Her Majesty’s Secret Service

045. The Way Back, The Reason for Returning

Fortunately, it seemed Jane had finished her meal with satisfaction.

As the warm and cheerful atmosphere of the meal came to an end and the plates were being cleared, a subtle voice leaked from Jane’s lips.

“Right, about the gift Her Majesty sent me.”

“Yes…?”

“Besides the dishes Sir Logan prepares, isn’t there more?”

Jane’s blue eyes turned towards me. They held a look that said she knew everything, making it impossible for me to meet her gaze.

“Well… there was something else…”

I tried to gloss over it somehow, but it seemed it wasn’t something that could be easily dismissed.

“There was an accident on the way here. What happened was…”

“There’s no need to lie. Her Majesty ordered all the ‘gifts’ she sent me to be thrown into the river because they were in a strange state, didn’t she? That was too much. At the very least, you should have gone outside the castle. If you throw it inside, who wouldn’t notice?”

I had a rough idea of what had happened. The soldiers, not wanting to go too far, must have thrown the items into the nearest body of water.

—

“It was truly an accident. There was a minor mistake, but still, the cheese was perfectly…”

“Um… shouldn’t it be that only the cheese was perfectly fine?”

I had no choice but to close my mouth at Jane’s voice, which was gentle yet cut through decisively.

“I have nothing to say to you.”

What can I do but bow deeply and ask for forgiveness?

After all, if I can’t get a response from Jane that she received the gift well, the trouble is mine, isn’t it?

“If you go back like this, Sir Logan will be in quite a bind… Perhaps, could you grant me just one favor? Then, I might be able to help Sir Logan too.”

“Do you mean… help you, Miss Jane?”

“Yes, it’s not a difficult favor. Will you grant it?”

What can I do? I am the subordinate, and this child is the superior. Regardless of the age difference, that fact does not change.

“What can I do to help you?”

At my response, Jane, unable to hide her delight, opened her small lips and began to recite her request to me.

—

The next afternoon.

It was only after lunch had passed that I could finish preparing to go to London. Normally, I would have prepared early in the morning to return to London before lunch, but I had to delay my schedule because I had to grant Jane’s ‘favor’.

“The lunch was delicious too. Oh, to the chef here…”

“I’ve already handed a note with the recipes to the chef here. Especially regarding the whipped cream, I’ve written it down in great detail, so you don’t have to worry.”

Jane’s favor was that she wanted to taste more of the dishes I made. Because of that, my departure time was delayed until after lunch, but what can I do?

It’s better to be a little late than to fail in managing the gift from the Queen and be punished.

For breakfast, I always served the Queen butter-slathered grilled steak, and for lunch, it was white bread accompanied by whipped cream laden with sugar and fruit jam.

—

Fortunately, it seemed Jane was satisfied with both breakfast and lunch.

“Thank you, Sir Logan. Ah! I must keep my promise too, right? Here, the letter I promised. I’ve written that I received the gift from Her Majesty. Hmm… It bothers me a bit, but since I wrote that I received the gift from Sir Logan, it’s not a lie, right? Hehe, the Lord will overlook this much, I suppose.”

Jane said with an awkward smile. For a devout believer, she’s quite flexible. But I still can’t understand why she’s been so adamant about not converting.

“Yes, surely He will.”

Of course, I kept that thought to myself and, just like when I arrived, I moved to step into the carriage.

“Sir Logan, will I be able to taste your cooking again next time?”

“Hmm… Perhaps, you might? It seems Her Majesty holds Miss Jane in high regard. Well, I must be going now. I hope to see you again.”

With that, I bid farewell to Jane and left Richmond Palace.

As the horses adorned with the Tudor Rose took the lead, the now-familiar clattering of hooves rang in my ears. Soon, the sound of rolling wheels followed, and the carriage began to sway.

First thing upon returning to London, I must find out which scoundrel messed with my luggage. Surely, the Earl of Russell’s influence has reached it.

I must repay what I’ve suffered. By any means necessary.

* * *

Between Richmond and London, on the wide road, a group of about ten men gathered looked suspicious at first glance.

Aaron, known as ‘Earless Aaron’, and Connor, sturdy and covered in scars, ‘Silent Connor’.

The two somewhat famous mercenaries had received a request from an unidentified man to kill a chef returning from Richmond. They might have been curious about why someone would want to kill a chef, but having rolled around in the mercenary business for years, they knew all too well that curiosity was a shortcut to death.

Three days ago, on Monday, the mysterious man came again and said that the foreign chef would lead four soldiers to Richmond. Hearing this, Aaron asked if they should ambush the man on the way to Richmond, and the man replied that they should kill him on his return to London.

“Hey Aaron, it’s already past noon! Didn’t you say he’d arrive here around noon?”

“Stop fussing like children, Jack. Don’t whine so much. He might have left Richmond late. You’re lucky. It’s rare for a greenhorn who hasn’t even been in the industry for a year to get a job worth three gold coins.”

“It’s the same death if you get stabbed, no matter how long you’ve been eating steel… What’s the point of gathering eight people here, not giving us ‘work’, making us carry wood unnecessarily, and when we tried to eat, not even letting us start a fire…”

“Jack, didn’t I tell you to stop grumbling? Are you a toddler? Do I look like a joke to you?”

It was a time when the atmosphere between the mercenaries called Aaron and Jack was gradually becoming hostile.

On the opposite side of the road, that is, from the direction of Richmond, a familiar face was seen running towards them.

“Ah! There, finally coming, it seems.”

“Hmph, ‘Cut Ear’ Aaron’s reputation was about to be tested. A pity, indeed.”

“Heh. After this job is done, you’ll get your chance. For now, let’s focus on the task at hand.”

Aaron, with a laugh that could not be discerned as mockery or not, turned his head towards the approaching mercenary. This mercenary was also one of those hired alongside Jack.

“So, running over here like that, you must have seen something, huh?”

At Aaron’s words, the breathless mercenary shouted urgently as if in dispute.

“Aaron! The story’s different!”

“Eh? What do you mean different?”

“You said there were four! But there are six, six!”

Aaron frowned at the fussing mercenary. The inexperienced mercenaries they had hired were all expendable.

Expendables who didn’t know their place, ignoring his words, or those pretending to be mercenaries, trembling because the soldiers increased by two more than expected. None of them were to his liking.

But what could he do? To avoid shedding blood, both his and Connor’s, they had to embrace even these cowards and these willful fools.

“Look here, if you’re that scared, how are you going to live off being a mercenary? Just because two more have joined doesn’t change anything. We are ten, and those coming now are six. You must not know, being so inexperienced, but no matter how skilled, if three or four gang up at once…”

“Yikes…! It’s not just two more! They were cavalry. The Tudor Rose was drawn on their armor! There was no word of the royal guards being here! Don’t tell me, you knew and hid it!”

“What? Those guys, why here…?”

Hearing this, Aaron couldn’t hide his dismay. Even if four had become six, why would the king’s personal guard appear here?

With a troubled look, Aaron glanced back at Connor, who had been silently working on the palisade. Connor, having heard the voice too, looked back at Aaron with a calm gaze, slightly furrowing his brow.

“What? The royal guard?”

“Hey Connor, isn’t this a different story? Weren’t we just supposed to shake down the London guards and make a run for it?”

“Was this related to the royal family? No wonder the pay was hefty…!”

The other mercenaries began to stir at the mention that the Royal Guard was mixed in with their target. With the situation rapidly approaching, Aaron and Connor exchanged glances, thinking they must somehow resolve this predicament.

* * *

During the mercenaries’ confusion, at the London estate of Earl Russell.

“My lord, I simply do not understand. Why complicate matters? Why not just bribe a soldier to kill the man…”

The servant questioning Earl Russell was his confidant, tasked with the dirty work of hiring mercenaries and bribing soldiers on the Earl’s orders. The Earl, responding to his confidant’s curious question, clicked his tongue several times.

“Tsk, it hasn’t been long since the rebellion, and you think a royal soldier would kill a knight favored by Her Majesty? What do you think would happen?”

“But… if we kill that cook and hide his tracks…”

“The whole of England would be turned upside down trying to find who hid him. Haven’t you seen Her Majesty’s actions so far? She greatly resembles His Majesty Henry. She is someone who must do whatever she sets her mind to.”

The Earl took a sip of water from the cup on his desk, as if his throat was parched.

“The soldiers were ordered to damage an item gifted by Her Majesty. Since that cook was responsible for this incident, it’s only right that he faces punishment. Surely the rumor has spread to Richmond Palace by now. It’s impossible to blind all those eyes. There might be a chance to check the baggage before reaching Richmond Palace, but it’s unlikely. With all the soldiers in cahoots, what could he possibly do?”

“So… why hire mercenaries at all?”

“Listen till the end. Now, there’s a reason for him. The foreigner has a reason to flee for failing to carry out the Queen’s command.”

“Ah, so that’s why you said the cook had to be missing…”

“Exactly. He fled due to the pressure of not delivering a gift from Her Majesty to Jane Grey properly. Of course, along with the soldiers who went with him to Richmond.”

The Earl took another sip of water, a satisfied smile on his lips.

“Why the soldiers also fled isn’t important. What’s important is that if we can create the picture that ‘he fled due to the burden of responsibility,’ the rest can be muddled through. Her Majesty will have no choice but to accept it.”

Having said all this, the Earl turned his gaze to the servant.

“But, I’m bothered that we only hired two,”

—

“Rest assured. They’ve only hired eight mercenaries separately. When I told them the number of soldiers escorting the carriage, they filled the headcount on the spot. About four, should be easy to handle.”

“Well, since you’ve chosen them… Yes, I trust you’ve taken care not to be followed.”

“Rest assured. I’ve taken care of everything so that there will be no trouble for Count.”

The Count nodded continuously, showing a satisfied expression at the servant’s confident words.

Soon, news that the thorn in the side, that pesky chef, had fled was expected to engulf London.

Hoping to hear the news sooner rather than later, the Count hummed a tune through his nose.