dracula laughed, slapping his thigh. "As for your concern, I have a solution. Since he likes women so much, I can arrange for some vampire brides to keep him occupied. That way he won't have the energy to bother your guests!"
But as he laughed, he noticed that Josh was giving him a strange look.
"What are you thinking?" Dracula scoffed. "Despite the name 'Vampire Brides,' they're just my personal entertainers and playthings. If you're interested, I can give you ten or so. But my true wife will always be Mirena... though I lost her long ago."
As he spoke, a hint of sadness flickered across his face when he mentioned Mirena.
As he had said, every few decades Dracula would seek out a few beautiful women and, with their consent, turn them into his vampire brides.
But much like Howard’s fleeting relationships, these arrangements never lasted long—at least, not by vampire standards.
As soon as both parties grew bored, they simply parted ways in search of new lovers.
In fact, many of his former vampire brides took lovers of their own after leaving him.
Of course, as Dracula's offspring, they would still obey his commands without question.
And when it came to seducing humans, most of them wouldn't even consider refusing.
Life is too long for them, so they have to find more and more fun.
As for the Mirena Dracula mentioned, she was his queen when he was still the famous Grand Duke of Transylvania. However, she died not long after Dracula became a vampire and refused to become a vampire before she died.
She became Dracula’s eternal pain.
"Sorry to bring up bad memories, but as far as vampire brides go, you should leave that to Howard. I think he'll love it!" Josh's mouth twitched as he rejected Dracula's offer to give him some vampire brides.
Damn it, I'm about to get married and you're talking about this in front of my subordinates?
But Dracula's idea of sending a few vampire brides to suck Howard dry was something Josh agreed with wholeheartedly.
He immediately had Jiaying send a helicopter to pick up Howard.
Soon, Howard arrived, with his butler, Jarvis, following behind him like a true gentleman.
