Empire of the Ring

“Man, can you believe this? I’ve never heard of restricting alcohol even in the communistic society.”

“I even tried to use my authority to pressure him but he didn’t even blink. He’s coldblooded.”

Three friends in Baku have complained against Kim Chun’s alcohol quota system. As Youngho came back to Baku, everyone had gathered at the mansion on Zeynep Farm.

“So, you came to Baku to drink?”

“Heck no, I came here because I missed you guys.”

“So, you didn’t even come for your family but for us?”

“Oh, just let go of it. You sure know how to nitpick on things.”

“Look at him getting all upset. He has a bad withdrawal symptom. Hey, Insoo! Hurry and get the drinks in the fridge. We need to treat him now!”

Jong-il’s joke made everyone laugh.

At the table, Fatima, Zeynep, and even Jelyan joined them to eat trout from the Ural River that Youngho brought. Zeynep asked as she was carrying a portion of trout to her plate.

“Oppa. Are you really going to get me an apartment?”

“Yeah. You said you’re going to live with Seo-young. What can I do? But you need to stay with Szechenyi for now.”

“Yeah! Thank you oppa.”

She was exuberated.

Zeynep finally made the decision to leave for Frankfurt despite Youngho’s opposition. He could not say no since Zeynep and Park Seo-young—daughter of doctor Park Youngsun, both were already admitted to the Goethe University in Frankfurt.

Szechenyi would be receiving his degree in a year. He was still deciding whether he should seek a master’s degree or he should start managing one of Zeynep Corporation’s businesses. If Szechenyi decided to stay in Frankfurt for either reason, Zeynep’s dream to live on her own would finally come true. Knowing that Youngho could not keep her forever, he decided to let her go. Although he was concerned, he knew that it would not be beneficial for her if he kept trying to suppress her desire.

After enjoying loud and busy family time, Youngho and his friends moved to the study.

“Just beware that the autonomous state only allows one bottle of drink a day from now on.”

“The problem is those Serbians. Man, they can drink. I worry about their health.”

“Oh, look who’s talking. You need to drink less too. I heard that you went out with officials yesterday.”

“They never give you information unless they’re drunk.”

High officials in Baku now preferred to accompany Jong-il rather than Youngho. Although Jong-il said his purpose was to collect information, it seemed that he became good friends with the officials. They did not keep secrets from him.

“Did you hear anything about the railroad project?”

“It looks like the Azerbaijani government is going to push through on its own. Russia is slowing down because of the Crimean Peninsula. It’s also struggling with Syria now.”

Previously, Russia had grilled Azerbaijan as if the project would soon begin but it was now targeting other nations. Nonetheless, the Azerbaijani government had been repairing the railroad near the Iranian border. It was also working on the route that was connected to the Gulf since it was a necessary traffic route even if it were not for Russia.

“Those brown bears must be thinking that the Black Sea will be theirs if they gulped down the Crimean Peninsula.”

Ever since the Crimean Peninsula was annexed by Russia, it became a hot potato in the global community. The peninsula’s economy was stopped growing because of the aftermath of the annexation. The western world was bitter towards the peninsula since the annexation was processed after its people’s vote.

“Does it become your own country just because you gulped it down for yourself? Man, I’m afraid that Russia will try to gain Ukraine too.”

“I hope Russia gets into a fight against Ukraine. While it gets dragged by the Crimean Peninsula, our state should grow strength.”

Youngho truly wished that, since Ukraine’s economic and military power was great and Russia would definitely have a difficult time.

“You think Kazakhstan or Azerbaijan can be stronger as Russia?”

“You know the gas price is restored now. That’s the power of these nations.”

“You’re right. The oil producing countries around the coast are doing much better now. Mr. Choi was happy that our shipping company’s receiving more shipping orders now.”

The oil price had been maintained at 30 dollars per each barrel, then was raised up to forty dollars now, and the economic situation of the oil-producing countries of the Caspian coast was getting better now. The effect of the increased oil price would start making changes in a few months but it gave peace and relief to the people.

To other countries who import gas, this was bad news but it was like a green traffic light to Youngho who lived on the Caspian coast since people began to buy things after regaining psychological stability. Sergey also screamed with joy since wine sale was rising now.

The oil price increase benefited Youngho’s wine business and hotel business now that people started traveling more.

***

The descendants of the knights of the Serbian Kingdom who resided in Zeynep Farm, Charles farm, and Serbian ranch village were living prosperous life now.

“Chief Niksic, welcome.”

After Old Niksic left to the autonomous state for new immigrants, Nermin, who had been in charge of gold mines, had now become a new chief.

“Prince consort. You’ve been so busy with the autonomous state. Why don’t you visit Baku more often?”

“I know I haven’t been here as often as I wanted to but please cut me some slack. The autonomous state still has a long way to go. Besides, Chief Nermin, you’re doing so well. This place doesn’t need me.”

“Oh, I know nothing.”

Nermin was being modest but he was proud of himself. It seemed that he was truly enjoying his job as the village chief. Nermin was a traditional and loyal person, same as Old Niksic. Every evening, he came to visit Fatima to pay respect. The Archduchess was a great figure in his life although it was still hard to understand.

“So, I heard that the cheese produced from the ranch would be distributed to Arirang Hotel?”

“They’re asking us to provide more for hotel’s guests. They said that people loved our cheese. I’m a little worried because we can only produce so much cheese.”

“Why don’t you increase the size of the livestock? The ranch is big enough and it won’t be a problem.”

“We can do that but I don’t think we’ll be able to get enough hay in the winter. It’s not easy to get good quality hay around here since earth near Baku is polluted. So, I was wondering, do you think we can get hay from the Arirang Autonomous State?”

“We’re growing grass and it’s going well so far but I can’t guarantee that they’ll grow the same until the fall. It’s much drier there and watering is the hard part.”

“If you could provide us dry hay, we’ll increase the livestock.”

Arirang Shipping’s vessels that went around the Caspian Sea sometimes sailed with empty cargo lots. It would be nice if those vessels could transport hay to the Serbian ranch in Baku. It was not a problem for the state to produce the amount of hay the ranch needed since its territory was huge. The only concern was their quality.

“I heard this from Zeynep that some of the high school graduates this year want to study abroad. Is that true?”

“That’s what they’re hoping for but I don’t think that’ll be possible.”

Among the descendants of Serbian knights, there were so many talented teenagers. If they did not have the resource they needed, they would only end up being laborers of the farm and ranch.

“If they wanted to study more, I should give them a hand. Let’s send them to where they want to go. I’ll take care of the cost.”

“Then we’ll support them with the ranch’s savings.”

“No. I want to support at least their education cost. I made a welfare foundation to help other people. I can’t ignore the kids of our farm and ranch.”

The descendants of knights had been saving it for the new Serbian immigrants in the autonomous state.

“We have more than enough to cover their education cost.”

“You can distribute the savings to all of the people of the residents here fairly. They’ve worked hard to establish all this. Now it’s their time to get rewarded. I don’t ever wish to suffocate them.”

“I’ll give away most of them and leave some, just in case. This would be useful someday.”

Knowing that Serbians can be stubborn, Youngho did not push him further. However, he was going to pay for the kids’ education cost no matter what. It was an investment for the future of the kids, and this would be paid back to him in time anyway.

“You can discuss that with the village people and decide what to do with the money, but there’s time for study. I’ll take care of the talented kids.”

“If you are determined, I should follow your decision, prince consort. They’d be excited to hear this.”

Youngho’s heart leaned toward the descendants of the Serbian knights against the residents of the autonomous state. It was natural since they were the ones who stuck with him from the beginning. Maybe it was because the group showed peculiar loyalty to Fatima, his dear wife. No matter how hard he tried to make up his mind to not lean toward a group over another, he felt peaceful whenever he came to Baku. However, it was a useless concern since all of the people were now family no matter where they lived.

“I realized how scary the first affection can be. I thought I’d never be like this.”

“Dude, you think you’re a saint? Those people are fanatically loyal to Fatima. It’d be weird if you didn’t love those people more. They’re so devoted and they’ve got no self-desire.”

“Well, I think they have too much desire. Do you know they are still dreaming to build their old fallen kingdom until now? It’s a little scary at times.”

Many ethnic groups in East Europe could be so blinded sometimes.

People would be coldblooded and rational in real life but if they went inside the fence of ethnicity, they acted as if they lost their rationale. It did not matter if it was a highly educated person or a laborer.

It was difficult to understand from a perspective of a Korean.

Youngho did not get why people were so enthusiastic about royal families when all they do was to take away people’s taxes. Could that ever be possible in Korea? If he tried to convince people to serve the fallen Joseon Dynasty, people would call him lunatic.

Anyway, it was all because of the descendants of the Serbian knights that the autonomous state had settled down. Youngho was also doing so well because of their hard work. Their loyalty was indeed valuable and admirable. It was because of their fire, the whole of the Arirang Autonomous State was warmed up.