Empire of the Ring

Although it was a short trip, Youngho and his family enjoyed it as it was a close time for the family in a long time.

Youngho thought the children would be bored, but after learning the new joy of fishing, they went to the beach every day.

Fatima and Zeynep also enjoyed the quiet time on the island that they wanted to come to the island more often.

Since they were not on a tourist destination but a small island, Youngho had many conversations with the family members.

Leon was now old enough to have decent conversations, too.

Even though he still held onto Zeynep or Jelyan’s skirt, he was straightforward and bold to express himself, unlike other eight-year-olds.

“He likes his sister and aunt better than his mom or dad.”

“Oh, honey. Are you jealous that he doesn’t play with you?”

“I’m saying this because he likes to play with toys more than playing outside.”

“Why, he’s become calm and I love it. I’m rather proud of him focusing on toys. You know there are not many peers in the royal family. I always feel sorry for him”

“If only Szechenyi’s family joined us, it would have been a little more fun…”

It would have been better if Szechenyi and his wife had attended, but they were busy since their second child was born less than a hundred days ago, and a long-distance travel was too much.

“Well, Szechenyi’s family will join us next year. It will be a lot more crowded.”

“I don’t care if it gets crowded but I wish we had more family members in the royal family. I’d also like to make a sibling for Leon.”

“You don’t have to be too impatient about it. The doctor said that we’re both healthy. We’ll have another child, soon.”

“Some people worry that there is only one prince in the royal family.”

“What can we do? This is our family’s characteristic. Besides, Leon will be safe because the ring protects him.”

“Do you think that the ring is the cause of not being able to have Leon’s sibling?”

“There’s no other way to explain it. That’s probably true since the history of the Serbian kingdom also supports it.”

Youngho and Fatima strangely could not have another child after Leon.

The couple went to see a doctor for a checkup but both were perfectly normal.

It was only recently that Youngho had a vague idea of why the second child did not occur. Historically, the Serbian kingdom’s royalty had several princesses from generation to generation, but only one prince was born in each generation.

He figured that the ring had been artificially controlled the number of princes to prevent power struggle between brothers. Fortunately, there were no restrictions on the number of princesses, so he expected to have a pretty princess someday.

“You know we can still have princesses without restrictions, so let’s look forward to it.”

“I doubt that it will happen now since it hasn’t been happening so far.”

“I think the power of the ring has been completely absorbed by me, so I might be able to lift that restriction now.”

“I hope so. There are Jelyan and Rena, but they’re all older sisters, so Leon has grown into a baby boy. I’m just thinking that if he had a younger sibling, he would be more mature.”

“You know he acts like a baby boy in front of her sisters, but acts in a mature way outside. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“I guess the ring doesn’t know that times have changed.”

“Well, times have changed, but people’s minds haven’t changed.”

“Why are these things handed down only in our family?”

“Other royal families and other peoples in Europe may have something of this kind. Do you know who’s controlling the world right now? They’re Jews. When I think of books like Talmud, I’m sure there’s something about Jews.”

Talmud was a book that has served as the spiritual pillar of the Jewish people.

Talmud contained scriptures and proverbs, as well as literature, wisdom of life, and the art of life.

“Is that why Jews live so well?”

“They had been teaching their generations well with the wisdom from Talmud. Most of all, Jews are smart. That’s why I wondered if there was something unique about the Jewish people.”

In particular, Talmud had something like an international law that regulated the wide range of economic activities of Jews, even mentioning the Jewish responsibility for non-Jews, which was quite specific and surprising.

Talmud’s last page was empty. From the time of its first publication until now, the last page had always been left blank. It was meant to write the reader’s own views. Leaving the last page empty suggested a lot.

“I wonder if that’s why the Jewish people’s sense of elitism is so strong because of that. But can that also mean that they also have mystical relics like we do? If so, wouldn’t other kingdoms that lived in the same period of the Serbian Kingdom also have similar relics?”

“Wouldn’t it be some kind of alchemy? The Jews now control the world economy. Maybe they have the ability to make gold.”

“Wow, you go far with your imagination.”

“Oh, was that a compliment?”

“In Korea, people say such things are said to live in the fourth-dimensional world.”

“Haha… I guess the ring makes us live in the fourth dimension.”

“Maybe. Anyway, I don’t think we’re the only ones to have a legacy that’s capable of magic.”

***

Zeynep had collected quite a lot of gold coins from pushing the royal bodyguard divers at the island.

“You’ve collected quite a lot of gold coins now, haven’t you? What are you going to do with them?”

“These coins are not preserved well like the ones you collected in boxes but they are just right for a gift.”

“Who the heck are you trying to go after?”

“Well… Even to you, I’ll have to keep it a secret because it’s a business secret. I’ll let you know later, so be patient.”

Since the establishment of the social welfare foundation, it had affected not only the improvement of the corporate image but also the sales of wine and the Arirang Hotel.

It also made the Kazakh royal family’s reputation better due to its vigorous activities to help people in need, and Zeynep was doing a great job managing the foundation.

“Oppa, can you help me with some business under our foundation’s name?”

“What kind of business would the inexperienced foundation staff do? You just have to manage the contributions well.”

“If we did some business with the contributions made, we can multiply our assets.”

“How much money do you have in your foundation?”

“That’s a secret.”

Youngho initially thought that the foundation’s assets were about 30 million dollars, but it seemed that the total assets were bigger than what Youngho imagined. She must have managed to receive a lot of contributions from many people.

“Who are you going make in charge of managing the funds?”

“Wouldn’t he help when I leave it to Szechenyi?”

“I’m sure you can trust Szechenyi, but why don’t you tell me what you’re trying to do with that kind of money?”

“I will use it for the purpose of our foundation. Of course, we need to help the poor and the orphans.”

“That doesn’t explain well. What are you trying to do?”

“I don’t want to talk about it now… Can we talk about it later?”

“Is that another secret?”

“No, it’s not a secret, but I won’t tell you because I don’t think it’ll be fun to know in advance.”

Saying it was not a secret, Zeynep still refused to tell him.

Youngho was curious but he knew that she would tell him one day because when she needed help, she would definitely come to ask for help.

“She’s very motivated to multiply her foundation’s assets. Do you know what’s going on?”

“Hohoho… You’ve been wondering all along?”

The tired children and Zeynep were sleeping soundly on the royal jet, so Youngho asked Fatima as he thought this was his chance.

“I don’t know why she’s hiding it from me.”

“She told me a rough idea and it’s not yet been materialized. I think she’s trying to build a hospital.”

“A hospital?”

“You know she was almost dead for sickness when she was young. She probably wants to help other children in a similar situation like her.”

“If she wants to build a hospital, why would she hide it when I can help her?”

“She’ll need money continuously when she opens a free clinic in a poor area. How can she ask you for help every time?”

“I guess she’ll be building clinics in several places.”

“No, I don’t think so. She said she’d build it in just one place.”

“Her foundation and financial ability must be capable of setting that up right now.”

“I think she’s dreaming of a major hospital.”

“What are you talking about? Smaller clinics work better in the slums.”

There may be no land to build a large hospital in the slums, but usually, large hospitals were built at a distance from the slums because of its bad environment. For those in need of immediate treatment, having several smaller clinics was more efficient than building a large hospital.

“How did she look when you asked?”

“Why, does her expression matter here?”

“Oh, just tell me.”

“She looked a little shy.”

“Look at that. She knows that you might oppose her idea, so she’s trying to hide it from you.

She must be devising something unusual, so if you’re curious, just hang in there.”

“You’re not telling me either after all? You made me curious.”

“Oh, Zeynep will take care of it herself, so be patient for a while.”