Empire of the Ring

Since the full-fledged migration began in May, a little more than 400,000 Kurds had so far nestled in the royal territory. As this became global news, Kazakhstan’s global image was greatly improved resulting in more tourists in the country.

There were many minor accidents while hundreds of thousands of people were moving, but it was fortunate that there were no safety accidents.

Europe, which had been plagued by Syrian refugees, provided one billion euros in aid from the European Union as soon as Kazakhstan accepted the Kurds, and under the initiative of the U.S., the United Nations provided 2 billion dollars as refugee settlement funds.

Apart from that, the U.S. and other northern European countries had daily necessities and building materials.

Among them, the country that provided the most aid was the United States since it had even sent 100-million-dollar worth of relief goods.

Unexpected subsidies and daily necessities had greatly reduced the burden of the royal family.

As the Kurds settled down, many jobs were created to support them, and the most popular of which was being a soldier. It was perhaps a natural choice for Kurdish men as they were used to the concept of armed fighting.

As the number of soldiers increased, the existing guards automatically became officers.

Cho Chul-hwan and Foreign Legion soldiers from the Korean Navy Special Forces were happy to have more soldiers under them at first. However, it soon turned into a problem as they could not communicate with Kurdish soldiers. Since the Syrian Kurds spoke French, the Kurds who arrived at the royal territory were no more than half-mute.

Cho Chul-hwan was complaining about this.

“We need to increase the training period a little more. I can’t communicate well because of the language barrier, so the command doesn’t work well.”

“They’re still in the training camp for 12 weeks. It’ll be a great stress for them if we keep Kurdish soldiers in training camps for a longer period. They’ll learn the language in time. Why are you so eager?”

“I think it would be better to force training and education for about four months. The ones who joined the army in May are still not useful because they can’t communicate with us. So, I was thinking, why don’t we designate them as an autonomous military unit which is a special unit?”

“What are you saying?”

“Just like the Royal Bodyguards, let’s train the Kurdish soldiers as special forces.”

Youngho was intrigued by Chul-hwan’s remark.

Kazakhstan’s borders were almost entirely blocked by mountain ranges from Russia to China. Most of them could not be accessed by tanks and armored vehicles.

As for attack helicopters and fighter jets, they would have to fly low in the air due to the mountainous geographic, but they could be an easy target of missiles. The better the capabilities of individual combatants, the more likely they were to survive in Kazakhstan’s borderline.

That was why the mountaineers were recognized as special forces.

It seemed that the brave Kurdish soldiers who had been waging guerrilla warfare on the mountains could do a great job at the borderline.

“Do you think they can digest the intense training?”

“If we can let them participate in the training voluntarily, I don’t think it’s impossible. How about air-to-air training as well as all-weather training?”

“Okay, I was a little reluctant, but your plan is quite appealing. Can you also see if any of the Kurdish soldiers are interested in the Navy?”

“Why? Do you want to build a naval training camp here, too?”

“To be reborn as an oceanic navy, we need to train a lot of proper officers and engineers.”

“Hey, how about building a Navy Special Forces?”

“That’s a good idea, too.”

***

Kurds were known to have overwhelmingly more women than men, this phenomenon had been lasting more than half a century now.

The reason was that all men were expected to take part in the war with guns. So, Kurdish women were said to be rather sad when they gave birth to a boy.

The most gender imbalance was among Kurdish generations in the early 20s and 30s because most of the men were victimized by recent battles with the IS.

Although these days, Kurdish women were also said to be joining the militia, a significant number of men were still being forced to join so far.

Syrian Kurdish women were on the battlefield because Muslims believed that they could not go to heaven if they were killed by a woman, so they freaked out when they saw women with guns. How many IS members would be willing to walk around in front of women warriors knowing that they could not go to heaven if they were killed by women even if they prayed five times a day, bowing down their heads at the direction of Mecca? It was believed that more than 10,000 women went to the battlefield with guns in the later period of the war.

In any case, Kurdish women were also known for their strong livelihoods, having to raise livestock and farm instead of men on the battlefield. For that reason, Syrian Kurds, who moved to the royal territory, also had an overwhelming number of Kurdish women as well.

After migration, they did not have to work outside as they were given indoor jobs in factories. Now, they were rarely exposed to the sun away from hard physical labor and were living rather comfortable lives and restoring their beautiful selves.

Kurdish women were beautiful perhaps because of their ethnic characteristics. Even Youngho found so many eye-catching beauties while walking on the streets.

However, for the young Korean men who worked at the royal territory, their beauty was like pie in the sky and pain. There were no French-speaking young people, so they could not speak to the Kurdish women.

After 6 PM when the factory closed, downtown was full of young Kurdish ladies, and young Korean men who left work at that time also flocked downtown. However, most of them left after drinking beer in pubs or spending time in cafes, not being able to associate with the ladies.

The reason why there were so many young Korean men in the royal territory was that there were many military personnel such as members of the Royal Bodyguards, Foreign Legion, and the cyber unit, and technical personnel who came here to transfer their skills.

No marriage could happen as Kurdish young men were reluctant to meet rough Kurdish women with a strong lifestyle, while Kurdish women were reluctant to meet men from other ethnicities.

“Your Grace, you have to come forward. At this rate, young Korean men and Kurdish girls will be single forever.”

“We can’t force them to change their custom of marriage. Why don’t you convince them and make a bridge for them?”

“If you say one word, it’ll all be settled.”

“What do you mean?”

It was a difficult issue.

Kazakhstan’s principle was to respect each ethnicity’s identity, so Youngho could not force the Kurds to change customs. Besides, he could not force young people’s affairs even though he was the Duke of the Kazakh royal family.

Also, things could be even worse for two different people after getting married due to cultural differences, so he was very careful to step up. He knew it so well as he was also in an interracial marriage.

Kim Chun, who did not know Youngho’s heart, urged him to intervene.

“The Kurds are the ones who support the royal family like their parents. If you can only say that you would allow people of different ethnicities to socialize and marry each other regardless of their race, things will be a lot different from now. I’m only asking you because this could be expanded to the productivity problem of our city. Imagine that young Korean men not working properly as they’re captivated by Kurdish women. They’d go crazy. What other hope can they find in this deserted place?”

“It’s frustrating. I think Count Park has more experience in this kind of matter than I do. How do you feel about making him in charge?”

“A lot of dating experience isn’t going to solve it. It is time for you to say something that will help break down the walls between people. I’ll take care of everything if you hand down the message.”

“Well, then, do what you want to do. If even that doesn’t work, you can talk to the Kurdish leader, too.”

“You are the Kurdish leader now. And after you is Princess Jelyan.”

The next morning, it was announced on the radio that the Duke had allowed exchanges and marriage between different ethnicities. It was announced while the Wedding March was playing as a background song.

Fatima asked what this was all about on the breakfast table.

When Youngho told Fatima about his conversation with Kim Chun yesterday, Fatima felt bad about the situation that the Kurds were facing.

“I didn’t know that there was such a problem. Is there anything we can do to help as the royal family?”

“In fact, why don’t you step up and take this job yourself? I really don’t want to get myself into this too much.”

“Then, Countess Park and I will be in charge of this matter. The Countess will be a great fit since she managed a matrimonial agency before.”

“Oh! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. Commissioner Kim has been grilling me so much that I didn’t even have time to think.”

“By the way, do Kurdish women like Korean men, too?”

“Won’t that eventually happen when young people get to meet and exchange glances?”

“That’s great. Although Jelyan is the center point, it’s also a great opportunity for two people to bond together. There are at least tens of thousands of Kurdish women. Can you bring in more young Korean men?”

“I’m confident I can bring as many of them as possible. I have a plan to build a naval school.”