Empire of the Ring

Madagascar was an island located 400 kilometers southeast of the African continent on the Indian Ocean.

It was the fourth-largest island country in the world by size.

With a population of 26 million and per capita income of only 460 dollars, it was a country with far lower national income with a relatively small population.

Tourism revenues were not so high as in Seychelles here, even though it was a country with beautiful natural resources.

After being isolated for hundreds of thousands of years, this place was filled with bronze and plants that mankind had never seen before.

It was said that about 2,000 years ago, people from Southeast Asia arrived here in seasonal winds.

Maybe that was why the people looked similar to Southeast Asian people.

The country's largest export product was coffee, accounting for 45 percent of its total exports due to its industrial structure centered on coffee farming.

Since the island was so large, the weather varied widely depending on the region, with December to April being the rainy season in the north, May to October being dry, and the southern half of the island with semi-desert weather.

When it came to Madagascar, the first thing that came to people's minds was the baobab tree and the lemur monkey.

They were well-known in a novel and cartoon, so it was also a favorite place for tourists to visit.

Kazakhstan had long been eyeing Madagascar as a bridgehead to advance into the Indian Ocean.

What was unusual was that other island countries in the Indian Ocean were that other countries were oddly not reaching out to Madagascar when they were interested in other islands. It was because of its low national income and a large number of indigenous people still living uncivilized lives, and other countries decided that it did not have much benefit.

Kazakhstan's intelligence service had not missed such an opportunity and worked hard on the Madagascar government.

Madagascar, like most countries in Africa, was suffering from the scarcity of food, so Kazakhstan provided its overflowing grain to improve its relations with Madagascar.

In less than a year, Madagascar saw Kazakhstan as a great ally.

The aid was for countries with potential for development, not just anywhere, but Kazakhstan was the only country that provided grain aid with no strings attached.

Although it was a geopolitically important location, Madagascar had been relatively unnoticed because of Seychelles or Mauritius island around it.

When the nation started to favor Kazakhstan, it was rocked by Princess Zeynep's visit, accompanied by a hospital ship for volunteer work.

As if to reflect such an atmosphere, Prime Minister Ntsay personally greeted Zeynep at the Port of Toamasina, an export-import port on the Middle East coast facing the Indian Ocean.

The reason why the prime minister came to the port was the Kazakh Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet's visit, which was more important than the princess' visit.

Madagascar had just agreed to the Kazakh royal family's request to use the Toamasina port as an advance base for the Indian Ocean fleet because a large investment was naturally expected to take place when the fleet base was built.

Prime Minister Ntsay, who greeted the princess and the Kazakh Navy with such expectations, had to be surprised when he saw the 11 super-large warships floating in the outer port.

Without a strong enemy, there was no need to maintain such a huge military presence.

It was immediately clear that building an advance base for the Indian Ocean fleet was also aimed at preventing forces he did not know.

"I sincerely welcome Princess Zeynep's visit."

"Your Excellency has come out to greet me personally. I'm so honored."

"The president tried to greet you in person, but I came out instead because I was afraid it would be too much."

"Oh, your presence is more than enough of a welcome."

"Considering Kazakhstan's help and interest in our country, this is a weak welcome. Thank you for solving the difficulties of our country."

Prime Minister Ntsay, a kind-looking person with dark skin, was a former senior U.N. International Labor Organization's official who was recruited by President Hery himself to quell political turmoil.

Zeynep, who met Prime Minister Ntsay face-to-face, was also relieved.

The first impression in a meeting with a person was more important than anything else, and Prime Minister Ntsay seemed to be a warm person.

"The Queen and the Duke of Kazakhstan also hope that this visit will serve as a chance to strengthen the friendship between the two countries."

"Of course it will. Most countries are not interested in our country, but Kazakhstan was different. I'm very grateful to be able to resolve some of the food shortages with your help."

Madagascar was an agricultural country, but it was suffering from food shortages on a regular basis as it was mainly focused on coffee production.

Under such circumstances, Kazakhstan's grain aid was like rain in a drought.

"If it were close to the distance, we could have sent as much grain as we wanted… His Highness was very sorry. From now on, if there's anything we can do to help, we'll do whatever we can."

"You are already helping us. I never thought you'd bring such a huge hospital ship. I don't know how to express my gratitude."

When he heard a charity hospital ship run by a Kazakh princess would be sent, he thought it would be a ship of a few thousand tons. But when a giant 1,000-bed hospital ship appeared before him, he could not believe it.

"I would like to build a hospital here, but I plan to do some volunteer work at a mobile hospital for the time being because the foundation is still financially weak. There are many other places in Africa that are waiting for us, and it's hard to focus too much on this area. I hope you understand."

"I'm only grateful for your noble work."

"I'm flattered. We started because there were willing medical staff who joined us. I'm just an errand girl."

***

While the medical staff were busy serving the people of Madagascar, Zeynep was on a busy schedule, visiting the presidential palace in the capital city of Antananarivo along with the fleet's commander, Admiral Jun, and looking for a place to build the resort.

Though it was a busy schedule, she was able to use the presidential train, so she could travel comfortably throughout Madagascar.

Although Madagascar was an island, it was nearly three times the size of the Korean Peninsula.

However, due to the long economic difficulties, construction investment such as roads, the national backbone network, had not been made.

In the colonial days, the trains were the only feet of the residents.

It was not connected like a spider's web all over the country, so people had to use old buses or trucks on unpaved roads where there were no railroad tracks.

This resulted in frequent serious traffic accidents. Most of the traffic accidents were major like people falling off a cliff.

Most of the patients, who came to the hospital ship after first aid, were due to traffic accidents.

Looking around the famous places, Zeynep was able to choose several sites.

"Admiral Jun. How about there?"

"The scenery is amazing. It's relatively close to the port of Toamasina, but we have to build a new road, too."

"I don't think about 10 kilometers off the main road will be that much of a burden. With that kind of scenery, it's perfect for a resort."

The resort site proposed by the princess was located on a hill attached to the shore. A large sand field laid below.

If the resort was built while keeping the natural scenery alive, it would be better than any other place in Seychelles.

Zeynep, who followed Youngho around and learned, was pretty good at choosing sites for resorts.

"If we build the resort on a hill, people will have to work hard to walk down to the beach."

"I heard that the East Coast storm can be quite severe. A long time ago, a powerful storm almost destroyed the Port of Toamasina, so I'm trying to build it on higher ground."

"I didn't think of it. Then we should endure the trouble of going up and down the hill."

"We'll have to buy extra for resort buildings and amenities on the beach. Princess, this is going to cost you a lot of extra money."

"You don't have to worry about that. I'm thinking of buying all the land, including the beach. His Highness told me to secure a little more land than I should buy."

"We've been looking around a lot, but I don't think there's a place like this. Shall we choose this place?"

"I'd love to do that right now, but I'll listen to other people's opinions and then decide. There could be parts that we're missing."

Zeynep liked the place and wanted to sign a land contract right away.

However, she did not intend to make a decision arbitrarily.

This was because soldiers and medical staff would be the main customers, and their opinions mattered.

The beach was a nice location but it could be inconvenient for people as it was a remote location in the city.

"Sure. Let's ask for opinions from Dr. Kim and the captains of each ship."

After inquiring opinions of the military personnel and medical staff, they agreed to build the resort at Zeynep's favorite site south of Toamasina.

It was located some distance from the city, but it was only about half an hour away if roads were laid and shuttle buses were operated.

After deciding the location of the resort, the Duke's approval was soon received.

The rest of the steps were processed quickly.

Madagascar's government welcomed it with open arms, as it was to attract another investment project following the port expansion project.

If the area was developed, there would be more stable jobs and other foreign companies would also express their interest.

Despite having better natural conditions than Seychelles, there was no reason for it to be shunned by the world.

As Madagascar's government became more aggressive, Zeynep could sign a contract to buy the land for the resort including the beach with satisfaction.