Her Majesty’s Secret Service

088. Butterfly Effect

New Year’s Day, June 20th.

As if the few days of studying had not been in vain, I was now able to read Latin, albeit vaguely. John called the author of ‘The Prince’ an evil person and advised him not to read the book, but his curiosity got the better of him, so he opened the book called ‘The Prince’.

I read the first and second chapters, and they did not contain anything as evil as John said. What is the difference between the line ‘If the monarch is diligent, the rule will be stable unless a fairly powerful external enemy appears’ and the line ‘It is natural for the people to follow the monarch unless the monarch incurs the people’s hatred through evil misconduct’. Are you saying it’s evil?

New Year’s Day, June 26th.

Today is the Sabbath, and our delegation was resting at the mansion today. Personally, I was curious about the teachings of the saint named Jesus, so this morning I attended mass at the cathedral with my brother. There I met John, who taught me Latin. It turned out that John was a monk at the cathedral where Jonghyeong and I went.

In the afternoon, I returned to Zhonghyeong’s mansion and continued translating ‘The Monarch’.

While I was translating, I went out to the garden to get some fresh air, but there was a lot of noise in front of the door. He ran to see if something big had happened, and saw a group of merchants gathered in front of the gate shouting to let them see Jonghyeong at least once, reminiscent of the group gathered in front of the treacherous Yun family’s house.

I was curious as to why they had come to visit Jong-hyeong, so I asked the gatekeeper of the mansion, and he answered that at some point, a rumor had spread among the merchants that they would succeed if they received Jong-hyeong’s support, so merchants who wanted to receive support came here.

* * *

After the Queen stayed at our house about ten days ago, strange rumors seem to have spread around the city.

The rumor is that ‘the subject who is more favored than anyone else in the palace is none other than the royal head chef, Baron Grinstead, and anyone who receives the baron’s investment is tantamount to receiving royal support, so they are bound to succeed.’

A few days ago, merchants were coming to my doorstep begging me to invest, so I called Robert, who was in charge of my bill business, to talk to him, and he said that such a rumor had been spreading among merchants since the success of ‘Eastern Trade.’

In the past, people who were jealous of Robert’s success said that he was good at finding sponsors but lacked ability, and it seems like these stories were mixed together to create this result.

The dozens of merchants gathered in front of the door must have believed the rumor and gathered there to receive investment from me. I’m not sure how far this rumor spread, but I guess it spread roughly throughout England.

“Whoa… I wish I could get some rest on the Sabbath… .”

Looking at the spirit of the merchants camped in front of the gate, it seemed that they had no intention of going back unless I went out in person.

“Baron!!! Just once, just once… !”

“Lord Logan! Just say it once… !

“Baron! “Baron!!”

Thinking that there was nothing they could do, they grumbled and walked towards the door, but their eyes widened and they all seemed to be quite desperate in their yelling.

No matter how desperate it is, we cannot continue to leave them like that. As I approached the gate to send them away, a familiar face caught my eye.

“Captain!!! That’s me!! “It’s me!!!”

“drake?”

After the ‘Mary’ arrived at the Port of London, most of the crew members of the ‘Mary’ were hired by the royal family and chose to remain as crew members of the ‘Mary’.

Lieutenant Flint did not return to the military and decided to remain as the navigator of the ‘Mary’, and Captain Stan also chose to remain as the helmsman of the ‘Mary’, wondering where else he could drive a ship like this for the rest of his life.

Among the crew of the ‘Mary’, those who refused to be hired as crew members of the ‘Mary’ and got off the ship were less than 20 years old, and they were all so-called ‘old’ sailors who were old enough to be old.

These are the sailors who dream of living a peaceful later life by using all the stipends and salaries bestowed by the Queen to buy land in a quiet countryside.

Among them, there was only one young sailor, Drake, who turned 18 this year and was looking at me earnestly among the merchants.

Drake was able to accumulate quite a bit of wealth by collecting the bounty he received from Joseon for Im Keok-jeong, and bravely disembarked from the ‘Mary’, saying that he would try to do business with the money plus the bounty he received from the queen. He said it was his dream to have his own boat. Well, I think he said that.

“No, what brought you here?”

As I looked at Drake with puzzled eyes, the eyes of the surrounding merchants focused on Drake. He looked at me like I was wondering how he knew the Baron.

Although he was obviously feeling the burdensome gaze of the merchants, Drake spoke to me as if nothing had happened.

“that… Let me tell you, it’s long. if… “Can you give me some time?”

Those merchants must have been quite desperate if they came to visit a nobleman’s mansion on the Sabbath, a nobleman who was said to be the Queen’s favorite. If I let Drake in in front of those people, I felt like I would have to see blood before I would step down, so I thought I would have to refuse Drake’s request for now.

“Do you think I look that easy?”

“yes… ? that… That’s not it… .”

When I spoke to Drake in an angry tone, Drake stuttered with a slightly embarrassed look in his eyes.

“Other than that? “Do you think it’s polite to come to me on the Sabbath and ask to hear everything?”

“crime… Sorry, Captain, that was… .”

“A guy who knows he’s sorry would act like this?! And you guys standing there too! You think I’m leaving you like this because I can’t force you out! “Can’t you just put it off?”

At this point, I thought the merchants would come to their senses and leave, so I glanced at them.

Even though I saw him yelling in anger at people he knew right in front of me, the merchants camped outside the door still repeatedly called my name and yelled at me to listen to their story just once.

After all, it wouldn’t be so desperate if they would camp out in front of a nobleman’s mansion on the Sabbath and shout to hear their story.

“Hey Alex! Go inside and get some people. “I guess words can’t do it.”

In the end, he had no choice but to force the hired servants and soldiers of the mansion to evict them. The merchants’ resistance was strong, but when the soldiers assigned to Jane by the Queen stepped forward, the merchants had no choice but to give up their resistance and retreat.

As I watched the merchants being chased out by the soldiers, I called out to one of the soldiers who were chasing the merchants out.

“Hey, bring that guy named Drake aside. “Quietly, without other merchants knowing.”

“All right. “Baron.”

Even putting aside the ‘Francis Drake’ of history, the Drake I watched over the past two years was not a soft-spoken guy who would come to me for anything.

I need to hear the story to see what on earth happened to come to see me.

* * *

After ordering all the merchants in front of the door to be kicked out, I was wasting time in the room, when a soldier under my command brought Drake into the room.

“Has it been two weeks? What brought you to me? And that’s because on a day like today, I was caught in the middle of those idiots.”

Drake, who caught my gaze, defended himself with an awkward smile.

“I’m sorry, Captain. I should have contacted you in advance… I ended up being so rude because I couldn’t get in touch with them. I came here thinking that today was the Sabbath and that he would be at the mansion, but I ended up getting run over by a group of those guys earlier… .”

Seeing that his voice was quite desperate, it seemed like he was mistaken in thinking that I was really angry.

I felt like the atmosphere would become awkward if I continued like this, so I answered Drake in a subtly soft voice.

“okay? “I thought you came because of the rumors, right?”

Drake’s expression turned slightly pale when he heard those words, so it seemed like this guy had also heard the ‘rumor’ and came to visit. He felt something unexpected and was about to say something to Drake.

“that is… Actually, I came here at the request of a relative who had heard the rumor.”

“Relative?”

Drake, who heard my voice full of questions, scratched the back of his head as if he was troubled and continued answering.

“Yes, ‘John ​​Hawkins’ is a merchant operating in Plymouth, and he is a somewhat distant relative. Well, since I received help from Captain Stan when I worked for him, it was hard to refuse his request, so I stopped… .”

“What on earth did you ask me to do?”

“I ask you to deliver a letter to the captain.”

“letter?”

“yes. “He asked me to do so because it was obvious that if I sent it directly, it would probably be thrown away without being read.”

“okay? Give it a try. “Still, I’m your relative, so I’ll have to read it.”

Even strangers may not know, but we have a bond from sailing together for the past two years.

After receiving a letter from Drake saying it was from a man named ‘John ​​Hawkins’, I was just about to open the letter.

“Baron! Are you inside?!”

I heard a voice calling me urgently from outside. Soon the tightly closed door was swung open, and two men dressed as royal guards appeared.

“Nice to meet you, Baron. Please forgive me for being so rude from the first time we met. “It is called Crowley of the Royal Guard.”

“Something? What’s going on, why are you breaking into my room so suddenly? “Someone!”

“I have come to see the Baron at the behest of Her Majesty the Queen. Go to the palace right now. “Her Majesty the Queen has summoned a royal council.”

The man who said that took out a piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to me. The paper had the queen’s handwriting and the royal family’s seal on it, ordering her to attend a court meeting.

“Her Majesty the Queen’s command?? Court meeting?? No, what on the Sabbath… ?”

Not only is today the Sabbath once a week, but wasn’t I guaranteed six months of rest in the name of the Queen?

“Because the matter is serious, there has been a strict order from Her Majesty the Queen to bring all those who are eligible to attend the palace. “I would like you to prepare immediately and go to the palace together.”

When I heard that all the nobles who were eligible to attend the court had been summoned, a chill ran down my spine. How big of a deal has happened that they are summoning all the nobles?

“What on earth is going on?”

“It is difficult to tell you here, so I will go to the palace and tell you.”

I couldn’t answer. Feeling that I had no choice due to the guard’s outstretched attitude, I told him to wait outside as I would get ready and leave soon. Crowley and the soldier who came with him answered that they understood and went out, and I opened my mouth to Drake, who was looking at me with surprised eyes.

“Anyway, I guess I’ll have to read the letter after I get back. “Where are you staying now?”

“I am currently staying at an inn in the Port of London with Captain Stan.”

“okay? Well then, I’ll just leave for today and send someone to where you’re staying tomorrow. “If there’s nothing special going on, you can wait here.”

“Thank you, Captain. that… My relatives are waiting for me, so I will visit them again tomorrow… .”

“Well, do whatever you feel comfortable with.”

After sending Drake away, I changed into my formal clothes and headed to the palace with the soldiers waiting for me.

As I headed toward the palace, I once again asked the soldiers why the queen was summoning the nobles, and only then did Crowley answer my question.

“The nobles of Scotland want to offer the throne to Her Majesty the Queen?”

“Yes, it is said that a few days ago there was a declaration in Edinburgh to present the crown to Her Majesty the Queen. The news had just arrived… .”

I couldn’t hide my annoyance when I heard that the Scottish b*stards had done something so bad that my holiday was gone. I don’t think I need to go there anyway, so why am I being dragged along?

So, full of dissatisfaction at having my rest interrupted, I followed the soldiers to the palace.