Her Majesty’s Secret Service

044. Delivery Accident

Richmond Palace, a place steeped in history since the end of the Wars of the Roses and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty under Henry VII, had recently welcomed a new resident. A 17-year-old girl, Jane Grey, once imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of impersonating the Queen.

“Did Her Majesty say the gift would arrive today?”

At Jane’s inquiry, the soldier watching her nodded slightly.

“Yes. If it left in the morning, it should be arriving soon. I can’t say exactly when, though.”

“I see. I’m really looking forward to what she sent.”

—

Upon hearing the soldier’s words, a faint smile appeared on Jane’s face.

Jane was very fond of her life here. No one within the walls of Richmond Palace sought to use her. For Jane, who had been used as a tool for her parents’ power from birth, each day at Richmond Palace was nothing short of a miracle.

In truth, the real miracle was the Queen’s transformation. The Queen, who had said that she could forgive the claim to the throne but never the Protestant faith, had become so tolerant of religion—it was nothing short of miraculous.

Today, Jane strolled through the gardens of Richmond Palace, savoring the miracle granted to her with every fiber of her being. The wind blowing from the forest, the fishermen by the river, the flowers in the garden—nothing failed to present itself anew.

As she walked through the garden, she saw a servant approaching from afar.

One of the soldiers watching Jane spotted the servant and ran to inquire about the matter. The soldier soon returned to Jane with the servant’s message.

Upon hearing the soldier’s words, Jane’s lips curved into a bright smile, and she spoke with joy.

“A gift from Her Majesty has arrived? Would you lead me there at once?”

* * *

Having departed from St. James’s Palace in London, I was now aboard a carriage. The clattering of hooves and the rolling of the carriage wheels filled my ears.

Why a carriage, you ask? This carriage was laden with ingredients, wine, spices, and the like—essentially, gifts the Queen was sending to Jane.

The carriage was guarded by six in total: four soldiers from the London Guard inside the carriage, and two elite troops from the Gentlemen Pensioners mounted on horses.

With a bit of pleading to the Queen, I managed to secure two as escorts on the day of departure.

How long had we traveled with the carriage? When the procession arrived in Richmond, the sky was dyed red with the evening glow.

‘Strange. I was certain something would happen on the way to Richmond Palace…’

Upon arrival at Richmond Palace, I watched the soldiers unload the carriage and felt a sense of bewilderment.

I knew that Earl Russell was targeting me. He had personally petitioned to send me to Richmond, so I had expected some calamity to befall us on the way.

Yet, astonishingly, nothing happened. Not a single incident occurred from St. James’s Palace in London to Richmond Palace.

In that moment, I pondered what Earl Russell’s intentions were for sending me here.

“Sir… Sir Logan!”

The soldier’s urgent voice rang in my ears.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s… it’s the wine…”

Rushing to the source of the voice, a dismal sight met my eyes.

“No, why is this happening!”

The bottles containing wine had all shattered, wine pooling beneath the crates.

“Sir Logan! The flour!”

“Sir Logan! There are worms in the meat!”

The flour, except for the top layer, was completely rotten, and the meat was teeming with maggots that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Despite the freshness of the meat, the presence of maggots made it clear that someone had deliberately introduced them.

‘Russell… that mad old man…!’

It was undoubtedly the work of Count Russell.

‘I checked several times before departure, when did this happen…? Could it be, during that brief rest…?’

On the way from London to Richmond, there had been a couple of rest stops for the horses. It was clear that someone had tampered with the cargo then.

‘Out of the six, no, excluding the two from the royal guard. Four, one of those four men is the culprit. But which one?’

Among the soldiers dispatched to guard this cargo, two were members of the Queen’s own Royal Guard. Loyal solely to the Queen, they were beyond the reach of Count Russell’s influence. Besides, those two had been by my side throughout the journey to Richmond, providing them with a solid alibi.

‘No, finding the culprit isn’t the immediate concern, how to rectify this situation is…’

After unloading everything and inspecting the goods, my brow furrowed involuntarily.

The meat was crawling with worms, the wine had broken and pooled beneath the crates, and the flour, except for the top, was all rotten. Thankfully, the cheese was the only thing unscathed.

‘Everything but the cheese is ruined. Sigh… What am I to do now…?’

And so, I was pondering how to resolve this issue.

“Hello? By any chance, are you the ones sent by Her Majesty the Queen?”

A young woman’s voice came from behind me. Startled, I turned around to find a girl with bright blonde hair and blue eyes, her overall appearance delicate and fair, smiling at me.

“Ah! The Queen had mentioned you before. You’re ‘Logan,’ right?”

“Yes, but may I ask…”

“Yes! That’s right, I am Jane Grey. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Logan.”

“Eh? Oh, the honor is mine, Miss Jane. Uh… First, the Queen has sent a letter, please take this.”

Jane quickly took the letter from me as if to check on the luggage. At the same time, I gestured desperately for the luggage to be hidden. The soldiers, busily moving about, seemed to thankfully understand the meaning of my gestures.

“Ah, I wondered what kind of gift it was. So the Queen has given you this present.”

A joyful voice flowed from Jane Grey’s lips as she read the letter for a while.

“The Queen has asked you to accept a gift, Logan.”

“Eh? Oh, yes, that’s right. That’s why I’m here.”

“Hehe… It’s the first time I’ve seen the Queen praise cooking so highly. Thank you for coming all this way, Logan. I’m looking forward to dinner. But… what are those people doing right now?”

Jane’s slender finger pointed towards the soldiers who were frantically moving the luggage behind me.

“Ah, that is…”

“Ah, are those ingredients mentioned in the letter? Should I ask others to help…”

“No? No, it’s alright. It’s our responsibility, we’ll take care of it. You should go in and rest.”

“But…”

“Really, it’s okay. Your… kind heart is more than enough.”

“Um… If you insist, then I’ll go back and wait. I’m looking forward to dinner tonight.”

“Ah, of course.”

Jane returned to the palace with a cheerful step, leaving behind a fresh smile until the very end.

Only after Jane had completely disappeared could a sigh of relief be exhaled.

“Now that I’ve managed this situation… what should I do next…”

Though the crisis was averted, the next challenge loomed.

It seemed there were about 2 to 3 hours left until dinner time. With all the brought ingredients spoiled, it was necessary to find usable ingredients to prepare the evening meal. Fortunately, aside from the cheese, condiments and spices like pepper, salt, and sugar were still intact.

First, I ordered the soldiers to dispose of the rotten ingredients and deal with the broken wine bottles appropriately.

The next place I visited was the kitchen of Richmond Palace.

“Wh-who’s there?”

“I’m the cook sent by the Queen. You’ve heard the news, right?”

“Ah, yes. The one from London… Are you here for tonight’s dinner preparation?”

Luckily, it seemed my story had reached the Richmond kitchen. Thanks to that, I could figure out what ingredients were left there.

“A couple of pieces of bacon… There’s plenty of beer and wine… Do you have any flour left?”

“Flour is always in abundance.”

I had to think of a dish that could be made with the available ingredients, something not yet tasted in England.

‘Bacon with cheese… Wait, is this cheddar cheese?’

Bacon, cheddar cheese.

The answer is ‘pizza’. Perhaps unknown in Italy, but surely no one in England has tasted this.

“Excuse me, I need to borrow some ingredients.”

* * *

The letter from the Queen to Jane contained words of comfort and inquiries about Jane’s well-being. Among them, the gift sent as a token of comfort, ‘Logan’, was mentioned like this.

‘Logan creates a dish that is unfamiliar yet strangely familiar, a wondrous food.’

At first, Jane couldn’t comprehend the meaning, but now, seeing the dish Logan had prepared, she instantly understood what it meant to be unfamiliar yet familiar.

“Hmm… What do you call this dish?”

“It’s called bacon cheddar cheese pizza.”

Jane gazed at the large, round dish known as pizza with eyes full of curiosity.

“Hmm… Do I tear it with my hands to eat?”

“Yes, it’s been pre-sliced. You can tear off a piece at a time.”

At Logan’s words, Jane’s hands moved quickly.

Jane placed a slice of pizza on the plate in front of her. Initially, she tried to bring it straight to her mouth, but it was quite hot and difficult to hold for long.

With her hand still warm from holding the pizza, Jane blew on it to cool it down before carefully picking up the slice again.

Taking a bite, Jane chewed thoughtfully, savoring the spread of salty and sweet flavors in her mouth. Indeed, as the queen had said, it was a taste she had never seen before but felt familiar.

“What’s in here besides bacon and cheese? Is there something else?”

“A bit of honey has been brushed on it.”

“Ah… That’s why it’s sweet…”

After finishing the first piece and moving on to the second, Jane thought to herself.

Now she saw it wasn’t a familiar taste. It was a new taste created from a combination of familiar flavors.

“Does Her Majesty eat such things every day?”

“I take care of one of the three meals for her every day.”

His words meant that once a day, she would eat such new dishes.

Although Jane had never been interested in the throne and had become even more distant from it after being deposed in just nine days, hearing that the queen ate such food every day made her feel a little envious of Mary.

Footnote:

[[Image]]

This is a painting titled ‘The Execution of Jane Grey.’

Jane Grey maintained a composed demeanor, reciting prayers until the moment before her execution.

After the bishop’s prayer concluded, they blindfolded Jane for the execution, but because of this, she couldn’t find the block to lay her head on at once.

Blindfolded and searching for the block, Jane eventually burst into tears, and a priest, unable to bear the sight, guided her to the block—a scene depicted in this painting.

*The term ‘gentlemen pensioners’ has been interpreted as the royal guard. Literally, it would mean gentlemen receiving pensions. They were the only standing army in England at the time, and as the name suggests, they were paid by the royal household. Established during the reign of Henry VIII, they initially had a strong military significance, which shifted more towards a bodyguard role during the Elizabethan era.

*Richmond Palace, built by Henry VII in 1501, is known in actual history as Queen Elizabeth’s favorite palace. It is also famous for being the residence of Charles I until his death. Now, only the gatehouse remains after the rest has crumbled away.