Her Majesty’s Secret Service

087. Signs of trouble

New Year’s Day, June 12th.

A bell-shaped temperament with protruding arms is not normal. My nephew, who is only two years old, was babbling ‘ay’ while looking at a book, so I was making a fuss by saying, “I don’t know how to read anymore, so I have to get a tutor.”

Normally, you have to be 3 years old to read a text and 4 years old to read and understand a book, so why is this so hasty? I really don’t understand.

New Year’s Day, June 14th.

This morning, I talked with scholars, Catholic monks, and Anglican monks whom Jonghyeong had brought over.

The meeting was held to introduce someone with knowledge to study the ‘Latin’ written in the books we bought at the market. The meeting was originally scheduled to end in the morning, but as we read the books and discussed their contents, the meeting ended in the middle of the day. It’s over after this.

The story became longer because the priest named John, who taught me Latin, saw the book I had bought called “Treatise on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius,” and John said, “Even if the person who wrote this was an evil person, He commented, “The writings on Rome are really well organized.”

When I asked John if there were any more works by the writer, he said that there was a book with the outrageous title ‘Prince’.

I was drawn to the title and asked, “Perhaps I can’t get that book?” I asked. John was disgusted and tried to dissuade me, saying, “There is no need to read such evil books.” When John told me to read the works of scholars called ‘Plato’, ‘Aristotle’, or ‘Thomas Aquinas’, I responded that I knew for now, but I could not shake off my curiosity about the book called ‘The Prince’.

* * *

As if the delegation couldn’t travel around London every day, they were resting at the mansion today.

Thanks to that, I was able to stay in the mansion all day today, and I was trying to get a little closer to Richard.

“Ebebebe peekaboo!”

When I played with him by covering his face and showing strange expressions, Richard was like an angel, smiling and cackling.

I was trying to win Richard’s favor by making silly faces at him for a while, but when Jane returned to Richard’s room and saw me like that, she started scolding me.

“Logan, are you making that stupid face again?”

Jane scolded him and told him not to make such a foolish face because he was afraid that someone would see him, but whatever. It’s not like anyone is watching, and my son loves it so much, so what can’t I do for him?

“Ebebebe!”

“Logan, I’m telling you not to do that?!”

“Logan! “Peck!”

As I looked at my son Richard, who called my name and smiled brightly, a question I wanted to ask came to mind and I looked at Richard with a mischievous smile.

“Hehe, do you like dad or mom?”

“mom! mom!”

hmm… I wanted to see Richard struggling with not knowing which to choose between the two… . Apparently, Jane is still more familiar with me than me.

After a while, Jane and I went out carrying Richard and looked around the garden attached to the mansion, and then returned to the mansion and had lunch.

After lunch, Richard was sleepy, so I laid him on the bed to take a nap, and Jane and I were smiling happily while looking at Richard.

“Baron, I am very sorry during your break. It’s no different… .”

While I was watching Richard in his room, a servant employed by the manor brought me a letter. When I looked at the seal on the back of the letter, it seemed to have been sent from Whitehall Palace as it had the royal seal stamped on it.

I immediately opened the letter and checked its contents, but when I saw what was written, I frowned.

“Her Majesty the Queen sent you? “What did you send it for?”

Jane seemed to be worried that something serious had happened when my expression became distorted.

“that is… They say Her Majesty the Queen is visiting here. While on a tour, I decided to stop by and stay the night… .”

“yes? “Is that all?”

“Yes, that’s all.”

“No, but why are you making that expression?”

“uh… “Did your expression look a little like that?”

“Well, a lot.”

Was it not enough that, instead of accepting my resignation, he moved Jane to block my resignation? At least she said she would give me ‘six months of vacation’, but isn’t this saying that the Queen, who left me on a mission for six months, is now going to come visit me where I am resting?

I think this is too much. It’s like the boss barging into the home of an employee who is on leave, saying, “I stopped by for a while on a business trip.” Honestly, I can’t help but distort my face.

“Whoa… Get ready… “I guess I have to.”

I felt like I wanted to throw everything away while preparing for the reception, but that feeling faded when I saw Richard sleeping peacefully.

Yes, until this child grows up, you will have to please the queen even if you don’t like it.

The Queen’s parade was scheduled to arrive at our mansion around evening, so we had to prepare her meals and a place to sleep before then.

shit. No matter how much I think about it, it feels like I was given a job as a hostess and villa manager rather than a vacation.

* * *

Two days before Mary’s visit to Logan’s mansion.

Before Henry II, King of France, participated in the joust held to welcome the English envoy, he was talking with the ‘agents’ who had returned to France, that is, the trusted merchants he had sent.

All preparations for organizing an eastern trade fleet had already been completed, but with the idea of ​​being a little more careful, they called merchants who had traveled on the eastern route to hear their opinions.

Obviously, he expected the answer to be ‘We, France, can also use that trade route’, but the merchants’ answer was a little different from King Henry’s expectations.

“You guys have worked hard for two years. “Yes, we can make a lot of money too, right?”

“Are you being presumptuous…?” “Your Majesty, I think it will be difficult for our French ships to make the same profits as England’s trading ships.”

“what? “England also did it, so does it make sense that we, France, can’t do it?”

“That is… .”

During the journey of Henry II, merchants began to unravel in detail what had happened on the eastern route.

Pirate fleets attack every time they pass by the island, and in addition to these pirate fleets, there are merchant ships that plunder other merchant ships to make up for their profits. He explains that the reason there was no damage against such enemies was because the English merchant ship ‘Mary’ was a ship of incredible performance.

King Henry could not hide his displeasure.

“So what you’re saying is that we need a huge ship?”

“Yes, we need not just a huge ship, but a ship with the same performance as England’s ‘Mary’. Unless you have a boat like that, making a steady profit is a bit… .”

At the words of the merchants, King Henry felt irritation rising inside him. He had already made a plan, and had saved every penny from the nobles and the national treasury, and even prepared all the funds to be used for trade in the East.

However, without the ‘Merchant Ship of England’, there is no way to make this profit. my head hurts.

‘I guess I’ll have to start planning again from scratch. We must maintain our friendship with England at least until a new merchant ship is built.’

Originally, the plan was to beat England and embark on independent trade in the East, but if the judgments of the merchants who had once visited the East were like this, the plan had to be changed again.

‘First of all, after finishing today’s match, I must immediately call a palace meeting. We have to start the discussion again from the beginning. that… From how to recruit the craftsmen who built the merchant ship ‘Mary’… .’

Wouldn’t it be easier to recruit the craftsmen who built the ship than to spend money to build a new ship? King Henry decided to convene a palace meeting immediately after this game to discuss the plan.

“For now, I will participate in the competition and then come back. Until then, consider whether there is no other way of profiting from Eastern trade. and… “I will assign a painter to you, so you can remember in as much detail as possible what the inside of Mary’s ship looked like and what she looked like.”

“Yes, Your Highness. “I follow your orders.”

The merchants devised a plan according to King Henry’s orders, and drew up pictures of Mary’s inner state using as much memory as they could, and wrote a report to King Henry.

But unfortunately, the king who read the report they prepared was not King Henry.

* * *

Mary arrived at the mansion she had dropped off at Logan, got off the horse, and approached Logan and Jane who were waiting for her.

Seeing his loyal servant and his only nephew bowing towards him, the fatigue of the day seemed to be going away.

“It’s been a while, Logan and Jane. Do you like this mansion? If you feel like coming into the palace, let me know at any time. “Your room will remain empty.”

Mary subtly told Logan to return to the palace, but Logan responded without blinking.

“I really like it. “It makes me want to live here for the rest of my life.”

“I am always grateful that I am able to live in such a wonderful place thanks to the grace of Her Majesty the Queen. Thank you so much, Her Majesty the Queen. Oh, I prepared a meal for you. “Logan showed off his skills for the first time in a while.”

“Now that I think about it, it’s been a long time since I’ve had any of Logan’s cooking. Jane, would you please guide me to the restaurant?”

“Of course, Her Majesty. Come this way… .”

Mary followed Jane’s guidance to the restaurant in the mansion and sat down.

As the Joseon delegation also lived in the mansion, they also heard that the queen had come here, and said that they could not sit still when the king of a country came and they also came out to the restaurant and greeted Mary.

“Foreign press meets Her Majesty the Queen of England.”

“Are you eating well that ‘ginseng’ you posted? As you said, when I was tired, I chewed a piece or two and it was amazing how quickly the fatigue went away. “Is it originally eaten pickled in honey?”

“That is not the case. “When I brought ginseng here, I brought it pickled in honey to prevent it from being damaged by the sea breeze.”

“Okay, is there anything uncomfortable?”

“Thanks to Her Majesty the Queen’s care, I am truly living comfortably.”

Mary started the story with the story of ginseng and wanted to hear detailed stories about ‘Joseon’ from the envoys.

During the welcome banquet, I couldn’t talk for long because I was busy dealing with other nobles, so I thought I should learn more about ‘Joseon’ this time.

How much time has passed? After finishing her talk with the Joseon envoys, Mary was laughing and talking with Jane about her ‘newlywed life’ at this mansion, when one of the soldiers accompanying Mary entered her dining room with a serious expression. came in.

“Your Majesty the Queen, it is said that news has just arrived from France. this… Because it’s not normal… .”

The soldier glanced at the faces of the Joseon envoys, then approached Mary and whispered something in her ear.

“… Now that… .”

“I’m embarrassed too. What kind of nonsense is this… Anyway, you have to go back to the palace right now… .”

As Mary and the soldier began to talk about something with serious expressions, Jane, who had been talking to Mary a little while ago, was worried that something big had happened, so she cautiously asked Mary a question.

“Your Majesty the Queen, is there something big going on…?” .”

Mary looked at Jane and Logan sitting next to her when she heard Jane’s voice, and then answered Jane’s question.

“Umm… It doesn’t matter since it will be known anyway. This is news from the ambassador to France. “They say King Henry is in critical condition.”

“yes? “You mean King Henri?”

“They say there was an accident during a joust… No, how on earth do you get the spear fragment inside the helmet… .”

Mary trailed off with an expression of complete disbelief.

The king of a country as powerful as France was injured while jousting and was in critical condition. According to Mary’s common sense, it was something that was simply unbelievable.

Footer:

*In the original history, Henry II dies in a joust to celebrate the marriage of his sister and daughter. In the story, the incident is set to have occurred about two years later.

*Jousting at the time was like a sport for nobles. I would appreciate it if you viewed the king’s death during a jousting match as an incident similar to today’s president participating in a boxing match and being beaten to death.