Her Majesty’s Secret Service

064. New wife’s story

The next morning, another court meeting was held.

Unlike yesterday, when an emergency meeting was held, today’s meeting was attended by all nobles, so lower-ranking nobles who were relatively behind in titles were unable to sit on chairs and had to attend the meeting standing.

‘Ha, why did I say that then… !’

I was dying and sitting in the office where the palace meeting was being held.

What does it mean to get on a boat?

‘Now that I think about it, Jane must have been waiting… .’

To make matters worse, his conversation with the Queen became longer and he was forced to spend the night in Westminster. The problem was that because of that, she had no contact with Jane.

It was about a couple of months after the wedding, and I had to stay up all night outside the palace without saying a word because I had something to do with the bill business.

For a week after that day, Jane didn’t say a single word.

Things like laundry and meals were handled by Jane’s maids and servants, so there was no major inconvenience in life, but wasn’t there still something called atmosphere?

Especially when you sleep, ugh. When I think about it, it was an experience I never want to go through again.

‘okay. Last time it was because of a rumor, so this time is different. then.’

The problem wasn’t that I was simply staying out, but I don’t know who spread it, but a rumor was spread that I had attended a party and spent the night with the daughter of a fairly well-known merchant.

Although I met bill merchants and had a drink with them through Robert’s introduction that day, I have never dated a woman.

No, I did have fun with women, but I didn’t go all the way. It’s true. When I woke up, there was no one in my room.

Finally, after a week had passed and it turned out to be a rumor, Jane started talking to me. She apologized, saying she was sorry for falling for false rumors and doubting me, but she sincerely asked me to send someone to tell me the news from now on. Are you worried?

“Her Majesty the Queen is entering.”

As I was worried about staying out overnight without telling Jane, the queen arrived before I knew it. Not long after hearing the servant’s voice, the Queen came into her office.

‘Ah, there was the Jane problem, but there was a bigger problem… .’

Last night, I tried my best to overturn the Queen’s decision, but all I got back was ‘Get on the boat.’

Moments after the Queen entered the office, after a brief exchange of formal greetings and sentences full of pretentiousness, the Queen got to the point.

“I can tell you clearly, there will be no need to grant Spain’s demands.”

If we reject Spain’s rude demands, doesn’t that mean we will side with France in this war?

The nobles reacted differently to the queen’s decision, but there was no voice of opposition. If she dared to join hands with Spain when the queen had decided to do so, she would never be able to show her face in her court meeting again.

But among them, there was someone who was the only one who raised his voice.

“Her Majesty the Queen! Is there any way to get the consent of the House of Lords right away? “I’m sure you’re not planning to start a war with only royal assets, right?”

The high-ranking treasurer was William the Marquis.

He brought up a very realistic story about the lack of military funds. In response to the marquis’s passionate anger, the queen calmed him down by telling him not to worry.

“Ah, you don’t need to get permission from the House of Nobles. “There will also be no special tax collected.”

“Your Majesty, may I ask where on earth you plan to get the budget to hire mercenaries?”

As far as the Marquis knew, the Tudor royal treasury had been empty for a long time due to the unreasonable wars that took place during the reign of Henry VIII. It was clear that there would be no other way than to raise a special tax to start a war right away, so the Marquis continued to question the queen with an expression of complete incomprehension.

At the marquis’s reaction, the queen smiled softly and opened her mouth.

“Is there any need to hire mercenaries? “Hasn’t the budget already been allocated to deploy the Royal Navy?”

“You mean the Royal Navy? Are you saying that you will fight the war with only the Navy, without deploying the Army?”

“Yes. The launching ceremony of the royal flagship, which was scheduled for next month, will be brought forward by two weeks. And we will stop Dutch trade with 22 warships, a total of 22, including the royal flagship.”

The surprised nobles began to murmur once again.

It wasn’t that the queen’s words were empty. Even if they intervened in the war, they were only considering a passive intervention such as supplying supplies to the French army or hiring 1,000 to 2,000 mercenaries and sending troops, and were not considering a strong response to the extent of cutting off lowland trade routes.

It was difficult to find a large ship that could be used as a military ship among the ships in the lowlands right now. No matter how much the Royal Navy had declined, it was easy to roam the seas without military ships and plunder trade ships.

And after a while, the nobles, who were surprised by what had happened in the Lowlands, could not help but be shocked once more by the queen’s words.

“And, I plan to appoint Baron Grinstead as captain of the royal flagship that will be launched in two weeks.”

What scared me to death, and what I said was bigger than Jane, was that the Queen was going to appoint me captain.

The office, where the palace meeting is in full swing, is now filled with the murmur of nobles. The stinging gaze tickled the back of my head. In particular, Admiral William Howard, Lord High Admiral and Baron Effingham, was glaring at me as if he were going to kill me.

‘shit… It’s not like I want to be the captain of a ship… .’

Although the power to appoint the commander of the royal flagship was solely the Queen’s authority, it was customary for the best ship in the navy to be the flagship of a high-ranking admiral.

The admiral also came to Deptford’s dry dock to see the ‘Catherine’ and politely greeted the carpenters and me, thanking them for building such a beautiful flagship.

But since I was the captain of that ship, I deserved to be looked at like that.

What can I do? The queen is so stubborn. What did you say? ‘You are the only person in Britain who has handled a ship built according to Sir Brian’s designs’? It’s as if the things I used to say in the past have come back as karma.

“And the declaration of war against Spain is next month, on January 2nd, which was the original launch of Catherine. “We plan to blockade the coast of Holland starting that day, so everyone should know that.”

So today’s palace meeting ended with the Queen’s unilateral notification.

The looks in my eyes from the admiral and other nobles, and the despair that I had to become the captain of the royal flagship and go pirates, turned dark before my eyes.

* * *

I knew very well from someone sent by the Queen that her husband had spent the night at Westminster last night.

Did you say it was to discuss national affairs with the queen? She thought it might be true since it was a story about Jessica, a maid she was close with.

‘You must be very tired since you didn’t sleep until late last night, right? Logan said that sweets are the best when you’re tired… .’

In addition, it was said that there was a palace meeting this morning. She must have been very tired from discussing state affairs all night and attending royal meetings, so Jane asked the kitchen to make something sweet.

As such, the relationship between the two was not as bad as expected. No, it should be seen as very good rather than bad.

For Jane, the past few months of marriage were like a dream in her 18 years of life, soon to be 19 years.

Logan was the first man who did not claim power for himself. His own father, Henry Gray, Duke of Suffolk, demanded that she marry for power, and John Dudley, heir of the Dudley family, whom she herself had married, demanded that she be crowned queen for power.

But Logan didn’t ask anything of himself. Rather than asking for anything, he cooked a meal for her and covered her with a blanket, asking if she was cold when she woke up. Jane could tell that Logan was completely different from the men she had encountered so far.

Logan never got angry no matter what he did. Unlike others who strictly controlled their lives, Logan let them do whatever he wanted to do, and if he wanted to eat, he made them anything.

At first, Jane was wary of Logan, but as this continued for several months, she was able to let down her guard and enjoy the happy days she had never experienced before.

Although a problem arose due to his own misunderstanding, the misunderstanding was quickly resolved and he was able to return to his usual days.

Jane, who was enjoying a free life like she had never seen before, was startled when she saw Logan enter the room with an expression she had never seen before.

“Logan? Why is your expression like that? “What happened?”

“Jane? Oh, I’m sorry. Well, yesterday… .”

“sorry? Ah, Her Majesty the Queen told us. “I heard you had a lot of work to do?”

“Ah, that’s a relief. I thought I was being misunderstood again… .”

Jane’s cheeks turned red at those words. For Jane, that was a memory she wanted to erase.

“Why are you bringing up that story again…” . Oh, I called the kitchen and asked them to bring me some sweet snacks. Looking at your expression, you look very tired… therefore… Umm… Would you like to eat together?”

My ex-husband had never done anything with me before. He doesn’t even eat snacks, let alone eat together. Oh, there was one thing. Was she imprisoned with him?

Perhaps because she still remembered her ex-husband, Jane always spoke carefully whenever she asked Logan to do something together.

“is it so? Then do that. But Jane… I have something to say… .”

“yes? “What have you got to say?”

Jane could see that Logan’s face was more tense than before. It was a face that seemed to be more than just tired, it was involved in something important and complicated.

“Um, so I don’t know where to start… .”

Logan’s subsequent words filled Jane with anxiety that the happiness she had worked so hard to find might be shattered.

Oh my god, there’s going to be a war with Spain soon, and Logan will become a captain and participate in the war. Does the queen intend to tear apart her husband, who has been married for less than a year?

‘Queen, no, is your aunt doing this on purpose? ‘Are you afraid me and Logan will have a baby?’

Jane thought that Mary had appointed Logan as captain on purpose to prevent her and Logan from having children before Catherine grew up. She couldn’t have torn apart her newly married couple otherwise.

Separate from herself, who had virtually given up her right to succession by marrying Logan, her child would be born with a right to succession to the throne.

Of course, even if a child was born, the legitimate successor would be Princess Catherine, but Jane thought that the Queen might have done this because she thought that the birth of a child between herself and Logan would be a threat to Catherine.

‘I need to visit my aunt and negotiate. It seems like you’re misunderstanding… .’

Jane did not want to miss these happy days she had worked so hard to find.

“Logan, did the meeting just end? What about Her Royal Highness? Are you at Whitehall Palace today?”

“Why is that suddenly… ?”

“That’s it, hurry up!”

When Jane asked about the Queen’s whereabouts in a suddenly urgent voice, Logan had no choice but to answer obediently.

“He returned to the palace with me today. “Wouldn’t you be in the office by now?”

“is it so? “That’s good.”

I couldn’t send Logan, my husband, and the happiness I had worked so hard to find to the battlefield like this.

She negotiates with the queen and gets her husband out of the battlefield. That was Jane’s choice to protect her happiness.

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*The existence of syphilis was known in Europe in the 16th century. Naturally, nobles, high-ranking officials, and wealthy merchants wanted safe waitresses, and there were waiters who entertained such high-ranking people.

*It was customary in England for the best ship to be the flagship of the highest man in the navy. I would appreciate it if you could understand that High Lord Admiral is equivalent to the Chief of Naval Staff in modern times.