Empire of the Ring

Youngho was received with a huge welcome even at the Presidential Palace.

It was quite overwhelming. Putin hugged Youngho as if he was conscious of the camera flash by reporters.

He must have been well aware of Youngho’s contribution to Russia through Yaniv, but his show seemed to be a little too much.

It was not long ago that Kazakhstan and Russia had a shoot-out at the border. So, this kind of show was a little funny. It was obvious that Putin was putting a message to the outside world. Even the banquet that was held at the palace was quite glamorous.

The next day, Youngho met Yaniv in secret while Kasim was attending a summit with Russian politicians.

“Mr. Yaniv, Russia’s welcome was quite overwhelming.”

“Haha. Putin was surprised to hear that you were accompanying the Prime Minister for this trip. He was happy that you chose Russia as your first official visit.”

“Of course, I should come to thank President Putin since Russia supported the revolutionary government. Is that why he hugged me?”

It did make sense.

Youngho and Kasim’s first official visit overseas was Russia and it made Russia looking great in front of the international community. Putin must be happy to think that Kazakhstan feared Russia’s influence.

After the summit, Prime Minister Kasim and Putin even issued a joint statement saying they would share peace and prosperity together. The Prime Minister’s group went on a big city tour to St. Petersburg to show its friendship to Russia, and Youngho was having a real summit with Putin.

“Thank you, Mr. President, for supporting Kazakhstan. And thank you for helping my business through Mr. Yaniv for a long time.”

“It was just a business. We, Russia, benefited a lot from you too. Our government should thank you for your help in developing Siberia and attracting foreign companies.”

“I joined the revolution unintentionally, but I’m glad Kazakhstan is now stabilized. It would have been difficult without the cooperation of Russia.”

“The previous administration was a little too much. Some Kazakhs provoked Russians because of the martial law. We’ve had some mishap, but I’m glad it’s all sorted out.”

“Because of your decision, there was no huge damage, fortunately.”

“The border guards misjudged that the Russians living in your country might get hurt. If I had known there would be a revolutionary government, I should have stayed put, but our military was too hasty.”

Although the president said that the military at the border area misjudged, it was impossible for a general of Russia to arbitrarily intrude on another country without the president’s consent. Still, Putin denied it was the general’s decision, but Youngho did not ask any further since he had to maintain a secret relationship with Russia for the time being.

It was inappropriate to call for compensation at this time.

***

They agreed to keep the development business of Siberia as a royal business, not as a Kazakh government business. The reason was that if it was changed to a state-to-state project, it would only complicate matters. It was Putin’s strategy. He intended to keep Youngho away from the U.S.

Putin asked to maintain a military alliance with Kazakhstan, but Youngho avoided giving an immediate answer to Putin’s request under the pretext that he needed parliamentary approval for such matters.

If Kazakhstan formed a military alliance with Russia, the Western world could classify it as a potential enemy, and Kazakhstan would have an uneasy relationship with other countries.

Putin did not force any more thinking that he had already pressured Youngho by making such a request.

“It looks like Putin treats Kazakhstan like a child. If we sit still, Putin will think that he can walk all over us. How can I resolve this?”

“Both of you like sports. Why don’t you have a go?”

“I’d rather do that.”

Youngho felt like Kazakhstan was being treated like a child, so he asked Eriksson to come up with a way to get out of this situation. His pride had been hurt since he came to Russia. It felt like he was being pressured by the topic of the military alliance.

“There’s no way at this point. Russia is also a resource-rich country like Kazakhstan. For Russia, there’s nothing to be desired about Kazakhstan, so there’s no reason to maintain an equal relationship. For now, much of Kazakhstan’s economy is subjugated by Russia. If Russia closes its borders right away, Kazakhstan will suffer a lot.”

“Who doesn’t know that? That’s why I’m asking you for a way out.”

“You know, there’s one childish prank we can pull off, but I can’t share that with you.”

“What is it?”

“Well… It’s to bring Her Majesty to Moscow.”

“How is my wife coming to Moscow correlated with smashing Putin’s pride?”

“Sure. Moscow will be thrown upside down just by the presence of the Queen who’s an extraordinary beauty. The attention of the people of Moscow will be paid to her.”

“Well, what’s going to happen then?”

“In a few days, the World Congress of the Communist International will be held in Moscow. It’s a very important international conference for Russia. I’m sure Putin is hoping it’ll be done with a lot of attention. But wouldn’t it be worth watching when the Queen appears here? I’m also very curious about where the Russian people’s attention will be.”

Eriksson had a quite mischievous idea using Fatima.

“No thanks. I’ll just hurt my pride. I don’t want to use the Queen to do such cheap work.”

“That’s why I told you it was childish, right? If Putin treated us like that, then we’ll do the same. Also, just visiting Russia and going back to Kazakhstan is also damaging to our pride. Why don’t you take this opportunity to tour the European royal families, including Denmark and Sweden?”

“You mean to drop by without prior note?”

“What kind of coordination do you have to do when you’re visiting them personally? There’s not going to be a summit. Now that the Queen is newly appointed, it will be welcomed if you want to interact with the royal family of another country.”

“That sounds great. Going back from a visit to Russia will be a disgrace.”

“Then all we have to do is to figure out a way to get her here.”

***

Usually, when a government chief visited a foreign country, he would visit a few more places before returning home. However, there should be arrangements between countries a few months before. It would be a diplomatic discourtesy to visit without such arrangements. However, Youngho did not want to return to Kazakhstan right away since Kazakhstan would be seen as being afraid of Russia.

So, Youngho decided to visit other European royal families with Fatima when Kasim and other officials went back to Kazakhstan. Although it would cause confusion to other countries when a royal family showed up out of nowhere, Youngho was not in a position to be picky. It would be better to take some blame for diplomatic discourtesy because the aftermath would be even greater if he only visited Russia before returning home.

A sudden visit would be greeted without prior coordination, but it would be seen as a simple mistake of a new royal family that had no accumulated international practice.

After Kasim and other Kazakh officers went back to Kazakhstan, Youngho was dawdling at the Arirang Hotel in Moscow under the pretext of delaying his return for taking caring of his business in Russia. Since Youngho had many businesses in Russia, Russian authorities did not care but when the Kazakh Queen showed up, they were dumbfounded and confused by the sudden event.

Fatima came to Russia with a reason that she was picking up Youngho in Moscow on her way to Denmark. Since Moscow was only a temporary stop, she could ignore all diplomatic procedures. When she said that she would stay for a few days in the Arirang Hotel since she was tired, it made Russian authorities nervous.

She also waved at people on her way to the hotel from Russia on top of several department stores before she arrived at the hotel. Tomorrow was the World Congress of the Communist International, so all the media was focusing on Moscow, and that was when the Queen’s surprise appearance caught people’s eyes.

Inside the private jet to Denmark, Youngho and Eriksson smiled contentedly. That was because all the attention that had been paid to the conference was focused on Fatima. The Queen’s visit to Moscow received great attention not only on that day but also the day after she left Moscow.

“Don’t you feel like you’ve done revenge to Putin?”

“It must have been a shudder for the Russian government. Since they can’t even take issue with it diplomatically, so it would’ve been a huge warning for them.”

“I didn’t expect the response from the citizens of Moscow to be so explosive. I heard this is the first time that a queen from another country has visited Moscow.”

“That’s what I was after. It was something to appeal to people’s curiosity. It was in that context that we mobilized a large number of royal knights alongside the Queen. You’re as popular as Her Majesty, aren’t you? There will be a lot of Russian tourists coming to Kazakhstan in the coming days.”

“Fatima did such a great job. Because of her, we won’t be ignored by Russia anymore.”

“I didn’t tell her about any detail. All I’ve asked is to have frequent contact with Moscow citizens. Going to shop was completely her idea.”

Now, Fatima was sleeping with Leon in the lounge of the private jet saying that she was very tired of shopping. She had no clue of how officials of Moscow suffered a setback due to her sudden visit. She was only satisfied with the shopping that she finally had after a long time. She was always busy taking caring of her kids, so sometimes shopping was the best way to relieve her stress. When she flew to Moscow with excitement, thinking that she was going to visit Europe, she was not interested in diplomatic matters or how people of the world would see her.