Empire of the Ring

"Smith. Did the journalists take pictures?"

"They said that they followed the group around from the airport to the presidential palace and got the whole event on their cameras. Can you tell me now who the person was? They said that they were very secretive."

"Man, how come those journalists are so slow to notice?"

"There were some kids and some other people. Those journalists are already giving me pressures right now. Are you sure is this a big one?"

"What if there was a Danish royal princess?"

"Wait, what did you say?"

"You know what? I don't like to repeat myself. I'll email you what's going to be on the article. You can match that with the pictures those journalists took. Tell them that I'll decide whether or not I should give them more stories in the future depending on how good their article is."

"Got that. I'll talk to you soon then."

Szechenyi and Princess Isabella were going to get married soon anyway, and helping them to make it official would not hurt anyone. Youngho was excited to think that the whole world's attention would be drawn to the Arirang Autonomous State. Journalists from all over the world would soon come to the autonomous state to know more about this new state. Then the news of coronation that would be held in the spring would also be known to the world in no time. The Danish royal family would suffer a little bit but they would have no chance but to accept the situation.

"Hahaha… I guess Smith would be exuberated by now."

"He must be being treated heavily at one of the hotel bars in Astana by now."

"That was a clever move. Are you sure it came out of your head?"

"Hey, what about my brain?"

"You must know this already but I can speak five languages freely. Am I not your tactician?"

"Oh yeah, you are so great. You can speak Kazakh and Armenian all you want!"

Since they were in a good mood, they were joking with each other with random talk.

The follower couple who was overhearing their conversation was proud that the autonomous state was going to be famous through the global press.

"Mr. CEO, what are we going to do if we get too many journalists and reporters?"

"You two secretaries will have to take care of them."

"But we need some guidelines. We want only official interviews to be published."

"You could regulate that. Be sure to only tell them the official stance of the autonomous state. If anything related to Princess Isabella comes up, tell them to ask the Danish royal family."

"What is the autonomous state's stance?"

"Tell them that the Kingdom of Serbia that fell about 500 years ago is rebuilding with the help of the Kazakh government in the Arirang Autonomous State. If you tell them that everything will be revealed at the Archduchess' coronation next spring, they'll be dying to know more about us."

"It's a little too vague."

"We want the vagueness to attract the press. Are you going to tell them everything before they even ask? You've got to make them curious."

The reason Youngho brought Fatima and his kids to the presidential palace with Princess Isabella was that he wanted to introduce them to President Nazarbayev before the coronation took place.

Inviting the Archduchess to the presidential palace meant that the Kazakh government had acknowledged the existence of the Archduchess. Since journalists had taken pictures of them too, it would be covered as well.

Also, the atmosphere at the banquet was great because the president liked kids. When they were quietly sitting down, they looked like little angels. In the end, Youngho was embarrassed since tired Leon started to act out but it was expected of a little child.

The president complimented Leon's loud voice saying that he would make a great Archduke. It seemed that everyone was introduced well because of Princess Isabella. Since other politicians at the banquet heard that the president's mention of Archduchess and Archduke, it looked like the government would soon officially acknowledge the existence of the Serbian Kingdom's Archduke family soon. The president must have done it because of Princess Isabella. If he did not admit it to her, it would be rude since he would be denying the authenticity of the Archduke family in front of her when she was marrying into the family.

***

Although Princess Isabella left the state for Denmark, the autonomous state had received so many requests of journalists who wanted to visit and cover the state.

Many European royal families that had been providing them with all sorts of news had been quiet recently. Now that they had heard that there was going to be a royal wedding, it was like rain in a drought, especially when the wedding was between the Danish royal family and an unknown Serbian Kingdom's Archduke family which was known to have fallen in history.

"Hahaha… There are no secrets in our autonomous state. Let them all come and cover us. Our hotel's going to be booked full by guests."

"Oh, we surely have secrets, Boss. We've got the metal lab and Bentonite lab. Especially if people found out that you are wealthy, there will be so many people who will approach you for money."

If the autonomous state did not provide vehicles to the guests, they would not go near to the labs that were located in the outskirt of the state in the severely cold weather.

"I used all of my money for the autonomous state. I don't have much now."

"You just bought two jets. Who's going to believe that?"

No matter how many times Youngho said that he did not have money, Kim Chun did not even blink. To him, it did not make sense that his boss had just bought two jets and decided to receive Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan when he had no money. It was because building houses for them would cost an astronomical amount of money. The autonomous state's budget could not possibly handle that amount.

Kim Chun thought that it was better for people to think that the autonomous state was not so wealthy, but Youngho thought differently. He wanted to hear that the autonomous state was a place that could not be overlooked. He also wanted to save the Danish royal family's face and brag about loyal residents.

There were no other group of people in the earth that was so unified like the people of the autonomous state in the 21st century. He was proud of his state.

The news that Youngho and Smith slip out to the journalists had drawn the whole world's attention to the autonomous state and left a bunch of questions.

They had used a group of journalists to publish small pieces of consecutive articles about the autonomous state so that there were no in-depth stories about it. It raised speculation that the Danish royal princess would be marrying the Archduke's descendant of the fallen Serbian Kingdom soon.

Since the Danish royal family had the most authority second to the British royal family, people assumed that the princess would not marry someone from an unknown, illegitimate family.

Smith told the journalists that he would provide the next story soon, and they were now calling him day and night. He was happy that he was finally being treated well by those arrogant journalists.

When it was difficult to get stories from the autonomous state, journalists would turn to the Kazakh government, and the government would like the attention as well. It was a win-win situation since Kazakhstan would be promoted to global society.

Central Asia was very underestimated by the global community. People were reluctant to travel to the new countries that had not been existing long since they were freed from the Soviet Union not long ago. Youngho was always bitter to see that European countries were raising so much money from tourism when there were so many beautiful countries in Central Asia too.

The follower couple and Kim Chun were exuberated by the journalists' attention. Most importantly, they were happy that businesses of the autonomous state were going so well.

Secondly, since Kim Chun was the commissioner of the autonomous state, he had to do many interviews and the followers were also busy to assist him. They were the great source to inform the journalists about what was going on in the state including the news of the Archduchess' coronation next year.

As the number of guests was increasing, Atyrau Airport said that it would provide a 16-seater and 8-seater propeller airplanes and run regular flights to the autonomous state. Since the airfield of the autonomous state was not a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization, it could not be used for commercial use. So, Atyrau Airport had found an opportunity in the niche market.

Although Kazakhstan was making money because of Princess Isabella, Youngho was still happy about it.

***

"Mr. CEO. This is too much for Commissioner Kim to handle alone. Can't you please step up and deal with it for once? The journalists said that they will expose the Archduchess and her children's faces on the Internet."

"Oh, ask them to please go ahead and put up the pictures. It's about time."

"But princess Zeynep's face will be up there too."

"What? Oh, that's not going to happen. She's still a student."

"I think you have to meet the journalists, Mr. CEO. They won't be convinced without you."

Youngho had been only thinking about the promotion of the autonomous state, but not his family members' privacy. If Zeynep found out about this, she would not go easy on him. He would have to step up for there was an unexpected problem.

"I've got to make a compromise with them with the picture of Leon, Rena, or Jelyan."

"You should take out Rena from the list. Otherwise, you'd have to explain your relationship to them."

Come to think of it, Rena was neither his adopted daughter nor a stepdaughter. It would be not easy to explain his relationship with the people. It could also make rumors about the private life of the Archduchess' prince consort.

"Oh well. I guess there's no other choice. Tell the journalists that I'm going to hold a press conference."

"Yes, sir!"

Happy to hear Youngho's answer, Suh Min-seok answered him loudly and left his office.

He was just excited to be part of an exciting event at the autonomous state.

The follower couple seemed to have gained confidence ever since they came back from Korea. Compared to the living environment of Korea, the Arirang Autonomous State was a place of paradise, except for its barren natural environment.

The state did not charge people for housing, education, medical treatments, and many other services, and most importantly there were so many job opportunities for willing people.

The two must have told their families and friends that they had important job titles in the state and many people must have envied them. It was not easy to survive in Korea where there were plenty of high-quality human resources competing with each other in a small job pool. They would have bragged so much about the autonomous state.

Since they had come back earlier than their given break period, Youngho asked what brought them early.

"You guys are just so unpredictable. Why did you come back early?"

"Miss Kim In-hwa dragged me here, so I had to come earlier than I had planned."

Suh Min-seok complained that Kim In-hwa had insisted to return to the state but he did not look like he was sad to come back.

The two must have been curious about what would have happened to the autonomous state while they were gone since the state was full of new changes.

"Kim In-hwa! Why did you bring your boyfriend who was enjoying his freedom from work?"

"I knew that Leon and Jelyan would be missing us and…"

"Phew, you know they have a great family that takes care of them so well."

"Actually, we didn't really enjoy our vacation to Korea really well. So I convinced Suh Min-seok to come back early."

"Why did you do that? The autonomous state operates just fine without you."

"Because it's more dynamic here than in Korea."

"Which part is?"

"Mr. CEO, we are never bored when we work with you."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"I feel like we're in a movie. Are we the main protagonists?"

"What are you talking about? I'm the main character and you guys are only my sidekicks."