Empire of the Ring

"What? They attempted to kidnap Jelyan?"

"I'm telling you. They belong to a human trafficking ring in Romania."

It was well known through media that many women in Romania and Bulgaria had been the target of human trafficking and sold to the red-light district of Hamburg, Germany.

Even so, it was ridiculous to think that such human traffickers had targeted Jeylan, a princess of Kazakhstan. The royal territory's security was almost perfect, and Jelyan was being guarded by her personal bodyguards.

"I think I should give them an award for challenging the impossible. But it's so suspicious that they've acted this obviously."

"I'm also watching them because it's a little strange. As soon as we captured them, they all admitted that they came to kidnap Jelyan, but none of them knows who ordered it. This might be the enemy's tactic to trigger tension in our side."

"You mean this is some kind of message?"

"I have a hunch that it could be. They'll make a stronger provocation next time."

"We'll have to limit foreign tourists and journalists in the royal territory from now on. The alert will be tightened, and it will be stressful for many people. Well, if it's an enemy's dirty tactic, it will work."

"That's what they're after. Targeting a significant figure on our side is like a direct message of provocation."

"We'll pay it back once we confirm who's behind all this. Let's do things as usual until we have solid evidence."

"All right. Just alert the palace guards and Royal Bodyguards."

Which entity would benefit from kidnapping Jelyan if the kidnappers were successful? It must have attempted to shake Kurds' public opinion about the royal family

Once the Kurds' migration was completed, they would be more than one million people and be the key support that would sustain the Kazakh family. If Jelyan were to be wronged, the relationship between the Kurds and the royal family would shatter. When the foundation support for the royal family disappeared, the whole Kazakhstan would also have its impact.

China was the country that would welcome such a situation the most. Further, Russia would also be benefited from such a situation.

Youngho had another suspect in mind. It was former president Nazarbayev and his family, who wanted to take over Kazakhstan forever. Although it would be impossible to retrieve its power over Kazakhstan anymore, the family must have a terrible grudge against Youngho and the royal family.

However, it was true that China was still the strongest suspect so far. Even if it was not responsible for this, Youngho wanted it to be since he needed a good cause to pressure China.

***

"It makes sense to hear what you're saying. But I can't help but wonder if the Chinese government really did such a clumsy operation."

"Sometimes childish operations can exhaust the opposite party. These are the methods that had been used for a long time. You can throw one tiny stone, but its repercussion can be enormous. Do you realize that our city's tension has been raised since yesterday?"

"Hmmm… That's true. Even I have been looking back when I see a strange face in the streets. I've been on alert unconsciously."

Eriksson nodded as he agreed to Youngho's idea. He was wary of everyone without noticing it.

"It's like fixing the cowshed after cows are lost, but it's like we're only buying ridicule from others by raising our guard. There will be internal criticism in our country for not filtering out suspicious people in advance and letting them walk around the royal territory for days."

"…"

"This is the first step in getting played by the enemy's desired method. This could also lead to an internal divide. It's no more than an appearance of clumsy kidnappers, but it can cause a huge disturbance among us."

The abduction of commoners could cause a great disturbance in society, let alone a princess.

Thus, the royal territory's high alert soon went back to normal.

The royal kids and Zeynep soon involved themselves in outside activities as if nothing happened. Of course, tight private security was in action, but it was done secretly so that people would not notice.

It was to show that they would not be swayed by the enemy's plot. The royal territory seemed at peace on the outside.

It was only Youngho's friends who were suffering to stage such a scene. Although it looked peaceful on the outside, the Intelligence Department, the Royal Bodyguards, and Zeynep Security Service were all hung up on this matter to find out the cause and keep the security tight. Since his friends were in charge of those organizations, they were all paranoid by Youngho's grilling.

"All of you can't dream about sleeping at night until this is resolved."

"I'm telling you not to worry. Not even an ant can get into the royal territory without being noticed by us. If they targeted Jelyan, our kids' safety is also at stake. How can we sleep in peace?"

Cho Chul-hwan, who also was shocked by the incident, had been grilling the Royal Bodyguards for days.

"Since we're extremely stressed out by this, I guess the enemy's tactic was great."

"It's our chance to tighten our security. Let's reinforce the alert at the arms production plants and technology research. Especially, we can never let the laser technology we received from Korea to leak. At this opportunity, we should also adjust the police. I'm thinking about forming a security intelligence team to collect information within the royal territory. What do you think?"

"I like the idea. We can let the police be in charge of intelligence service for domestic matters."

Park Jong-il, who was directly related to the intelligence service as the director of the Intelligence Department, agreed with ease. It was because the department was suffering a shortage of intelligence agents, so it was difficult to give full support to agents deployed overseas.

"Well, back to the point. It is also urgent to find out who is behind the incident. There's going to be a second abduction attempt, and we can't wait passively for it to happen. We have to be proactive."

"If any of you have a good plan, please say something. I want to see who's behind this right now."

"We need to investigate the human trafficking organization in Romania. It won't be easy with our intelligence network's capability only."

"Then let's ask the U.S. and British Intelligence for cooperation. I'll also check with the Swedish Information Agency. They'd know all sorts of dirty information."

Their first priority was to dig up roots.

Youngho needed to know the enemy to retaliate for its crime.

He had no intention to protest against the gang to protect further crimes in a leisurely manner. The gang that accepted the abduction request would be completely wiped out, and if it was requested by a country, he would not be afraid to go to war. Messing with Kazakhstan meant that the enemy should be ready to pay the price.

***

Hong Sung-ki, the deputy intelligence chief of Kazakhstan, had formed a team to go to Romania to investigate the human trafficking ring that tried to abduct Jelyan.

It was up to Hong Sung-ki's team to identify from whom the abductors had been commissioned and then erase the organization.

For this work, the cooperation of the U.S. Intelligence Service was necessary.

When Youngho called to ask for help, Michael was more furious than him.

-Don't worry, I'll mobilize the European headquarters to get to the bottom of this. It's an unthinkable idea to kidnap a princess of a country. A criminal organization wouldn't even dare to think about it.

"You also think that someone's behind it."

-Of course. No matter how bold a gang is, there's no way it's going to get involved in a matter that will destroy the whole group. They must have been forced to do so for some reason. Does the Duke have any idea who it might be?

"I suspect China. I think they intended to shake the royal family behind this act."

When Youngho mentioned China, Michael remained silent for a while.

If it was really China, he knew that Youngho would not standstill. If China was really behind the scenes, things would get out of control, and the world would fluctuate from it.

-If China is found to be behind this, what will you do then?

"China will never admit it even if we have hard evidence. We expect that."

-And then what?

"I'll leave it to your imagination, Chief."

-Hmm. I don't think you're going to go to war…

"How can a powerless Kazakhstan declare war against a powerful nation? But they would surely pay for what they've done in some way."

-You mean you won't share your findings with China.

"There's no point of opening it to China if it's not going to admit to its crime. I'm not even going to try and get stressed for nothing."

-In order to prevent it from becoming big, I guess we have to get rid of the criminal organization first, so it won't be a problem.

"Hahaha… Don't worry too much. We don't even know it's China yet."

-When dealing with a nation, you should judge rationally rather than acting out of your emotions. There's no turning back.

"Don't worry too much. I'm in a position to consider the whole of Central Asia. How can I make a reckless decision?"

-I'm relieved to hear that. Let's start with the criminal organization in Romania.

"Chief, I'd like you to send the Serbian agents. I think they're suitable for operations in Romania."

-These are agents who had already obtained U.S. citizenship. They've already become expert agents. They don't have to be involved in these assignments.

"I know they had already left us, but they're still loyal to our Queen. I think if they work with our agents, there would be a great synergy. It'll be of great help to the U.S. Intelligence Service, too."

Youngho was referring to the former Serbian residents of the Serbian ranch in Baku, who joined the U.S. intelligence service on Youngho's recommendation.

The two were now veterans recognized by the European headquarters, but their inherent limitations had made it difficult to get promoted to higher ranks in the group. In order for them to achieve something big as Youngho did, they needed someone's help.

Especially in Russia, Kazakhstan had more agents than the U.S. or Britain's intelligence services, so Youngho had plentiful high-quality information. If such information about Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus was provided, their future would be wide open.

If they could be in higher positions in the intelligence service, they would be a great source of high-quality information in the future even when Michael's term ended.