Her Majesty’s Secret Service

016. Faith and Solicitation

Mary enjoyed the breakfast brought by Marco, recalling the events of the previous night.

The genius Brian Laberry had left the country due to his father’s religious persecution. Feeling utterly desolate, she had no appetite.

“You seem to have lost your appetite today. Let’s have it cleared away.”

When Mary left half her meal uneaten, unlike the day before, the faces of Steward Anne and Chef Marco stiffened.

“Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

Worry filled Anne’s voice. The Queen, who had never left food uneaten until yesterday, had done so today.

Surely, there was nothing wrong with the food before Mary’s meal, as Anne had checked it herself.

“It’s alright, don’t fuss over me. It’s just that my heart is troubled after learning of my father’s mistake last night…”

As Mary mentioned her father, Henry VIII’s mistake, Anne’s expression turned into a grimace.

—

—

It seems that someone must have mentioned King Henry last night, for her to bring up a story of King Henry, which she normally wouldn’t.

And the person the Queen met last night was the foreign chef Logan, he alone.

“Would it be impertinent to ask what you mean? Surely… Logan, he hasn’t committed any rudeness…”

Anne was certain that the foreign chef had spoken out of turn.

Otherwise, the Queen would never have mentioned King Henry’s blunder.

“It’s not what you think, so relax your face.”

Mary’s gaze turned to Anne, reflecting her scrunched-up face. It seemed clear that Anne was misunderstanding something.

Since Logan was the only one she met last night, Anne must think that Logan had been rude to her.

Thinking to clear up Anne’s misunderstanding about Logan, and to ease her own worries, Mary decided she should tell Anne about ‘Brian’.

She didn’t think the story would leak. Anne Basset was a woman who could not, and would not, betray her.

“Would you like to hear the story behind the book and map you brought?”

“Excuse me? The story behind the book and map…?”

Mary spoke of the life of Brian Laberry, as told by Logan.

Anne, listening to the story of the genius who drifted to the far East to escape religious persecution, slightly marveled when she heard that Logan, of the Eastern noble family, had come all this way to keep his promise to Brian.

“Such a thing…”

“Isn’t it astonishing? The ‘world map’ that Brian drew, you’ve seen it too, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I glanced at it while bringing it over. But it was too dark to see clearly…”

“Is that so? Then take a closer look. You’ll see how remarkable he was.”

Mary rose from her seat, fetched ‘Brian’s’ book and the rolled-up world map hidden in the corner of the room, and sat down again.

“Now, look. Here, he has colored all the sea parts in blue.”

—

“I have never seen such a color before. Truly, it is a blue akin to the sky itself. To use such expensive blue dye so lavishly… it seems Logan is indeed of noble birth.”

“Color aside, look at the craftsmanship of the map of the continent. Which of the royal maps stored could compare in precision to this one? And look at the lower part. Isn’t there a new continent drawn that is not marked on the royal maps? Does any king in all of Europe possess such a map?”

“Indeed… Her Majesty the Queen would find this regrettable…”

As Anne marveled at the map, Mary flipped through the book to spread out the blueprint of the 2,200-ton ship she had read about the night before. She pointed out each annotation on the blueprint to Anne, explaining them one by one.

“It’s not just the map he excels at drawing. Look at this ship blueprint he designed. Not only is each part annotated, but the shape of the parts and the appearance upon completion are drawn out in such detail.

A 2,200-ton ship. Did England ever have a ship so large it could carry 2,200 barrels of wine at once? No, such ships would be seen in Spain or Venice. Yet this ‘Sir Bryan’ has designed it from his imagination in a distant foreign land.

It is truly regrettable. If he were here, there would be no need to wrack our brains over rebuilding the Royal Navy…”

Mary’s voice was laden with regret, even going so far as to address Bryan as ‘Sir.’

“I may not understand blueprints well… but it seems there are some misspellings. Is this typical for blueprints?”

The Queen, who had been somber until moments ago, was passionately extolling the genius named Bryan. It was Anne who had no choice but to cautiously bring up Bryan’s mistake to the Queen.

Mary burst into an impassioned speech at Anne’s pointing out the misspelling.

“You see it too! He wrote it that way on purpose, in case it fell into another’s hands.”

“Are you saying he intentionally used incorrect spelling?”

“Yes, that’s right. So that only he would recognize it.”

“Now I see why Your Majesty laments so.”

“Sir Bryan is indeed a marvel the more one knows of him… How regrettable it is that my father forsook true faith and lost such a blessing. He could well be called England’s da Vinci, or rather, da Vinci should be called Italy’s Bryan.”

The Queen, who had left half her meal untouched in gloom, was now nowhere to be seen, replaced by a Queen ardently devoted to Bryan.

Though Logan’s recited biography of ‘Bryan’ had more than a few flaws, the tangible results before them, the world map and the ship blueprints, convinced them of Bryan’s real existence.

“I’m not yet certain if Logan, his disciple, is as capable as Bryan… but well… he has been of help to me.”

“Really? He has been of help to Your Majesty?”

—

Mary, who had been speaking passionately, said to Anne as if to justify herself.

“There’s no one else but him to interpret Brian’s blueprints right now.”

Anne, with a puzzled voice, harbored doubts. What help could Logan have been to the queen? Had he, indeed, done something personally beneficial for the queen?

“Your Majesty… perhaps…”

Anne, about to cautiously inquire what help Logan had provided, was forced to stop mid-sentence by the voice of a servant coming from outside.

“Her Majesty the Queen! Count Russell has arrived.”

“The Count? Hmm… Has it already become so late? Wasn’t today the day we were to finalize the coronation procedures?”

Swallowing her questions at the announcement of Count Russell’s arrival, Anne knew it was time to fulfill her duties.

“Yes, you said you would give an answer today.”

“Now I remember. What else is there?”

Mary asked Anne about other schedules as she rose from her seat. Then, she skillfully concealed the books and maps on the desk in a corner of the bookshelf.

Anne continued, watching Mary’s retreating figure.

“The Commons have sent word they wish to discuss the water reclamation decree. Hmm… Bishop Steve has also requested an audience today.”

“The water reclamation decree… I must speak with Bishop Steve. Tell the Commons I will give them an answer within the week.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

With that, Mary turned away from the bookshelf.

Just as she turned, the servant’s voice echoed in Mary’s ear once more.

“Her Majesty the Queen! Count Russell again…!”

“Tell the Count to come in!”

With Mary’s permission, the door opened, and the aged face of Count Russell entered Mary’s view.

—

The Count, having opened the door, bowed to Mary before speaking directly.

“Your Majesty, you were to give an answer today, weren’t you? You’ve decided on Bishop Steve to anoint and crown, but who shall carry the crosier?”

Though the Count cut straight to the point, Mary seemed to have been waiting to name someone.

“How about Sir Edward? The son of Henry Courtenay, the Earl of Exeter, that is.”

The Count’s expression soured upon hearing the Queen’s response.

“Edward… Courtenay, you mean?”

“Yes, that’s right. I can think of no one else.”

“Understood… And about the cuisine for the coronation banquet…”

Thus began Mary’s long day.

* * *

After serving the Queen’s breakfast, the kitchen always brimmed with leisure, at least until lunchtime.

“So, you’re saying that adding too much pepper doesn’t make the meat taste better?”

“Hmm… That doesn’t sound wrong…”

“Logan! Why do you butter the meat? It’s going to release its own oils anyway…”

“Oliver, I feel like we talked about this yesterday… It’s about the taste, the taste.”

Having already become comfortable with the kitchen staff, it was always beneficial to maintain good relations with the members of any group one belonged to, regardless of the era.

While taking a moment to teach the kitchen staff about cooking, Marco, the head chef, approached me.

“Logan, if you’re not too busy, could we have a word?”

“Me? Oh, yes, of course.”

“Ah, thank you. Let’s move to a different spot.”

—

“What’s the matter, Chef! Are you off to learn something by yourself again?”

“It’s not like that.”

Marco, who always wore a stern expression, seemed even more unapproachable today.

Sensing something serious, I stopped talking and followed Chef Marco out of the kitchen. The place he stopped was his room, assigned within the palace.

“Come in. There are eyes and ears everywhere in the palace, but this room is safe.”

Saying so, Marco opened the door and entered his room. The room I followed him into was similar to mine, though it seemed a bit smaller.

“Ah, take a seat there.”

I sat down where Marco gestured and began to speak.

“So, what’s the matter?”

As I asked why he had summoned me, Marco swallowed once and then, still with his stern face, he spoke.

“You were in Her Majesty the Queen’s room last night, weren’t you?”

I couldn’t help but be surprised by his words. I thought it was a secret call just for me.

“How did you… Chef?”

“I told you, there are eyes everywhere. Whether it’s a servant, a maid, or even a guard. No, that’s not important. To get to the point… You’re close with Her Majesty the Queen, aren’t you?”

“What?”

Such nonsense. I had no desire to get closer to the Queen; if anything, I wanted to stay away.

“You don’t have to deny it so. The rumor has already spread throughout the palace.”

“What kind of nonsensical rumor is that?”

“Don’t play dumb. You had a private meeting with Her Majesty last night, didn’t you? Everyone’s talking about it. How could a mere chef have a private audience with the Queen… Hmm… Anyway… Would you do me a favor?”

“A favor? What kind of favor? Well, if it’s something I can do, I’ll gladly help.”

—

Of all the people in the kitchen, only Marco had never asked for a recipe. Perhaps it was the pride of a chef that prevented him.

“Not asking for a recipe, you see. Those fools… no, I almost went off on a tangent. It’s… my relative has fallen into trouble…”

“A relative? Did Marco have a relative?”

“Of course, did you think I had no family? My cousin farms in Kent.”

“Ah, I see… And?”

“Have you heard of enclosure? Those wealthy gentry, fencing off good fields under the pretense of sheep farming…”

It sounded familiar. Was it during a university liberal arts class? Surely, it was a story heard through discussions about Thomas More, the author of Utopia.

“Ah… the sheep that supposedly eat the farmers…”

“It seems you’ve heard of it too. Then this will be quick. Harvest is just a few weeks away, and some strange men have fenced off the wheat field claiming it as their own. In trying to stop them, even broke a leg.

But the backers of those men are no ordinary folks. Merchants have conspired with one of the nobles of Kent to forge documents. You came here introduced by Bishop Steve, and even enjoy the Queen’s favor. Could you, perhaps, speak to the higher-ups… I ask this of you. I’m not asking out of empty hands. I shall repay you sufficiently…”

The size of the matter became somewhat clear. Isn’t it a tale of swindlers that exist everywhere?

I had no problem telling the story, but a question arose.

‘How has the rumor spread that I’m being asked for such a favor?’

What the rumors about me were, exactly.

Footnote:

* The Curtana is a ceremonial sword owned by the British royal family, used during coronations. It was lost during Cromwell’s Puritan Revolution and remade after the Restoration by Charles II, continuing to be passed down to this day. It was also used during the coronation of Elizabeth II.

* Edward Courtenay actually played the role of carrying the sword during the coronation. He was the noble most likely to become Mary Tudor’s consort before talks with Philip, and he and Mary shared a close relationship. Mary even bestowed upon him the title of Earl of Devon.