CH432 | Heir

Prince Khalid of Saudi Arabia—
a renowned investor.

He was a magnate with nearly twenty trillion won in liquid assets, a shrewd financier whose influence stretched across nations.

Wherever he went in the world, Prince Khalid was treated with the utmost respect.

That was why he believed no purge could possibly touch him.

Perhaps that was why he was so complacent.

At a secluded villa on the outskirts of Saudi Arabia, known only to him, he snapped photos and posted them on social media, flaunting his leisure.

#CoffeeBreak #Vacation #LifeOfFreedom

He filled his feed with hashtags, revelling in his online presence.

All he needed to do was wait until the storm of the purge passed.

Click!
Just as he was about to upload another picture—

“We’ve found him!”

“Move in—subdue everyone!”

Armed soldiers stormed the villa.

Helicopters roared overhead, sealing off the entire compound as his bodyguards were mercilessly taken down.

At the sight, Prince Khalid panicked, hastily revealing his true identity.

“Don’t you know who I am? I’m Prince Khalid! Surely you recognize me?”

“We’ve secured Prince Khalid.”

“Arrest him immediately and transport him to Riyadh.”

The armed soldiers moved in with brutal efficiency.
They gagged him with a thick cloth, bound his hands and feet with rope, and forced him onto a waiting helicopter.

Prince Khalid thrashed violently, unable to believe they would dare treat him this way—even knowing who he was.

When his resistance grew too fierce, one of the soldiers struck him on the crown of his head, knocking him unconscious.

…

He awoke sometime later.

The ceiling above him was familiar—too familiar. It was the kind of view he often had from his hotel in Riyadh.

And yet the setting was unbearably strange.

He wasn’t free. Hundreds of others were detained alongside him, their screams echoing from every direction.

“Prince Khalid is awake.”

“Move him to Room Three. The Crown Prince is waiting.”

“Mmph! Mmmphhh!”

He tried to shout, but the gag silenced him completely.

Dragged like an animal across the floor, Khalid was hauled into a shadowy room.

Under the dim light, he saw a face he knew all too well.

Mohammed bin Salman.

The man who had ousted Crown Prince Nayef now stood above him, gazing down with cold authority.

“Remove his gag.”

“Ptooey! Why are you doing this to me? I’ve stayed neutral! I’m one of the Twenty-Two Tribes—you can’t treat me like this!”

“You still don’t understand.”

Mohammed bin Salman rose from his chair and left the room.

At once, the dim light went out.
Darkness swallowed everything.

Then came the sounds—merciless blows, strangled cries, the heavy thud of flesh meeting fists.

Ten minutes later, the Crown Prince returned.
The lights flickered back on.

Khalid was unrecognisable.
His hair hung wild, his eyelids were swollen, his lips pooled with blood.
He writhed, overcome by pain unlike anything he had ever endured.

“Until I tell you to speak, you will say nothing. If you understand, nod.”

“…”

Fighting against his own agony, Khalid forced down a scream and nodded so hard it looked as if his neck might snap.

“Saudi Arabia is collapsing. Our foreign reserves are gone. We’re selling bonds, opening up our state-owned companies just to survive. And what have you done? You’ve hoarded wealth under the title of prince.”

“…”

This time Khalid shook his head violently, desperation in every motion.

It wasn’t true—his fortune wasn’t born of royalty but of his own skill as an investor.
But Mohammed bin Salman had no interest in recognizing his talent.

“You used your royal title to amass wealth. If even part of that money had remained with the House of Saud, we wouldn’t be staring at financial ruin today.”

“…”

“I’ll give you a chance. Surrender half your fortune—voluntarily. Do you understand? Speak.”

“Y-yes. For the sake of Saudi Arabia’s revival, I will gladly donate half my wealth. There was never any need for this brutality—I would have given it willingly.”

For the first time in his life, Prince Khalid truly felt he might die.
Yet his eyes still burned with life—and even carried the faintest trace of reproach toward the man who had ordered his beating.

“I didn’t realize your concern for Saudi ran so deep. If you transfer half your fortune today, you will be free to leave this hotel.”

“My accounts with the Saudi National Bank are frozen. If you unfreeze them, I’ll immediately donate half—two billion dollars—to the treasury.”

“As I expected.”

Bin Salman rose again.
The lights went out.

Once more, the room filled with savage blows and muffled screams. This time the beating was worse—relentless—until Khalid’s face was almost unrecognizable.

“Can you open your eyes?”

“…”

A weak nod.

Bin Salman held up a sheet of paper, even flicking on a flashlight so Khalid could see clearly.

“H-how… how did you get this?”

“You underestimated the power of the royal house.”

Khalid’s bloodied face drained of color as he read.

Every account.
Every offshore trust.
Every hidden asset—painstakingly catalogued.

Even the secret shell accounts he thought no one could ever trace.

The terror now was far greater than the pain of broken bones.
Prince Khalid realized that nothing—no shadow, no secret—was beyond the Crown Prince’s reach.

“Two billion dollars? You call that half your fortune? Our investigation shows more than eleven billion.”

“M-my apologies… I will donate six billion to the state.”

“Now you’re starting to speak honestly. But listen carefully—if we uncover even one hidden account you failed to declare, imagine the consequences yourself.”

“I swear… that’s everything. Including the deposits in Switzerland—my total wealth is eleven billion. That is the whole of it.”

“I’ll take you at your word. Make the transfer today.”

Bin Salman turned and left the room.

This was only one stop on his list.
More than five hundred royals and elites were being subjected to the same brutal ritual.

It would be remembered as The Night of Beatings.

A night when screams echoed through gilded halls—
and when the Saudi treasury, long starved, swelled with billions wrested from its own princes.

***

A few days later.

David, Vice Chairman Han, and I were taking a short break in Captain Kang’s office.

Can this really be called a break?

I was stretched out on the sofa in a relaxed posture, but my mouth kept running with work-related talk.

“They say the amount reclaimed by the Saudi royal house for the treasury has already surpassed $50 billion.”

“In the end, it will be at least $100 billion.”

It was our list, and we knew better than anyone else exactly how much wealth the Saudi royals and high officials had.

If we recovered more than half of the assets listed, it would amount to roughly $100 billion.

“Isn’t that incredible? We’ve just been rounding up elites and somehow that equals $100 billion — comparable to the U.S. annual defense budget.”

“It shows the immense power of the Saudi royal family. It also shows how weak the royal house had been, failing to properly manage its own princes.”

But things were different now.

Through the great purge, Saudi Arabia had solidified into an absolute monarchy.

All power was now structured so the king and the royal house could control it.

“They canceled the Aramco IPO, apparently. Well, if $100 billion is coming in, there’s no need to sell Aramco shares.”

“That likely explains why oil prices are rising.”

In the early oil war they had fallen to around $30 a barrel.

Now they’d recovered to about $50, meaning Saudi had passed the worst of the crisis.

“Speaking of oil, the stock of the oil company you own has risen a lot. And now that futures look like they’ll keep climbing, some firms are subtly trying to position themselves to acquire energy companies.”

“If oil surpasses $70, those moves will intensify. That’s at least a year away; for now, just feed small baits and manage the fish.”

“Are you saying you’re open to selling the oil company?”

David and Vice Chairman Han looked at me in surprise.

They believed I’d bought that oil company with huge capital and a long-term plan.

“I did acquire the oil firm with a long-term strategy, but if a phenomenal offer comes in, there’s nothing I can’t sell.”

“I’ll leak a rumor gently. Many people don’t even approach because they think you won’t sell.”

“If someone truly wants to buy the oil company, they’ll come via someone close to the U.S. president elected in this election—by any means necessary.”

“They might even get extra compensation from the U.S. government when purchasing the oil company.”

By 2017, oil prices would surpass $70 per barrel.

But then, with the onset of the COVID era, prices would plummet below $20.

Thus, selling the oil company around 2017 and repurchasing it later at a cheaper price could yield several times the profit.

“Vice Chairman Han, you should try some oil futures as well. If you have spare funds, betting on rising oil prices could generate a substantial return over the next year.”

“I’ve already invested in oil, but since you mention it, Chairman, I’ll increase the investment by more than tenfold!”

The amount of capital Taewoo Securities could mobilize was enormous.

Even after investing in Brexit, a lot of funds remained idle, and they had to be deployed across oil and other sectors to keep everything in motion.

“By the way, the presidential election is really close now. How’s the atmosphere?”

“Good news keeps reaching Congressman Choi Jae-seok. The ruling party is splitting completely, and two candidates are running in the election.”

“If the ruling party’s votes are split in half, that’s good news for Congressman Choi.”

“The same goes for the opposition. A new party based in Honam is absorbing a significant portion of the opposition vote.”

Unlike before the time loop, this new party hadn’t secured many seats in the general election.

Yet, its momentum hadn’t entirely vanished, allowing opposition votes to be widely divided.

“The more candidates running, the more advantageous it is for Congressman Choi.”

“What used to be a three-way race has now become a four-way race. With the multi-party system, the competitiveness of the People’s Economic Party stands out even more. Especially with the 700-trillion-won semiconductor city issue consistently making front-page headlines.”

2016 was a year of power shifts.

From corporate succession, the change of the Saudi crown prince, to the U.S. and Korean presidential elections.

“How’s the U.S. election looking?”

“Trump was elected as the Republican candidate, but the election setup is actually more favorable to the Democrats. Out of 538 electoral votes, securing around 270 wins the election, and the Democrats have the advantage.”

The U.S. Democratic Party had a solid base.

They could prepare for the election with at least 180 electoral votes already secured.

Only about 90 more votes were needed for victory, which allowed them to concentrate more effectively compared to the Republicans.

“So there’s still quite some time before the outcome is clear. Meanwhile, we can focus on the Korean presidential election and Brexit.”

The Korean presidential election was approaching fast.

If the current conditions held, Congressman Choi would likely win comfortably.

Yet, any unexpected variable could appear, so complacency was not an option.

TL/n -

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) has purged several members of the Saudi royal family to consolidate his power. This began in November 2017 with a sweeping anti-corruption campaign that led to the arrest of at least 11 senior princes, including Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the kingdom’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen. The detainees were held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, which was effectively transformed into a high-security detention facility. Some were released after agreeing to financial settlements, while others remained in custody for extended periods.

The purge was not limited to the royal family. It also targeted former ministers, military leaders, and business tycoons, with over 380 individuals detained. The campaign reportedly recovered up to $107 billion in assets and helped MbS centralise control over the military and security services, sidelining rival factions and establishing dominance over the economic elite.

The consolidation continued in March 2020, when MbS detained two more senior royals: Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz (his uncle) and former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef (his cousin). They were accused of plotting a coup and were allegedly held under house arrest.