Empire of the Ring

For the Fatima siblings, Baku was a place with a special sentiment.

It was the birthplace of Leon and Jelyan's first home as well.

Youngho's heart was also warmed when he thought of the memories there. It was a place where he had all kinds of affection because he started out with nothing from there. Everything he built was rooted in Baku.

The Azerbaijani government had devoted some of its lands to the Kazakh royal family, and the descendants of the knights of the Kingdom of Serbia were still living in the farm and ranch, so it was like home for Youngho and his family.

"My heart flutters at the mere mention of Baku."

As Youngho made a remark, Fatima smiled.

"You're not having a strange idea now, aren't you?"

"What strange idea?"

"I just wondered if you're trying to do anything about Azerbaijan."

"Oh, how greedy do you think I am?"

"What about Central Asia then?"

"We are trying to protect Central Asia from the threat of China. I'm not trying to take over countries out of my personal greed. Besides, I wanted to help because people in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were in a difficult situation."

Of course, that was not all, but he did not want to disappoint Fatima. He could not say that he coveted underground resources, particularly gold.

Fatima looked surprised as Youngho replied vaguely.

"If China were greedy for Central Asia, wouldn't Russia be greedy for Azerbaijan? Azerbaijan is a place that everyone would covet."

"Russia can't afford to do so, but if it crosses the three main Caucasus countries, it'll have to be ready for war."

He answered casually, but Fatima had a point.

This was because Russia's southward policy was still ongoing.

Now it was caught up in the Crimean Peninsula, but he knew that Russia would be greedy about in the Caucasus one day. His heart sank at the thought of it.

He hoped that Azerbaijan would remain as peaceful as possible, but as Fatima put it, it was a tempting prey for powerful nations.

"So if Russia wants to take over Azerbaijan, you have to protect it. I never want to lose Baku."

"That's not going to happen, so rest assured. We're growing the power of Central Asia and it is ultimately for the Caucasus too."

"If it's too much to buy weapons, should I help you a little bit?"

Fatima looked like she was going to give money any minute.

Since they lived on Zeynep Farm, Youngho had been putting in one million dollars a year into Fatima's account as a slush fund for a rainy day, so she was offering that money.

"Didn't you spend all your money to help poor Kyrgyz people?"

"The money you gave me was more than enough, so I still have some left."

"You can't buy a fighter with that money. You can spend it for your personal reason. Do you happen to know how much money I have?"

"I've always wondered…"

"But what?"

"Well, I'll find out later, even if you don't tell me."

"How is that so?"

"I'll ask Leon later. Aren't you going to hand it all over to Leon anyway?"

"You sisters are always one step ahead of me, too."

"Hoho…"

***

At the opposite side of the beach where the dock construction was underway, was rocky without sand. It was not a cliff, but was a gentle slope of rocks, so people could walk down to the water on it.

Youngho went fishing with his children after hearing that royal bodyguards who were collecting relics had been fishing there in their free time. Youngho did not believe when they said that all the fish in the Aegean Sea were there, but it turned out to be true as his party caught fish full of his cooler in less than an hour.

There was no bait on Leon's small fishing rod, but there some fish were caught with the empty needle. This meant that it was a place that had been out of reach for a long time.

"Oppa, I guess the fish decided to go on a tour of the land as a group. Leon swipes an empty fishing rod and they bite it. But what's up with me and Jelyan? They don't even come near us."

Zeynep complained.

Come to think of it, only Leon and Youngho were catching a lot of fish. Youngho handed over his ring to Zeynep just to check if it as the ring's effect.

"Put this ring on and try it."

"Is it the power of the ring?"

"Try it first. I'm also curious, too."

As soon as Zeynep put on the ring, finally fish started to gather around her and Jelyan.

The fish were attracted to the hooks due to the supernatural powers of the ring.

It seemed that the power of the ring was transmitted through the fishing rod to the water, or its effect was reaching a certain area.

The reason for that presumption was that Zeynep and Jelyan were fishing together at a certain distance from where Youngho and Leon were.

Even though Youngho had no ring on, he was still catching fish because of Leon's ring.

The energy from Leon's ring was covering a certain area.

At that moment, Youngho felt a thrill like thunder. While thinking about the ring, Zeynep and Jelyan continued to catching fish.

"What is this, oppa?"

"Well, the power of the ring seems to reach a certain area, but I don't exactly know what this means."

"Oppa, I can't fish anymore because I'm scared. It's so creepy that the fish are driven by the power of the ring."

"It's just invisible power."

"But I can't fish anymore because I'm getting goosebumps."

Youngho was also taken aback, so they decided to stop fishing at this point. Youngho was not sure how Leon or Jelyan would accept this phenomenon.

"Goodness! Did that really happen? What a strange phenomenon."

Fatima was rather curious, let alone surprised, to hear about the unusual phenomenon that had taken place in the fishing area.

"Don't you get goosebumps or feel scared?"

"Why do you get goosebumps when it's a unique specialty of our family? You should be proud. The ring didn't do anything wrong with you or Leon, and it didn't hurt other people, either."

It was true. The ring had never harmed people. It had just enhanced his body so far.

In fact, it had done only good things for Youngho. He was fortunate to meet Fatima because of the ring. If it were not for the mystical rings and leather shoes, he would have never returned to see Fatima in Istanbul.

"Would we have met if it wasn't for the ring?"

"What do you mean? If we were destined to meet, we would have met if it weren't for the ring."

"I have a question for you, can you be honest with me?"

"Of course. There's nothing to hide between us."

"I always wondered what my first impression was when we first met at the flea market."

"I still can't forget the memory of you walking toward me. You had a mysterious glow."

"What? Aren't you just making up a story?"

"I was in a desperate situation because no one cared about the items that I had laid out to sell at that time, so I was very excited to see you walking towards me. I got a vague feeling that you were interested in me. That made me see a halo from you."

"I guess you imagined it because you were in a desperate situation."

"No, it's not. You were my knight on a white horse."

"Still, you don't tell me I was handsome."

"Hahaha…"

Fatima, who laughed for a while, sat close to him and saying that there was a more important matter to say.

"I can't describe the shock I had when you visited the slums to look for me. After I met you at the flea market, I dreamed of you every night. There was a vague hope that we'll meet again someday, but I didn't expect it to come so soon."

"What? You dreamed of me every night?"

"Yes, I did. I had a hunch that you're going to come back and take care of us. It's embarrassing, but I thought I'd marry you if you show up again."

"Whoa, you were a very precocious girl."

Youngho responded with a joke, but he felt great inside. He felt like he became the Daddy Long Legs from the novel.

"Hoho… Girls all mature dreaming such things to come true. Especially girls in the slums try to forget about the tough reality with such hopes."

"I tried hard to find you, too. It would have been different if I was a little late. Just thinking about that makes me dizzy."

If he had not visited her then, Zeynep could have been wrong as she was dying with her illness. She could recover as Youngho took her to a hospital and put on the magical ring on her finger for fast recovery.

"Zeynep sometimes talks about it. She said if you hadn't found us, she wouldn't have been in this world now."

"Oh, don't say that. She would've survived because she's a tough girl."

"No, I'm sure she would've been gone. If you hadn't come then… it was a good thing you made it in time."

As she said that, tears welled up in Fatima's eyes. Youngho hugged Fatima feeling sorry that he dug up her sad past. The winter vacation on the Arirang Island was coming to an end, reminiscing about their past.