Her Majesty’s Secret Service

058. Remarriage

Mary was frowning slightly and looking at Logan, who had a stupid expression on his face.

“Why do you look like that? “By any chance, is there a woman in her hometown who is engaged?”

“yes? That’s not it… It’s too sudden, stop… .”

“Hmm… Is that so? So, what is the answer?”

“yes??”

“Do you have any plans to get married? Did you say you were twenty-six? “It’s a little late, but it’s not that bad.”

“Your Majesty the Queen, this may be presumptuous, but I have no intention of getting married…” .”

The moment Logan was about to come up with an excuse, Mary narrowed her eyes and glared at Logan.

Logan had no choice but to swallow what he was saying when Mary looked at him like that, and when Logan closed his mouth, Mary quietly began to talk as if persuading him.

“Listen carefully. “I don’t know what customs the nobles of my east have, but since you are now working in my court, wouldn’t it be right for you to follow the customs of this place?”

Logan answered Mary’s words with a reluctant face.

“Yeah… Right… “Yes.”

“Okay, that’s all you need to know.”

Logan looked like he had given up and sighed softly so that Mary could not see. Mary continued quietly without saying anything despite Logan’s rude behavior.

“Don’t feel so bad. “I’m going to talk about your marriage and your success.”

“yes? What does it mean to win? .”

Rather than being happy about the sudden victory story, Logan showed an expression as if he didn’t know what was going on. Mary looked at Logan and clapped her hands slightly as if she had forgotten, and then she opened her mouth again.

“Oh, I forgot, you didn’t tell me who you’re going to marry yet.”

“yes? Are you bringing up Seungjak because of who you are marrying? .”

“Well, if the person marrying into the royal family is at most a knight, there is a bit of a problem. Even if you can’t do it, shouldn’t you become a baron?”

“king… “Did you say family?”

Seeing Logan looking at her with an expression on his face as if he had heard something he couldn’t hear, Mary nodded her head once.

“Yes, royalty. I saw you in Richmond before, right? “I’m about to marry you and Jane.”

Hearing Mary’s words, Logan stared at Mary with even more incomprehensible eyes. Her eyes turned to Mary, mixed with a question of why she was trying to entangle herself with Jane and her secret anticipation.

* * *

Ever since Jane Gray heard that Mary was pregnant with Princess Catherine, she had been expecting something like this to happen someday.

“Remarriage?”

“Yes, Miss Jane. “Her Majesty the Queen has found a partner for her young lady to remarry. She has asked me to inquire about her wishes and come.”

This kind of thing was already familiar. It was a long time ago when she heard from her parents that they were going to marry her to the now deceased Edward VI.

“is it so? Her Majesty the Queen seems to be very worried. So, who is my remarriage partner?”

His mother, once Frances Gray but now Francis Brandon, was the second daughter of King Henry’s younger sister, Princess Mary, and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

Jane Gray, who was born as a member of the royal family and raised as a tool for power, understood the physiology of the royal family better than anyone else.

‘It seems like you’re worried about Princess Catherine’s succession. What… Of course I thought it would happen like this, but is it too fast?’

As a queen who experienced rebellion twice after ascending to the throne, it was a natural concern. Besides, no one knows the future.

If the queen were to die before Catherine grew up, who can guarantee that no one would harbor ambitions to take power by supporting herself or Elizabeth?

‘Since you mentioned remarriage with the intention of weakening my right to succession, you probably don’t intend to remarry to a high-ranking noble with some power, so are they low-ranking nobles with weak power? Among the local barons, those who are still unmarried… .’

Jane knew very well what the Queen’s intentions were, so she had a rough idea of ​​who she would marry.

Unlike Princess Elizabeth, who already had the solid support of Anglican nobles, there were no nobles left around her to support her.

Since there is no one to oppose for her, she may be thinking of removing her right to succession through the convenient method of marriage, and in order to prevent her husband’s power from claiming the right of succession after marriage, a nobleman who has almost no power will become her new husband. It was.

The person Jane thought she would remarry was a local baron who had just lost his wife and was alone.

However, the servant who told him this gave a completely different answer than expected.

“yes. “This is Sir Logan Lee, the royal head chef and currently in charge of the construction of the royal flagship.”

“Who? “Lord Logan?”

Jane looked at the attendant with surprised eyes. The servant thought Jane was surprised to hear his partner’s identity.

Although he is said to be a nobleman, the person he remarries with is a foreigner chef who at most received a knighthood. The attendant, who guessed that she must have been shocked as she was a well-bred young lady of the royal family, looked at Jane with sympathetic eyes.

“yes. Sir Logan, a former chef, was awarded a knighthood for his services in the last rebellion.”

Regardless of his sympathy for Jane, the servant continued to do what he had to do. Anyway, the servant came under the queen’s orders to hear Jane’s answer.

“is it so? If it’s the Sir Logan I know, fine. I don’t think it would be bad. “Could you please tell Her Majesty that I don’t care?”

“yes… to?”

The servant seemed surprised at first, but then he couldn’t hide his surprise at Jane’s appearance, smiling and speaking as if nothing had happened.

‘It’s not as bad as I thought, right? Even though I am a stranger… He’s still young, and although he looks different from us, he’s not terribly ugly, and Her Majesty’s affection for Lord Logan is unusual. Otherwise, there’s no way you’d entrust the job of building the royal flagship to a cook, right?’

Contrary to the thoughts of the servant who sympathized with Jane, Jane did not think that the queen’s proposed remarriage plan was that bad.

Although he is slightly older than her, isn’t he the Queen’s favorite young subject rather than a local baron who is more than ten years older than her?

‘Honestly, if you had told me to marry an old baron, I would have rather begged you to take monastic vows. Well, marrying Lord Logan would be better than a monastery. She didn’t seem like a bad person… .’

Since Princess Catherine was born anyway, it was natural that the issue of her succession rights would be resolved in some way. In the worst case scenario, I was prepared for her death, but she was remarrying a young subject who was the queen’s favorite. It wasn’t that bad.

After hearing Jane’s answer, the servant bowed to Jane without hiding his puzzled expression and returned to the queen.

* * *

“Yes, is that so? “Is that what Jane answered?”

“Yes that’s right. “Her Majesty the Queen.”

The answer received by the attendant who had been sent to inquire about Jane’s intentions satisfied Mary. She had already told Logan her story a long time ago, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to survive if Jane refused.

‘Hmm… Does Jane know my intentions? No, what does it matter now whether I know the intention or not? Anyway, I’m glad the matter was resolved. My daughter will be more comfortable, and there will be more ways to use Logan, so it’s a benefit to me anyway.’

At the servant’s words, Mary was lost in thought for a moment and wondered what Jane was thinking, but what was important right now was that Jane had accepted her offer.

“Anne, what was the agenda for tomorrow’s court meeting?”

“Yes, tomorrow the French ambassador is scheduled to attend the palace meeting and speak. Originally, we were supposed to meet with Her Majesty the Queen the day before yesterday when she returned from her tour… .”

“It took another week. I finally remember now. It’s not too late yet… Anne, send someone to Ambassador Antoine. “Please come visit me tomorrow afternoon, not morning.”

“Yes, I understand. “Then, can I send someone to tell the other nobles to reserve their afternoon schedules as well?”

“Oh, I guess so. “Tell them that the meeting will be a little longer tomorrow.”

“All right. “Her Majesty the Queen.”

I thought about postponing the meeting with the French ambassador to next week, but since this was a serious matter, it had to be resolved within this week.

In diplomacy, it is important to tease the other person, but you should not be rude just because you are annoying.

Moreover, if the issue is about war, and the party requesting negotiations is France, which can be considered an enemy.

‘Well, if I tell him that I’m changing the schedule to the afternoon because it’s a royal event, he’ll understand. Didn’t they change the date twice?’

In some ways, it might have been possible to make the French ambassador as anxious as possible by changing the date.

As Mary thought so, she began to think about how she would speak to the nobles tomorrow morning.

* * *

It was the first court meeting since returning from Deptford. There were a few times when I did not attend palace meetings due to work, but today there was a strict order from the queen to attend no matter what.

“What, there’s no one there. Did you come too early?”

Perhaps I arrived too early, and the office where the palace meeting was held was empty. I didn’t feel like standing still in the empty office, so I sat down in the last row of seats I always sat in and waited for others to arrive.

How long has it been? Lower-ranking nobles slowly began to enter the office. Most of them were familiar faces seen during palace meetings. Among them, one nobleman approached me with a smile and said hello.

“Lord Logan, how long has it been since I last saw you like this! So, is the ship construction going well? No, did you say that even the hull was completed?”

“Ah, Baron Bruges. “It’s been a while since I saw you.”

John Brydges, Baron Chandos, was one of those who sent me a letter when I went down to the dockyard to take charge of the construction of the flagship.

Most, if not all, of the letters sent by nobles contained requests for favors, and most of them said they knew a merchant who sold high-quality consumables for the royal flagship and asked to meet them.

After checking the contents, I did not send a separate reply, and after that, back stories began to emerge among the barons and knights. This arrogant stranger who was favored by the queen doesn’t know how to live in the world.

Among those who sent me letters, the only one who spoke to me and greeted me as if I was friendly was the Baron. It was Baron Bruges.

I don’t know why he, who is also a member of the House of Nobles, approached me like he was so friendly, but since he always greeted me with a friendly greeting, I accepted the greeting each time, and now we had a natural relationship where we exchanged greetings.

Well, I knew very well what his intentions were for pretending to be so friendly, but he always greets me with a smile, saying that I can’t spit on a smiling face, so how can I shake that off?

As I chatted with Baron Bruges, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, other high-ranking nobles arrived one by one to fill the place. And not long after, the queen entered the room.

From noble mtl dot come

After exchanging appropriate courtesy as usual, the Queen began the meeting. After much discussion, it was finally revealed why the Queen had unconditionally invited me to attend this court meeting.

“So, I would like to remarry that child, my Jane Gray.”

“Then who would you like to be your opponent? “I heard that the Baron of North Wales lost his wife. Do you have him in mind?”

“Isn’t he too old? And, he has someone else in mind for Jane’s remarriage.”

“young… Hmm, has there been any young man recently awarded a baronetcy?”

The queen, who was watching the nobles guessing, quietly opened her mouth.

“I am thinking of Executive Chef Logan as Jane’s remarriage partner, so you should know that.”

“But, Her Majesty, Sir Logan is only a knight. Even if it is a remarriage and the royal event depends on Her Majesty the Queen’s will… Because it doesn’t match… .”

In response to Bishop Nicholas’ worried tone, the queen opened her mouth as if nothing had happened.

“Oh, so. I think I will award my Logan a baronetcy. Still, doesn’t it make sense for the royal family’s companion to be nothing more than a knight?”

At the queen’s words, the nobles in the office began to stir. Especially the lower nobles.

“I never would have thought that Her Majesty’s love for that foreign cook would be so deep… . For some reason, he was so bold that he didn’t respond to the offer I sent him the other day… “There was a part of me that believed in it.”

“Ha, that stranger has become successful. Receiving a knighthood is something that should be considered an honor for the rest of your life… How long has it been since you were awarded a knighthood, a baronetcy, and marrying into royalty? No matter how powerless the royal family is… .”

Everyone just glared at me with jealous eyes, and no one objected to the queen’s declaration.

I said I’m 17 this year, but it’s probably true that I’m 18. Even though they say that they have been married before and that there is no problem according to the concepts of this era, aren’t they still children who are not even adults?

To be honest, I am not interested in marrying a girl who is at most a second year high school student.

‘But it’s what the queen tells me to do… .’

I really didn’t want to, but it was the queen’s order, so I had no choice but to accept this marriage, as I had the queen’s favor on my back.

Yes, if you think positively, they say you will be given a higher rank. There is no reason for me to lose anything.

In fact, even if the nobles objected, it would not have had much influence on the decision since it was a royal matter.

Anyway, when no one objected to Jane’s remarriage and my victory, the Queen opened her mouth with a satisfied smile on her face.

“It seems that no one is opposed, so I will do this as I wish. The schedule for Sir Logan’s title conferment ceremony will be determined at a later date… Wow, it ended sooner than expected. Anne, where is Ambassador Antoine now?”

“Yes, you are waiting in the palace’s drawing room.”

“okay? Looks like the kid is going crazy. The schedule has been moved up a bit, but I’ll have to listen to the story before lunch. “Call him.”

“Yes, Her Majesty.”

When the name of the French ambassador came out of the Queen’s mouth, the nobles in the office showed different reactions. High-ranking nobles above the count seemed slightly embarrassed, but soon nodded as if they understood something, while lower-ranking nobles tilted their heads with a look of confusion. Of course, the quickest-witted among them seemed to guess what was going on.

‘French ambassador? ‘What happened all of a sudden?’

Of course, I couldn’t help but be taken aback by the sudden appearance of the French ambassador. Because I had no idea what was going on.

And a little while later, the French ambassador appeared in the office where a palace meeting was in full swing. After politely bowing to the queen and giving a brief greeting to the nobles in the office, he soon began to get to the point.

And the moment Count Antoine finished speaking, the nobles exchanged serious looks. In this way, a quiet commotion began to arise in the office.

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*John Bruges was Baron of Chandos and Lieutenant of the Tower of London. In its original history, it briefly managed Jane Gray and Elizabeth Tudor.