Her Majesty’s Secret Service - Her Majesty’s Secret Service chapter 56

056. War clouds

A few days later, it’s Sunday.

A banquet celebrating the birth of Princess Catherine was held at Whitehall Palace, where Mary mainly resides.

Hearing that he had declared that he would bestow the title of Prince of Wales on Princess Catherine, who was only three days old, every single one of the highest-ranking nobles residing in London attended this banquet.

Several representatives chosen by the gentry also attended the banquet. After hearing that Mary cared for her daughter, she hurriedly selected a representative and attended this banquet.

A large cake was placed in the center of the large banquet hall. It was specially ordered and made by Mary to commemorate her daughter’s birth.

To the right of the cake, there were plates made of gold and silver, and they were piled full of food, just like at the Queen’s wedding.

“Umm… indeed. These days, you can’t miss a banquet because of the royal chefs. I don’t know how they make it taste like this. I wish the chef I hired could taste something like this… .”

“No, did you come to celebrate the princess’s birthday or did you come to eat?”

“Of course both!”

On the other side, nobles were enjoying dancing to the music that filled the banquet hall. The musicians’ performance was endless, and the nobles attending the banquet each looked for their partner and played hard with their feet.

In this way, the banquet celebrating Princess Catherine’s birthday was a success.

Mary, who was quietly watching the banquet unfold from the balcony on the second floor, began to quietly observe the faces of the nobles enjoying the banquet.

Mary quietly looked down the hall from the second floor, and when she saw any nobles approaching Elizabeth or Jane, she ordered the servant standing next to her to find out the details of who those nobles were.

‘where… There are seven nobles who have approached Elizabeth so far, and five nobles who have approached Jane. Still, the number is smaller than expected.’

Also attending the birthday banquet were Mary’s half-sister Elizabeth and Jane Gray, who had once been Mary’s pretender to the throne.

The purpose of holding this banquet was to announce Catherine’s birth and to solidify Catherine’s right of succession by making it widely known that Catherine had been awarded the title of Prince of Wales.

In addition, there was one more purpose: to weed out impure elements who might threaten Catherine’s succession.

Even if he gave Catherine the title of Prince of Wales and showed everyone that he cared for Catherine and gave her strength, there were people everywhere who threatened Catherine.

In particular, unlike Jane Gray, who saved her life with her own hands, the aristocratic forces supporting Elizabeth were still alive and well.

Most of the Anglican and Protestant nobility had long since united under her husband Eric, but there were still hard-core Anglican forces who supported Elizabeth.

‘Eric will protect Catherine even if I die, but honestly… Eric is very unreliable, so he has no choice but to be like this. Besides, you don’t know what will happen in the future, do you? That shouldn’t happen, but if something goes wrong between Eric and I at the same time, Catherine… .’

Who can guarantee the future? Because of such concerns, Mary wanted to use this opportunity to compile a list of nobles who might threaten Catherine.

A banquet where nobles gather is a cradle of intrigue. What chance would there be for a noble and a noble to meet without suspicion? All conspiracies were bound to be born at the banquet.

‘Most of the nobles who approached Elizabeth were Anglican nobles related to the Seymour family. Well, are the people who approached Jane the same ones who are trying to do something to her tonight? Most of them are the third or fourth sons of the count family… . Well, I guess I’ll have to find a new husband for Jane too. She said that if Jane remained single, she might have a b*stard like Dudley take advantage of her again. Umm… Was there a proper marriage? ‘I’ll have to think about it.’

Mary, who was looking down at the banquet hall from the second floor of the hall, caught the sight of Logan carrying food inside the banquet hall.

Even though he had already received a knighthood and was elevated to the rank of nobility, I really liked the way he took action and faithfully performed his duties as head chef.

‘Hmm. In some ways, it is thanks to Logan that I can observe them so comfortably. Logan’s cooking is catching their attention… .’

Most of the banquet dishes that Logan served today were no different from what Mary usually ate, but some dishes were something she had never seen before.

In particular, the dish, which consisted of chicken cut into pieces, fried and sprinkled with powdered cheese, immediately captivated the taste buds of the nobles attending the banquet.

Thanks to this, even though the Queen, the host of the banquet, left the banquet hall a little earlier than usual, the nobles were enjoying the banquet without any other questions.

‘If you think about it, Logan is a very useful servant. Not only did he bring Brian’s maps and drawings, but he completed the hull construction in half a year, which he thought would have taken much longer than half a year, and then returned to London. No, he was trying to come back. What… I feel sorry for saying it twice, but what can I do? There is no one proven capable enough to replace Logan right now. ‘I’m sorry, Logan, but you’ll have to go through a little more trouble.’

Being competent is not a sin, but what can you do? The huge royal flagship had to be completed as soon as possible and the search for trade routes had to begin in earnest. Rather than exploring trade routes, should we say it is confirmation of trade routes?

‘Brian’s map does not record things like ocean currents, but the locations of continents and islands are recorded in great detail. Based on this, new trade routes are pioneered. The Mary Rose was not used as a merchant ship, but the ‘Catherine’ being built now is different. In the name of the Tudor royal family, we are pioneering a new market that no one in Europe knows about. We can no longer rely solely on the wool sold in Calais.’

This was why Mary worked so hard to build the royal flagship.

Right now, the royal family was dependent on Calais for 30 to 40 percent of its profits.

Until now, there was no other way, so we had no choice but to rely on Calais, but with the appearance of Logan, we were able to find a new way.

Maps and blueprints of giant ships. Indeed, Brian was a blessing from God to England and the Tudor royal family.

* * *

The banquet is over. And I returned to the shipyard. Yes, to the Royal Dockyard in Deptford, filled with the smell of fishy river water.

“So, I once… .”

“Hey George! “Stop talking nonsense and move the materials there!”

“Lord Logan, I was just resting for a bit. Don’t be too pushy… .”

“ah! Her Majesty the Queen is coming next week, so don’t we need to have all the masts up until then! “Is it because you don’t want to receive extra pay?!”

My eyes widened, and I was in the process of training the shipbuilders in the dry dock.

‘Once the mast work is completed, you can now escape this boring commute life.’

It happened three months ago at a banquet to celebrate Princess Catherine’s birthday.

While I was busy working at the banquet, an attendant sent by the queen approached me and told me that the queen was looking for me, so I followed the attendant and went to see the queen.

The same ceremonial greetings were exchanged. They say it’s an honor that Her Majesty the Queen cares about you for your hard work.

“Yes, I’m glad that’s the case. Ah, the reason I called you was none other than… .”

After exchanging greetings, the queen began to get to the point in earnest.

To briefly summarize what the queen said, it roughly meant this.

‘I know you’re having a hard time, but let’s struggle a little more. If you complete the mast work by the time you go on tour in three months, I will allow you to return to London.’

I think I embellished what I said, but if you look at the main point, that’s what it meant.

Anyway, after that day, when I returned to my commute, I trained the shipbuilders with a spark in my eyes.

I wanted to hire more people and carry out the construction work in the evening, but due to the nature of the royal shipyard, which cannot hire people arbitrarily, it was impossible.

Anyway, in order to complete the mast work within three months, I offered extra pay to the shipbuilders.

Since dozens of shipbuilders cannot all be sincere, there were a few so-called salary thieves who did their work roughly while receiving their salary. But when I said that I would pay an additional month’s salary if the mast work was completed within three months, everyone turned their eyes to me. I started to focus on work.

Thanks to this, the mast work is almost at its end, and at this rate, it looks like we will be able to complete all of the mast work before the end of this week.

‘This time, we can really go back to London. I don’t want to commute to work anymore… .’

After traveling back and forth between London and Deptford for nearly a year, there is nowhere I don’t feel achy. After riding back and forth to London on horseback for several hours every two or three days, my thighs feel tight.

This time, she looked at the shipbuilders at work with earnest eyes, hoping that the queen would keep her promise.

It has been a long time since winter passed and the warm spring breeze began to blow. Shouldn’t I go back to London before summer comes once again?

* * *

As the spring breeze blew from the shipyards of Deptford, a meeting was in full swing at the French court.

“As you know, the friction in the north has been getting worse recently. “There are not many days left to avenge the humiliation in Pavia.”

The nobles who heard the words of King Henry II of France nodded and agreed with his opinion.

“Yes, Your Majesty. “We can’t just suffer from the Habsburgs, can we?”

“The Lord speaks for me. I can’t just be bullied by those Swiss hillbillies who were lucky enough to become emperor. “Oh, whatever.”

For a while, slander against the Habsburg family poured out. Henri, who had been listening to that voice with pleasure, opened his mouth again.

“Now that I think about it, there was a report from Count Antoine. “I heard that the English are building a new royal flagship with support from the Habsburgs. How should I accept this?”

“Aren’t you planning to plunder the northern coast like you did during King Henry’s time?”

From noble mtl dot nete

“Hmm… .”

Henri thought for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“It was the daughter of Henry, the King of England, who gave birth this time, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then maybe things will get easier. King Henry was a man who could see reality, so his daughter would be similar. It would be nice if England would take our hand… Anyway, that would be a little difficult. Then let’s do this. “Please tell Count Antoine that he will at least remain neutral.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

No matter how weak England was, it was a war with Spain. At a time when even one soldier was a waste, there was no need to increase the number of enemies.

According to Antoine’s report, Queen Mary received naval support from Charles V. However, that did not mean that they would support Spain in the war between Spain and France.

As far as she knew, her father, Henry VIII, was a person who knew how to see the situation.

As the daughter of King Henry, who coordinated between the two powers by going to France when Spain had the advantage and going to Spain when France had the advantage, she would know very well what damage would come to England if either side had an overwhelming advantage between France and Spain. .

Although it is unfortunate, France is now in the position of a challenger to Spain.

Surely Henry’s daughter will make a wise choice.

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*In fact, Henry VIII did something like a bat by joining Charles V and joining France. At first, he joined the Holy Roman Empire with the intention of taking over northern France, but contrary to expectations that they would be evenly matched, France was pushed aside too easily, so he stabbed Charles in the back and began helping France. As a result, he got nothing… .

*The humiliation of Pavia refers to the Battle of Pavia that took place in 1525 between France and the Holy Roman Empire. Not only did France lose, but Francis I, the king of France at the time, was captured and taken to Madrid, the capital of Spain, where he had to sign a treaty giving up all rights to Italy.