Tl/N: I'm back, Expect daily updates from now on!
Meanwhile, Josh had no idea that such an important guest was on his way.
At that moment, he had already arrived at the castle and was giving Margaret, along with Carter and Mar-Vell, a tour of its interior.
Margaret, in particular, was eager to explore. As the future mistress of this castle, it was her first time officially stepping inside—she had only ever seen photos before. Naturally, she wanted to familiarize herself with every detail.
However, Josh wasn't actually the one leading the tour.
Not that he didn't want to—rather, the castle had too many halls, too much history, and far too many art pieces for him to keep track of.
Or more precisely, he knew almost nothing about it.
Although he was a transmigrator, and with the help of his cheat, he had built up a huge business in the almost five years since he arrived in this world...
In his previous life, he was just an ordinary person. Though he had wanted to cultivate some cultured tastes, at the end of the day, all he could do was utter a heartfelt WTF!
So the real guide for the castle tour was not him, but Jiaying, the family's butler, who had flown in earlier to oversee the wedding preparations.
As the future head butler of the family, Jiaying had been exposed to Western culture much later than Josh. In fact, she could hardly be considered literate before.
However, as an Inhuman with extraordinary vitality, her ability to learn—and the intensity of her studies—was far beyond what any normal person could match.
While she might not yet be a true expert in art appraisal, she had already memorized every brick and stone of this castle.
Thus, her introductions to every corner of the estate were precise and thorough.
Still, the castle was enormous.
Even though they had arrived by cruise ship, and the flight portion of their trip had only taken about half an hour, making the trip not particularly tiring, it was still quite late by the time they had finished their tour.
So, according to Jiaying's arrangements, everyone had dinner and went to their rooms.
Of course, Carter and Mar-Vell, being the energetic types, didn't sleep.
But they didn't need any special attention from Jiaying either. Letting them wander around the castle on their own would suffice.
Josh, however, didn't go to bed right away.
Instead, he went to his study to check on some of his business partners.
But just as he closed the study door, he felt a faint breeze blow past him.
When he turned around, a young man dressed in a luxurious 17th century aristocratic suit was now sitting in the guest chair of the study.
...
Silence.
It was the silent kind of tension—the kind that made one question the very fabric of reality.
Where the hell did you come from, ..Man?
Had he picked the wrong target for his little flower-picking adventure?
But then, as he thought about Margaret, who was upstairs putting their child to sleep…
Josh decided—it's better that he found me instead.
"Ah~ An unexpected guest. How should I address you?" Josh asked, forcing himself to remain calm.
He didn't call for help—there was no point.
When he had first entered the study, it had been empty.
Which meant that this man had slipped in the moment Josh closed the door.
The fact that he had silently bypassed all the super-soldiers guarding the castle and appeared behind Josh in an instant meant that he could just as easily have killed Josh on the spot.
Such a powerful being... There was no point in calling for help.
However, the fact that the man hadn't made an immediate move meant that he probably wasn't here to kill Josh.
Which meant—they could talk.
For Josh, as long as no one snuck in and silently murdered him without a word, he wasn't afraid.
Still, while he was putting on a calm face, he had already prepared to activate his Teleportation belt at any moment.
Vlad Dracula. Just call me Dracula!" The young man smiled slightly as he introduced himself.
Hearing that name, Josh broke out in a cold sweat.
Oh no, why is it this monster now?
He had taken down that Ellen before, but shouldn't Nosferatu be the one to go after him? How did he end up provoking this guy instead?
When Josh saw the young man's clothes for the first time, he already had a vague idea.
After all, the only people he had offended in Europe who had power beyond that of super-soldiers and who also liked to walk around in pre-17th century clothes were those vampires.
But in his mind, even if someone came to take revenge, it would only be a group of moderately strong, high-ranking vampires—not much stronger than those Hugh Jones had wiped out in America. At most, it would be someone on the level of Nosferatu.
So why was it Dracula himself who showed up?
That makes no sense!
"Haha, it's an honor to have Prince Vlad visit! I apologize for not greeting you properly. Would you like a drink?" Josh wiped the sweat from his forehead and forced a laugh.
"I'll have the '29 Latour. I'm sure a man of your wealth, Mr. Kahn, wouldn't mind sparing a bottle," Dracula said with a smile, watching Josh's nervous expression with amusement.
Damn, after being intimidated by the Ancient One earlier, he had to regain some dignity somewhere.
"Of course! It's an honor that Prince Vlad took an interest in it!" Josh said as he walked over to the wine cabinet, searching for the bottle Dracula mentioned.
Why was he looking? Because Josh didn't really drink. The wines in his study cabinet had been collected from all over Europe by Ophelia and Lynden Schneider, then sorted by Jiaying. They were mostly for decoration or special occasions.
So Josh had no idea what was in the cabinet at all.
"Third bottle on the first shelf," Dracula smirked, clearly noticing this.
Josh immediately took out the bottle, opened it with the built-in corkscrew and casually poured the wine into a glass.
Dracula shook his head as he watched—what a waste.
A nouveau riche was still a nouveau riche. Aside from his youth, Dracula couldn't really see what made Josh so special. Who knew why the Ancient One valued him so much?
Power and wealth in the mortal world? As if the Ancient One cared about such things.
I don't get it.
"Prince Vlad, I think there may have been a small misunderstanding between us..." Josh cautiously tested the waters by placing the wine in front of Dracula.
"You're thinking too much, Mr. Kahn. I didn't come because of that. I don't get involved in the squabbles of you younger folks. I'm here for something else," Dracula waved his hand dismissively.
Not because of Nosferatu? Josh was stunned for a moment and the tension in his heart eased considerably.
As long as he wasn't here to start a fight! See? A few low-level vampires had died, but was it really necessary to bring out this legendary figure over it? There were still plenty of mid-level bosses left.
"Ah, I see. That was my mistake. So, what brings you here, Prince Vlad?" Josh asked.
"Boeing is your company, right? How advanced is your space technology? If I wanted to commission a spaceship capable of leaving the solar system, could you make it?"
Dracula thought he had scared Josh enough. If he continued, who knew if the Ancient One would suddenly reappear? So he cut to the chase.
But this series of questions left Josh completely stumped.
Wait, what? Dracula wants a spaceship that can leave the solar system?
This is insane! Vampires don't want castles, coffins, or beauties anymore—they're into space exploration now?!
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