Empire of the Ring

Princess Isabella was an important guest of the autonomous state but Rena was also a very special guest and daughter to Youngho.

The princess was happy as long as Szechenyi was there for her, so Youngho did not have to take care of her, but Rena was different. She felt awkward around new people except for Youngho and his family. Since she got easily sullen when he paid little attention to her, he had to be careful around her. That was why he tried to play with her as much as possible.

Ever since Youngho drove the kids around the state on a light-armored vehicle, she kept nagging to go for another ride again. She was mesmerized by the vast plain since all she saw in Tskhinvali were mountains.

Leon and Jelyan also grew fond of car ride lately. They were more appealed by the light-armored vehicle itself since the complicated machines inside looked like new toys.

Youngho was getting tired of it now. He only tried to play with the kids more often because he felt sorry that he had not been able to do that lately, but now it was getting out of his hand. Since he had come back from hunting with Princess Isabella yesterday, he planned to rest for today but kids were already asking to go out for a ride when he was still in bed.

"Hurry and wake up. Kids are coming to get you."

Fatima who had brought him some honey water to drink pushed him.

"Phew, these kids don't know when to stop."

"You brought this on yourself. Now Leon wants to go on the light-armored vehicle more than Rena. He's so stubborn."

"What about Zeynep and Seo-young?"

"They didn't come back from the hotel yesterday. They must've talked with the princess all night long."

The two girls who resisted to come back home from Frankfurt for their summer break had to come unwillingly because of Princess Isabella's visit. Youngho thought that the princess needed more friends around since she was always with Szechenyi only, so he had forced the girls to come back.

"Call Zeynep to play with the kids."

"Those girls are now tired of playing with Leon. They always make plans before I ask them."

Since Leon was known to never let go of people who came to play with him, he exhausted everyone.

"He must have gotten that from you, not me."

"What are you saying?!"

Fatima glared at him but that was still pretty. Youngho hugged her.

"You're giving me mixed messages here, honey. Let me go. The kids are coming."

"Let them come. It will have a good influence on them when they see mom and dad together."

The kids started to pull Youngho's arms when he was still finishing his breakfast. It seemed that Leon's stubbornness was contagious since now Rena and Jelyan were acting just like him. Although it made Youngho tired, this was a good change for Rena. She probably had never been so spoiled like this in her entire life. She had gained confidence enough to nag at Youngho. It was satisfying to see her this way. Considering how lonely she must have been without dad's love, Youngho could endure her nagging any day.

"Man, I don't know if I ate the food with my mouth or nose."

"Should I come along?"

"You can take a break Fatima but instead, can you call Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa? If the kids touch anything in the vehicle, we could have a safety accident. I need some adults' help."

"I think Miss Kim stayed up all night with the girls too."

Kim In-hwa must have joined the girls since she was quite excited to see the Danish princess.

"Hey, kids! Let's go out."

As soon as Youngho finished his sentence, the kids got all busy putting on thick down jackets and hats.

***

"Boss. The Kazakh government now knows that Princess Isabella is here. The president's secretary just called us to ask if she can make time to visit the presidential palace."

It was Kim Chun who had just received a call from the presidential palace.

"Phew, we tried our best to keep it quiet but they still found out about her. I guess there are some spies in our state."

"It must be navy soldiers. The Danish princess' visit is not small news. The whole state was busy to get ready for her visit. It'd be weird to say that no one had reported this to the Navy."

Although it was not an official visit, it was still a visit of a Danish royal princess.

Since the Kazakh government found out about that, the government felt that it would be rude to not to pay her respect. That was why the government wanted to invite her to the presidential palace. She was visiting the autonomous state but it was still Kazakhstan's territory. It was Youngho's mistake that he did not inform the government beforehand because the Kazakh government would be still held responsible if something bad happened to the princess in the autonomous state. Also, it was a good chance for the government to interact with the Danish royal family.

"I should first convince the princess since I can't give an answer without her consent. Could you tell the secretary to give us some time?"

"Boss. We should definitely make this happen. Isn't this a great chance for the autonomous state too? Our state in international society would be established if people found out that we're connected to the Danish royal family."

"Phew, this is now getting out of my hand."

"I think it's for the best."

Since the Danish royal family also made a mistake for not informing the Kazakh government about the princess' visit, the princess agreed to visit the presidential palace. It would still be unofficial to the public but Youngho was secretly planning to slip the news to the press.

The royal family had accepted them as a couple but it was still not announced publicly. So, Youngho wanted to make it official this time.

The Danish princess' love story with a descendant of the Archduke of the fallen Serbian Kingdom would let the whole world know about the Arirang Autonomous State, and the Kazakh government would have to officially admit the Serbian Archduke family.

This kind of big news should be delivered by a global broadcasting company like CNN.

Youngho immediately called Agent Smith who was working at the U.S. embassy in Astana. Since Smith had many connections, he would know many journalists. There were so many freelance journalists who would want to report this kind of global news.

"Smith. Would you like to get free drinks from journalists?"

"Mr. Lee. They're the people who rip you off instead. How would they buy me a drink?"

"What? Aren't you such a pushover? You work at the embassy but you still have to crawl to the journalists?"

"I have to collect information as an agent you know. Most of my information expense is wasted to treat them."

"I have a serious item. You can use it to pay back to the journalists."

"Are you sure?"

Smith was happy to hear that he could be bossy to the journalists once and for all.

"Someone important will be invited to the presidential palace soon. Tell them to make sure to get good photos of the event, and I'll tell you the details next time. You can meet the journalists and tell them all about it."

"Who is this about?"

"I can't tell you that right now. If I get pictures, I'll get them to you as soon as possible."

"If my information is not correct, those journalists won't leave me alone."

"You can guarantee that you're going to be the only source of this news. Those journalists will make so much money for this."

"Are you sure about this? If things go as you say, I will buy drinks for you multiple times."

Smith thanked Youngho and promised that he would buy multiple drinks for him.

***

Even though it was an unofficial visit, the presidential palace had prepared honor guards to receive Princess Isabella. Since the Danish royal family had politely apologized for not informing her visit to the autonomous state, the presidential palace did not hold any grudge against that. The president even felt sorry that the government had made a big deal out of this when the princess was only here to see her boyfriend in secret.

After the banquet was over, Szechenyi, Isabella, Fatima, and her children went to take a rest to the guest rooms of the presidential palace. Youngho and the president were left to talk.

"Mr. President, I never wanted to hide it from the government but since it was not announced officially, I wanted to be extra careful. I apologize for my mistake."

"I know, you'd have done what you had to do but I couldn't let this pass since I found out that an honorary guest was visiting Kazakhstan."

"Danish royal family had already acknowledged their relationship, so I think they'll have their wedding by next fall."

"I see. The royal family must've recognized the Archduke family."

"What good would a fallen Archduke family be? I was surprised to hear this at first too."

"Then people would believe that the Kazakh government recognized the fallen Archduke family of the old Serbian Kingdom too since we made the autonomous state a special administrative region."

What Youngho wanted to hear finally came out of the president's mouth. He was asking if the Danish royal family knew about the autonomous state's new status.

"The queen was very happy to hear the news. Marrying into a royal family of an autonomous state is very different from marrying into a royal family of a special administrative region. You have saved the Danish royal family's face."

"I didn't even give you rich land with beautiful sceneries in east Kazakhstan but instead gave you a semi-deserted land. You make me feel stingy."

The president put down his wine glass and made a joke. He was in a good mood.

"Mr. President. It would be nice if we could have the wedding in Kazakhstan but I'm afraid that I can't ignore the position of the Danish royal family."

"It doesn't matter where you'd be having the wedding. The special administrative region belongs to Kazakhstan and the whole world will find out that the Danish princess is marrying the Archduke's descendant in Kazakhstan anyway."

"So I was thinking to have a coronation ceremony for the Archduchess next spring. It would help to promote the special administrative region in Kazakhstan. I wanted to hear your opinion on this."

"Are you inviting European royal families and leaders?"

"The autonomous state is not fully developed yet to receive such guests. I was going to invite broadcasting companies to let people know that the fallen Serbian Kingdom was being rebuilt with the help of the Kazakh government. That will bring Kazakhstan to the center of the world's attention automatically."

"That's terrific. I treated journalists from broadcasting companies well during Asian Winter Games but they still reviewed our country badly. But a coronation must be different."

The president would wish for positive articles about Kazakhstan, but there were no journalists and companies that would praise the prolonged period of a one-man rule presidency.

Youngho did not care for that. He only wanted to get international recognition for the fallen Serbian Kingdom's Archduke family. The Kazakh government would also work in favor of the autonomous state too. Everything seemed to be going well as Youngho planned.

"Mr. President. I'm afraid that the Kazakh public might not take the Archduchess' coronation well."

"No, I'm sure they'll love it since it's going to make Kazakhstan famous. I'll make sure to promote this to the public, you shouldn't be worried about that. Kazakhstan will not shake just because of a little autonomous state."

The president was confident about his country.

"Also, our government will send a delegation to the wedding too. Since it's a special event for the autonomous state in Kazakhstan, our government has a privilege to be there."

"Of course, sir."