Empire of the Ring

Youngho also shared his plan of forming an Oceanic Navy to President Aliyev.

He was quite surprised to hear such a grand plan. He even jumped out of his seat to hear that large icebreakers would soon be launched for a route across the Arctic Ocean.

“I feel like I’ve been a frog in a well all along. I’m ashamed that I hadn’t been thinking about the world while you’ve dreamed of dealing with the world.”

“What do you mean? Your Excellency’s economic development has inspired Kazakhstan’s economy. What humility do you mean when you get overwhelming support from the people?”

“If I can’t make the money flow, the approval rating will go down very quickly. It’s a shame… So, I would like to invest in your shipping company personally, would that be possible?”

“Not as the Azerbaijani government but personally?”

“That’s right. Someday, I’ll have to step down from power. I’ll have to think about my future, too.”

Whether it was the government or an individual, there was no reason to reject investment.

“Well, I’m glad you trust my business.”

“If I don’t believe the Kazakh royal family, who would I believe in? There’s even a safety device in Baku just in case it goes wrong.”

The safety device he said was the business establishment of the Kazakh royal family in Baku.

“If you’d like Zeynep Farm, tell me. I’ll hand it over to you, but you’ll have to be prepared for a high price. However, I don’t want to sell the ranch at all, so don’t even think about it.”

“Hahaha… How dare would I try to take over the farm? I will leave it alone even if you abandon it because our people love the Kazakh royal family. I will lose their favor if I didn’t.”

Aliyev was quite sensitive about people’s approval.

Youngho did not really mean to sell the farm but had to ask to see Aliyev’s intention. It was a relief to hear that he did not want to take over any business that Youngho had in Azerbaijan. Rather, he wanted to keep Youngho’s businesses in Azerbaijan for people’s favor.

Zeynep Wine’s reputation was rapidly growing now. If he wanted, Youngho could hand it over to him because he could make another vineyard in Kazakhstan. Moreover, Aliyev would not be able to use the brand of Zeynep if Youngho left. If so, it was questionable whether the farm would be able to maintain its current reputation.

***

The meeting with President Aliyev ended in a friendly atmosphere.

A rough sketch for the New Silk Road had been drawn, and now the only thing left was to convince Iran to get involved.

That would be easily resolved with Park Jong-il’s brief visit to Tehran.

Since it would be like blowing its nose without touching it, Iran would gladly agree in any case.

After the official event was over, Youngho stopped at Zeynep Farm and the Serbian ranch to spend time with people after a long time. While doing so, someone followed Youngho on his way back because he earnestly asked, so Youngho agreed as he felt bad. It was Kim Il-kwon, who was left as the chief executive of the Zeynep Farm and Serbian ranch in Baku.

Kim Il-kwon’s role, though he was said to be in charge, was nothing more than symbolic in Baku. It was because there were professional managers in Zeynep Farm and the Serbian ranch and the gold mine where the royal villa was located were controlled by the descendants of the Serbian knights. There was virtually nothing Kim Il-kwon could do.

It would be a waste if his strength and skills were not used, and he was eager to come to Kazakhstan with Youngho and protect the royal family himself.

“It may have seemed that there’s nothing for you to do in Baku, but nothing happened because you were there guarding it. Why do you want to come to the royal territory?”

“Your Grace. I heard that Princess Jelyan was a target of abduction. Does it make sense that no one knew about it while the criminals were out there? It’s like there’s a hole in the security. We need to reform the security office this time.”

“They have been on alert ever since.”

“Being on alert does not guarantee safety. It’s important to block the risk factors in advance.”

With the advent of Kim Il-kwon, the royal palace security service would suffer for some time.

This was because Kim Il-kwon said he would take charge of the security office.

So far, the security of the royal palace had been shared by the security guards of Zeynep Security Service and the descendants of the Serbian knights, but he wanted to make a separate security team out of them.

Youngho had to agree to Kim Il-kwon’s idea as it would improve the security of the royal palace and because the royal well-being was directly related to the well-being of the royal family.

Kim Il-kwon was the right person for the job.

Youngho was well acknowledged about his keen sense from his past special training as a spy of North Korea. Without the ability of the ring, Youngho would have been beaten by Kim Il-kwon with his exceptional strength and skills.

“Your Grace, don’t think you’re going anywhere without me in the future. You must take the lead and cooperate with the security service.”

“Why do you care so much about security all of a sudden?”

“After the case of abducting Princess Jelyan, I figured this is not going to stop after one attempt. There could be an assassin targeting you directly. I know better than anyone else because I received special training in North Korea, and I was also trained to assassinate someone.”

“Somebody sends an assassin to kill me? Who would do such a stupid thing? It’s going to draw the attention of the whole world.”

“You’ve been continuously blocking China’s advance. If I were the leader of China or Russia, I would have thought to do so already. Please forgive me for saying something rude, but I will do whatever it takes to serve you.”

“I guess you think I’m rusty because I’m the Duke now.”

“I know you’re stronger than me, but you can’t take care of other people around you when you’re so busy. Also, if you have a lot of thoughts, you’re bound to miss the danger around you.”

“What about you?”

“I can protect the whole royal family because I only think about the family’s safety.”

The reason why Kim Il-kwon was so loyal to Youngho was because of his gratitude for allowing him to live a new life at Zeynep Farm, but Youngho did not want it to be a burden for him.

“Il-kwon. It’s not like I don’t know why you’re doing this. You’ve paid me back more than enough for what you’ve done for me since you came to the farm. If I’m in danger, you’d be in danger too. You don’t have to put yourself in danger.”

“Boss, without your care, our family wouldn’t have been able to survive until today. How many people in the world could risk taking me and getting my family here from North Korea? If I already forgot about that, I’d be an animal disguised in human form. Please don’t say such things because my goal is to protect you and your family until I die. I’ll raise my kids to do the same as well.”

Youngho was moved not by Il-kwon’s words but by the way he called him, ‘Boss’. It reminded him of the past days. People used to call him ‘Boss’ not ‘Your Grace’ or ‘Your Highness.’

“I’m surprised that you know how to move people’s hearts.”

“Did you think I’m an emotionless beast?”

“You said you’d be a cold-blooded person with no emotions if you had such harsh training, didn’t you?”

“I’m not the cold-blooded man of the past anymore. I’m a normal person so feel safe.”

“So let it go. If you’re not good enough, I’ll kick you back to Baku.”

“I’m not going to get away from the palace from now on.”

“Then bring your family here. Your wife and children need a father.”

“That will be a disruption to my work.”

“What if I insist?”

“…”

“If your parents can’t leave Baku because they’re so attached to it, at least bring your wife and children. That is an order.”

“All right. Your Highness.”

“Report your moving to Jong-il and get the equipment you need. I’ve seen a lot of useful toys in the intelligence department these days.”

“I’m worried he’ll try to grill me. I was being accused of squandering in Baku when the abduction incident happened here.”

Park Jong-il must have called Baku in distress when the royal territory suffered from the human trafficking ring.

“Oh, you’re already on top of his mind. You won’t lose.”

“He uses his fist first, so that’s a problem.”

“Should the head of the security team be beaten by the intelligence chief? Anyway, sort it out with him well. Don’t drag me into it.”

“Maybe I’ll have to buy him a drink tonight. In fact, I should get everyone together tonight to report my return.”

It seemed that there would be a drinking party tonight.