Chapter 200 - The Castle

After the photos were completed, the photographers, the hairstylist, and the makeup artist all turned to leave. "We will send you the edited photos in a few days," one of the photographers said as he waved goodbye.

Halia nodded with excitement, "Thank you."

After they left, Ernst smiled at the couple and handed them each a ticket. "Since we're here, here's a little gift from my company. They are tickets for a guided tour inside the castle. Photos aren't allowed inside. It's something that you need to see with your own eyes," he said.

Halia and Jackson smiled at the middle-aged man in surprise. This was such a thoughtful gift.

As they held onto the tickets, they quickly thanked the man and rushed off to get changed. After all, they couldn't walk into the castle with their wedding outfits. What if Halia's dress knocked over something?

As tour groups began to arrive, Halia and Jackson finally changed back into their normal clothes and blended in with the crowd. Neuschwanstein Castle was definitely a popular place to visit. Luckily, they had arrived early, or it would have been impossible to get good photos.

Tickets to the castle were timed and limited to a certain capacity every day, so it was important to pre-book tickets. Once they had tickets, entry was only available through guided tours provided by the castle in English and German. Of course, one could always hire an audio guide if they didn't speak either, but fortunately for the couple, both of them could speak English fluently, so the English tour was no problem at all.

Ernst had been driving couples up to the castle for years, so he was well experienced and came prepared. He had contacted the photographers last night, confirmed the time it took for them to get their photos done and pre-booked tickets for a suitable time slot. This was the type of service that made him a professional in his field. 

As Halia and Jackson entered the castle with a small group of other tourists, a woman greeted them in English. 

She briefly explained the history of the castle before she passed them on to a colleague who led them to the next room and started explaining the design concept of the place.

It was like they were inside a video game and there were NPCs waiting in each room. It was extremely well-organized and ran efficiently.

Even though the castle looked clean and slick on the outside, the inside was completely different. Neuschwanstein Castle was built by the eccentric King Ludwig II from Bavaria and this man had some of the craziest, over-the-top ideas. These were th ideas that made Neuschwanstein so enchanting and magical. Unfortunately, he died before the castle was even completed.

Since the castle was barely used, the interiors were kept in pristine condition and one could stand in each room for hours admiring all the fine details (of course, the timing of the tour did not allow for this), especially the floor-to-ceiling murals that were painted across the walls of each room and the indoor cave that the king built as a quiet retreat.

"This place is so interesting," Halia exclaimed as she looked around in awe. Jackson smiled and nodded his head in agreement. 

There were many mysteries surrounding the castle, including how the king mysteriously died and his purpose for building the castle. It was no secret that the king was a great admirer and supporter of the composer Richard Wagner and he made it clear that the castle was made in honor of his dear friend. In fact, the murals inside the castle were all depictions of operas that Richard Wagner had written. But, why was he so infatuated with this composer?

Some people speculated...that he was secretly in love with the man, especially when diaries were discovered with homos.e.x.u.a.l desires written inside.

Perhaps, this man wasn't crazy and eccentric, he was simply different and ahead of his time.

If this was true, then Neuschwanstein Castle was one of the most opulent symbols of love in the world.

"If I built a castle for you, how would you feel?" Jackson suddenly asked as he grabbed Halia's hand.

Halia giggled, "I'm not a composer, what would you paint on the walls?"

Jackson smiled, "There are plenty of things that I can think of."

Halia laughed, "If you built me something like this for me, I would have to spend the next hundred lifetimes repaying you with my love."

Jackson pulled Halia into his arms and placed a kiss on her forehead, this was exactly the type of answer that he wanted to hear, "That sounds like a pretty good deal."

Halia chuckled as she buried her head into the man's embrace, but she had no idea that the man was seriously considering it. After all, who built castles these days?

...

While Halia and Jackson were out enjoying themselves, Mia was sitting with Jaclyn and watching a movie. Every few hours, she would send Jackson a message to update him on his sister's progress. And so far, Jaclyn had been handling the withdrawals pretty well. Perhaps, this was due to the fact that they had intervened early and Jaclyn was quite determined to quit as well.

Jaclyn did not sleep well all night; the headaches were excruciating and she kept getting the chills, but the symptoms of withdrawal were beginning to ease a little. But, of course, as time ticked by, her cravings increased. She could still imagine the euphoric feeling of the drug coursing through her veins and she wanted so badly to experience it again, but Mia had reassured her that the cravings would disappear soon and she would return to normal, so she tried her best to resist it.

As they sat on the bed together watching the television that was mounted to the wall, there was suddenly a knock on the door. It was John.

"Go get some rest, Mia. I'll take over from here," he said as he helped Mia up. Mia had spent the entire night accompanying Jaclyn and was exhausted.

Due to the fact that she had been sitting on the bed for so long, her legs were numb and she stumbled a little as she stood up, falling into John's arms. The man's chocolate brown eyes twinkled a little as he helped the woman up, but Mia simply thanked him indifferently. 

Jaclyn watched the scene in front of her and squealed quietly in excitement. These two looked like a perfect match! And, judging by the look in John's eyes, he was obviously in love with Mia already. Who wouldn't be? She was like an angel.

But, for some reason, Mia did not look interested.

Perhaps...they needed some help from a matchmaker...

With this thought, Jaclyn felt a rush of excitement. She was so excited that she forgot about her cravings for a second.

That was right, she was going to repay these two by matching them with each other!