Youngho suggested an idea as a joke, but after spitting it out, he thought it would be okay to adopt that system. If a smart man joined the royal family as Zeynep's groom, it would be a big boost to the royal family.

When Fatima heard that, her eyes twinkled. This look was a habit of her's when she liked something.

"Oh, my word! Are you serious? Are you saying that Zeynep doesn't have to leave the royal family when she gets married?"

"Well, I guess we can make a royal law that says so. We're accepting refugees to increase our population, so shouldn't we increase our royal members as well?"

"Wow, Zeynep. You should make it clear when you have a boyfriend."

"I don't care. There will be guys from great families lining up to join our royal family, don't you think, oppa?"

"Well, Zeynep, it doesn't matter who you choose. Just choose the one you like."

"Really?"

Youngho spoke words that were not true to his heart, but it was Zeynep's life. He wanted to at least try to let her go.

***

The pier construction on the island had only progressed by fifty percent. It was because there was not enough s.p.a.ce for a transport s.h.i.+p carrying the construction materials.

The barge floating near the beach was acting as a temporary dock, so the workers could make this much progress.

Oil storage and seawater desalination equipment had already been transported to the island, and installation work was in full swing. They had been brought in as completed products, so they only needed to be connected to the pipes.

The reason for such a grand construction was to ensure the safety of the Arirang s.h.i.+pping line that ran between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

The Arirang Island was home to the Mediterranean mobile fleet, which had one Aegis destroyer, three frigates, and one supply s.h.i.+p on standby all the time.

The Greek government had agreed with the royal family to have such s.h.i.+ps since it thought the Kazakh royal family's Arirang Island would be a buffer zone between Greece and Turkey.

In the sea to be used as a port, however, there were old wooden boats sunken in the past, and they were preventing big vessels from entering the island. As workers cleared the obstacles to build the harbor, they found old relics and gold coins.

After agonizing over how to handle the coins, Youngho turned it into a relic of the Kingdom of Serbia and was selling it at a high price now. If it was known as the undersea artifact, there would be a dispute with the Greek government over the owners.h.i.+p of the relics, so he had played a trick.

Most treasure boxes were collected already, and only the coins that were scattered around the sea bottom were left. The gold coins were almost recovered now, and only a few were being brought up from time to time by the construction workers.

Having just found some gold coins on one side of the barge, Zeynep held them in her hand excitedly.

"Huh! Even though you're a princess, you can't take royal property recklessly."

"I'm just going to take a few. You can get a lot of donations if you give it as a gift to influential people."

"Hmmm, if that's the purpose, take as much as you like, Zeynep. We've collected enough already."

"More than this?"

"In the beginning, we found them in boxes."

"Well, then can I take all of these? We'll support the orphans that Jelyan takes care of from our foundation."

Zeynep's business mind was behind her request. She wanted to make connections with influential people and receive more contributions for her foundation. This would lead them to get connected to the Kazakh royal family, so Youngho also liked the idea.

"You can melt, sell, or make gold bars out of the gold coins. I will give you more if they can achieve something."

"Hohoho... Make sure you keep that promise."

After confirming with Youngho, Zeynep encouraged the divers to retrieve more gold coins. She told them that she would introduce a beautiful Kurdish woman to the one who retrieved the most gold coins.

As Youngho was pleased to see Zeynep's action, Fatima held his arm and asked for a walk.

"What's gotten into you? You never link our arms."

"There are not many people who are watching us here. Let's take a little walk up the path near the harbor."

"As you command, my queen. Shall we walk?"

"I love this place. It's quiet, and it's not crowded. It reminds me of the early days of Zeynep Farm in Baku."

"You and Zeynep have been talking about the Baku farm for a while. Don't you like our life in the palace?"

"Well, it's a luxurious life, but I sometimes want my simple life back."

"Would it have been possible for me to live such a simple life with my greed?"

"It would've been possible if we stayed in Baku. Well, now we can't go back anymore."

Although she became the Queen, Fatima still had the heart of a poor girl in Istanbul.

She did not like the hustle and bustle of things and felt burdened by the attention of people. She envied a normal and simple life and thought of their past life on Zeynep Farm in Baku as the best.

Feeling sorry to burden her because of his goals, Youngho held her hand tight.

"If life like this is too much and difficult, you can always tell me. I'll lay down everything and leave to a remote place for our family."

"Don't be ridiculous. You can't beat the hopes of those who trust our royal family. I'm just going to take it as fate."

"But you still have a desire to hand over the throne to Leon?"

"Of course, I do. I can't just give up the royal family you've worked so hard for."

"But you still dream of a simple life?"

"I just want to go back to being a normal woman and a wife. Please make time for our family often like this. Then I'll be satisfied with that."

"Should I build a separate palace here as well?"

"I'd appreciate it if you did. Still, I really want to visit Zeynep Farm once a year."

"Why there?"

"It's where our memories are."