Chương 23: The Eerie Castle.

Jack entered through the left side of the road and parked in an open garage.

Jack's extraordinary car, which usually turned heads, was no longer as attractive as it once was; several rows of Rolls Royce, Buggati, and many flagship cars occupied that garage.

Jack just shook his head. What an irony! These secret billionaires are something else.

Parking the car, Jack wanted to hold Yana's hand, but before he could, there were several young women surrounding her and taking her somewhere. Yana wanted to talk with Jack but was forced to walk with those maid-looking girls.

Jack scratched his face with awkwardness and wanted to just go to his hotel, but he remembered Yana wanted him to be by her side, so he remained.

Jack made his way towards the massive, castle-like building, which was bustling with people.

Jack estimated that it took about 10 minutes from his car to the main gate of the palace due to the high volume of people attempting to enter.

As he was about to enter the palace, some black guards with huge guns approached Jack.

"Sir, who are you?" One guard asked.

There were three guards in total surrounding Jack; people looked at them from time to time but walked past them towards the palace.

"I am a friend of Yana; I drove her here," Jack replied, he was nervous.

" Ah! Young Miss brought a friend. Alright, let me check with the Inner Guard's, which parking lot you parked your car in, sir. May I ask?" The guards sounded more polite when they heard about Yana.

"Number 2, That's where I parked my Porsche; it's an SUV." Jack gave detailed information.

"Alright sir, please hold." The guard stopped Jack, then used their walkie-talkie to check if the information was correct.

"Sir, we've clarified your information; no one will stop you. Thank you for your patience with us." The guards then left Jack alone and resumed their duties.

"These guards, dangerous," Jack murmured, seeing how packed these guards were; they were as tall as him and maybe double in size.

Jack then proceeded with the mob; the whole mob was going in only one direction. Jack could see that it's a huge hall, and as he was tall, he could also see a black casket in front. Everyone was giving their respect to the dead.

What shocked Jack most was the fact there was a middle-aged, very good-looking guy; people were more focused on pleasing him than paying their respect to the dead.

Jack slowly walked towards the casket, then paying his respect and going towards the waiting area where everyone was just standing and talking.

Jack from the waiting area looked at the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man was surrounded by a group of people, and Jack even saw the minister of finance within that group.

Jack then didn't focus on the middle-aged man. Jack understood this must be Yana's father; he was an important person if the finance minister was also beside him.

"Hello, you are?" A nice-looking man approached Jack with a smile; he was shorter than Jack, maybe by 6 inches.

"Hi, I am friends with Yana." Jack gave his hand to the person who just approached Jack; his intention was to shake hand.

But the person didn't give his hand back in response; on the contrary, he smiled fakely.

"My name is Alexander Otto, Yana's future husband; I would like you to keep a distance from her," the short man threatened Jack.

"Mr. Otto, we're friends; she helped me out on several occasions, so I don't think it will be appropriate to keep a distance from a dear friend." Jack withdrew his hand and then faked a smile.

" You!! Alexander was initially enraged, but after calming down, he smiled again and left.

After Alexander left, Jack noticed a dangerous situation. Alexander was not alone; he was accompanied by four bodyguards, who were constantly protecting him while remaining almost hidden within the crowd.

Jack smiled looking at them, 'What a mess I've gotten myself into,' shaking his head. Jack wanted to return to his car and leave. Yana was at her home, so she was safe and sound. Jack just wanted to go back and relax from this fake people's.

"Sir, I am a maid of Miss Yana, and she has called for you." A beautiful little maid came in front of Jack; she was at most 16 years old, and Jack was wondering how she was even working at this age.

"Alright, take me to her." Jack also wanted to make sure Yana was safe and sound.

Walking among many people Jack noticed everyone was leaving the palace. 'It seems the ceremony or whatever is now over,' Jack thought calmly.

Jack and Maid walked for 15 minutes, transitioning from a crowded place to an eerie quiet one. It would be a lie to say Jack was not scared, considering they were in a medieval castle.

After walking for two more minutes, Jack and the tiny maid approached a huge gate, guarded by two guards.

"Master has summoned him." The little maid addressed the guards who were blocking the gate for Jack and the maid.

"Enter," commanded one of the guards, nodding his head and opening the massive gate with a red button on the side.

'So they integrated technology into this medieval castle?' Jack pondered, gazing at the enormous towers encircling the castle.

Entering the room, Jack was flabbergasted. He thought only Yana would be there, but he saw at least eighteen to twenty people inside; Yana was one of them.

"Jack." Yana wanted to come running as soon as she saw Jack, but looking at the middle-aged man who was sitting in the middle of the huge room, she stopped.

Jack saw the middle-aged man again; he was charismatic, that's for sure; he was also a person you'll feel nervous talking with.

"Good afternoon, Sir." Jack politely greeted the man first.

"Yes, your name is Jack, correct?" The man first smiled at Jack before posing the question.

"Yes, sir," Jack nodded his head.

"Come sit down." The middle-aged man gestured for Jack to sit in front of him.

What shocked most Jack was that no one talked when the middle-aged man spoke, or still now, they were just watching them.

"Jack, will you believe me if I tell you I know all about you, or can you say more about you than yourself?" the middle-aged man smilingly said.

"Sir?" Jack was gobsmacked with this question.

"Don't be nervous. It's just that I specialize in collecting information." The middle-aged man smiled again.

"Jack, an eighteen-year-old boy from Australia, whose father was a remarkable driver. I have occasionally placed bets on your father. You're struggling financially, but suddenly, one day, something unexpected happened. Suddenly, Jack finds himself wealthy enough to purchase watches worth 300K€. The middle-aged man was grinning, but Jack was tense.

"So, my dear Jack, What actually happened? Don't tell me about being successful through small business; I've also looked into it." The middle-aged man smiled at Jack and waited for him to answer.

Jack was sweating hard; his senses were telling him this man was dangerous—not only dangerous but too intelligent.

Jack, filled with panic, closed his eyes, leaving even the middle-aged man perplexed by his actions.

The entire room remained silent for the full five minutes. The middle-aged man was sipping a coffee cup, but it finished as well.

Jack, who was never so scared in his life,this man made him feel dreadful.

"I know that answer too, where you get your money," the middle-aged Mr. Reimann responded to his own query.

In Jack's mind, there were only '????'tthis.

Jack looked at the middle-aged man with confusion.

"Your dad left you with a fortune; he earned a lot during his time in the F1, am I wrong?" The middle-aged man was all smug about it.

"Yeah, my father left me lots of money," Jack swiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Yes, I knew it." The middle-aged man looked happy.

"I just didn't want to pay taxes," Jack explained, or wanted to validate this claim.

"Ahaha, I know, who wants to pay taxes? Okay, let's move on to the main topic. Mr. Reimann looked serious.

"You fucked my daughter, didn't you?"

"You need to hesitate, sir." Jack was speechless.

"Well, you did; you can fuck her however or how many times you want; I just don't want you to marry her." Mr. Reimann's eyes looked cruel; the smile vanished from his face; he looked like a cruel mafia boss.

"I am not going to compromise on that. It's just there any techniques to preserve this much wealth; I need her to be at my disposal for maintaining this wealth." A middle-aged man was very casual about it.

Jack noticed the presence this man has; the whole room was still quiet; even Yana didn't voice out any opinions.

"Sir, so basically you want to marry her with Alexander?" Jack asked; he remembered the supposed future husband of Yana, the short man with a fake smile.