Empire of the Ring

The atmosphere of Baku was hot as the sun of August as the signing of the peace treaty was nearing.

The peace agreement with Armenia now had only a signing ceremony left, and the people of both countries were already excited as if peace had arrived.

If a peace treaty was signed, people from both sides would be able to freely visit each side and the trade volume would also increase, helping the two countries develop their economies.

Various military installations and heavy weapons deployed forward along the border would also become nominal or moved to the rear side, and military spending would be immensely reduced.

The budget could be used as a driving force for economic development and growth of each country.

Through working-level negotiations, the two sides agreed to guarantee each other the right to pass to and from Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhchivan, which had remained like islands in the two countries.

Then they decided to return the areas each had occupied and to withdraw the military forces deployed in those areas.

After the biggest problems were resolved, the peripheral issues were quickly settled.

There would be a buffer zone in the border area, which would be temporarily stationed peacekeepers that consisted of Russian troops and the Kazakh Royal BodyGuards.

It was to prevent accidental clashes in advance.

The signing of a peace treaty did not completely resolve the two countries’ national sentiment.

There were still deep grudges between the two countries.

How many lives had been lost due to countless wars and ethnic cleansing in occupied areas? It would be resolved in time as such heartbreaks healed and memories faded.

Over the years, the painful memories would be diluted, but history would never disappear.

It was never their own fault to have suffered this.

It was a pain that every powerless nation that had to live in the midst of great powers would have suffered since they were unable to keep up with the world.

Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia, which were commonly called the three countries of the Caucasus, were places with innocent people and natural resources.

Despite their beauty, the reason why people around the world shunned the place was because Armenia and Azerbaijan had maintained a hostile relationship.

Tourists, who traveled to either Armenia or Azerbaijan, were denied entry to the other country and not given visas just because they had traveled to a hostile country.

Who would visit this place if they could even be accused as spies?

Youngho was the living witness.

After visiting Nagorno-Karabakh, he was mistaken for a spy in Azerbaijan and suffered hardships by the militia.

If all such restrictions were lifted in the future, tourists were expected to flock in again.

Tourism income alone might even be able to feed the entire place as its nature was untouched so far.

The peace agreement between the two countries heralded such a number of changes.

Now there was no need to send husbands or sons to war, and there was no need to be wary of going to see relatives in different regions.

When relations between the two countries were normalized, people would reach their destinations in three to four hours whereas they had to go around through Georgia for two days.

It would have a huge impact on the economy, which would be a turning point in the lives of both people.

The effects would be demonstrated immediately by the supply and demand of energy.

This was because by receiving oil from Baku directly from the Middle East, there would be huge savings due to the reduction of transportation distance.

That was a great benefit for Armenia.

The same was true of Azerbaijan.

When the pipeline that bypassed around Georgia went through Armenia directly, the pipeline would be shorter, dramatically reducing maintenance costs.

Major oil companies, major shareholders of the pipeline, also lent their support for the peace treaty, as peace between the two countries would bring huge benefits to them.

The tangible and intangible benefits of such a peace treaty between the two countries were enormous.

Although they were just small countries, they had been a shortcut and a strategic location that connected Asia and Europe.

Of course, it was due to this geopolitical position that they had to suffer tragic pasts.

***

The signing ceremony of the peace treaty ended bland only in 30 minutes.

By the signing of the agreement by the presidents of the two parties, it immediately came into effect.

Youngho felt empty as it finished in such a short time. What could have ended so simply had been dragged for too long killing countless lives.

Interference by interested parties and politicians of the two countries’ political ambitions were the reasons behind the growing antagonism between the two countries.

They were finally able to achieve an agreement by making concessions little by little.

There had been ups and downs in the negotiation process, but today’s signing ceremony was possible due to the strong desire of both people for peace.

After the signing ceremony, the leaders shook hands with each other in a bright manner, and the dispute between the two countries was fading into history.

Every citizen, male and female, of all ages, was pouring out into downtown Baku to celebrate the historic day.

Restaurants and cafes on the streets added to the festive mood by offering free food and drinks.

The royal family also set up stalls here and there to provide free food and beverages throughout the city.

Food and beverages were also distributed in the temporary tent in front of the Arirang Hotel, located in the old town, and there were more kids than adults.

Youngho and other royal family members also monopolized the hotel lounge to celebrate the historic day and were busy looking around the streets.

They wanted to enjoy it with the citizens if they could, but they had to stay at the hotel because of security issues.

Fatima, looking down to see outside, smiled and grabbed Youngho’s arm.

“Hohoho… those kids will be stuck at the temporary tent all day. That boy in the blue shirt has been there three or four times already.”

She had been watching at the temporary tent carefully.

The food provided by the hotel was bound to be tasteful.

“It looks like he’s taking it to his family.”

“Then I should have prepared more food.”

The old town was home to the poor and the common people.

As was the case with many places where lower class people resided, there were exceptionally many children.

“Even a mountain of food will soon be gone.”

In Baku, which was also a tourist city, young kids could not be underestimated.

The city’s children were as clever as adults.

“If it’s not on this day, when are they going to try hotel food? I want them to eat as much as they want. When I lived in Istanbul, we used to walk to downtown to get food on festival days. When we got delicious food, Zeynep was the one who liked it the most.”

Fatima’s eyes twitched slightly when she said the words.

It reminded her of the slums of Istanbul.

“You took the sick kid there?”

“No, it was just me and Szechenyi.”

Having nothing to eat, Fatima siblings had to walk all the way to get free food.

Since they had no money to use public transportation, they must have grabbed their hungry stomach and walked three or four hours to downtown where the festivals were held.

Hearing her made Youngho imagine the little Zeynep, who would have waited in a dark, cold shack until her sister and brother returned.

It was even extravagant to say that the living conditions of the siblings Youngho visited in Istanbul’s slums were poor.

Even now, he could not help but feel sorry when he thought about the time he met the siblings.

He wrapped his arm around Fatima’s shoulder.

Then he called in the manager of the hotel and ordered him to pack food from the tent in front of the hotel.

“Thank you.”

When Youngho ordered this and that, Fatima smiled beautifully.

“I didn’t think of it. Why didn’t you mention it earlier?”

“I was reminded of it just now when I saw that boy. I’m sure any of those kids will get to meet the Daddy Long Legs like me, right?”

The ‘Daddy Long Legs’ Fatima mentioned was a character from the novel, Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster.

At the time he met her at a flea market, Fatima was a small skinny girl who was shabby because of lack of nutrition.

Youngho, who was over 185 centimeters tall, must have looked like a giant, not just a tall uncle.

That day, Youngho was feeling lazy because of the alcohol he drank the day before, and it was almost an impulsive act to buy the ring and the leather shoes that laid open on a cloth on the ground.

And if the ring had not shown any power, he might not have gone all the way back to Istanbul to find her.

Of course, he made a fuss and gave out his business card and too much money, but he believed that it was because he was still not sober from the alcohol.

“If it weren’t for the money you gave me that day, we siblings would have made an extreme choice. You forcibly gave that much money, so you could hold on until you found us, I was able to have the hope that the world wasn’t all that bad.”

“I had some extra money then.”

It was an impulsive act, but now that he thought of it, he was lucky.

It was just around the time he was making so much money, so he could have spent it recklessly, but if he had not, could he have offered a few hundred dollars?

“I think some of those kids can have hope because of the food we gave them today.”

Only those who had had difficulty could look back on others.

The Fatima brothers must be especially altruistic because they had a very poor childhood.

“The future of those children will be bright because our royal family has brought peace to the Caucasus. I’ll make sure to provide that.”

“I’m very proud of you.”

Youngho was flattered to hear her praise.

“It’s all thanks to you. If I had known you were a royal daughter, I should have given you more.”

“Hohoho…”

As the two were talking, Zeynep intervened.

“What? I hope you’re not talking bad about me.”

“Oh, sweetie! Why would we waste time talking about you?”

Fatima answered with an absurd look.

“Oh, so you don’t care about me?”

As Zeynep approached Youngho with a look of excitement, he tried to get out of the way, but she clung close to his arm.

“Why are you acting like a little girl, lady?”

“Oppa, is there anything I can help you with?”

Youngho knew that it was best to avoid Zeynep when she acted this way. It was because she acted friendly like this when asking for favors that were difficult to comply with.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, since the royal family has entered the Caucasus, I was wondering if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“Hmmm… There’s a lot of social work to be done by the welfare foundation. Would you like to take that?”

Since he just saw kids around the hotel in the old town, he empty-mindedly mentioned it.

“That’s fine, too. I’m planning to go to Armenia and Georgia for medical service. What do you think? I think it’ll also serve as an opportunity to promote our royal family.”

“We can approach Georgia through the Black Sea, but Armenia is an inland country, so I don’t think there’s a way.”

“We can use the train. I heard that Georgia and Armenia also have a lot of areas in need of medical service. The road conditions are very bad, but I think using the train will work.”

The use of trains to offer medical services was a groundbreaking idea.

“Use the train?”

Because of the rugged Caucasus Mountains, there were too many remote places in Armenia and Georgia that were out of reach of civilization.

Some did not even have electricity.

Fortunately, there was a railroad track that had been laid in the Soviet era, which offered a transport route.

“I only need a few hospital train cars for the hospital wards and operating rooms. We can stop at way stations and offer service.”

“That’s actually a good idea.”

“Isn’t that right?”

The main factor behind the peace treaty was the Kazakh royal family, no matter what.

However, active exchanges between two countries could not be expected yet because ethnic sentiment had yet to be healed. So, if the royal family came forward and offered medical service, they could shake off the grudges more quickly.

The royal family needed to show continued interest in Armenia, but there was no clear way.

Medical service was the best way to approach people.

“Okay, I’ll build you a medical train right now.”