Her Majesty’s Secret Service

037. Reenlistment

The long night had passed.

—

Fortunately, we were able to successfully suppress the rebellion planned by Steve and Courtney, and even obtained their signatures on the confession.

I had worried that one of them might notice and escape, but thankfully, they were subdued more easily than expected.

Now, all that remained was to report this fact to the Queen and wait for the three people I had planted beside Duke Howard to successfully complete their mission.

“Your Highness, the Queen must be waking up by now. Shall we send someone?”

“Do so. Ah, you’ve taken care of the confessions, right?”

“Of course.”

Both Prince Eric and I felt fatigue from staying up all night to suppress the two. However, there was no time to leisurely ease our tiredness. Now that the traitors within had been subdued, it was imperative to inform the Queen of this fact as soon as possible.

With the signed confessions in hand, there was nothing to fear. In this era, a confession was considered as solid evidence, the queen of proofs.

One of the prince’s guards, leaving the bishop’s residence, galloped towards the palace, bathed in the morning sunlight illuminating London.

It was customary not to bring the traitor to where the king resided but for the king to come to where the traitor was, so a messenger was sent to summon the Queen accordingly.

Initially, there was an attempt to transfer the two to the Tower of London, but that place would not open without the king’s command.

It would have been most reassuring to immediately imprison them in the Tower of London after subduing them, but the Tower could not be moved by Prince Eric’s seal or the Queen’s seal on a letter, so they were reluctantly confined in a secret room of the residence.

How long had we waited? It was around midday when the awaited person finally appeared.

Inside Bishop Steve’s residence. The Queen, entering what must have been the bishop’s office, looked at Prince Eric and spoke.

“Eric, what on earth is going on? Steve has committed treason?! No, he’s the mastermind behind the rebellion!”

“Mary, I’ll explain everything to you. So…”

The Queen’s expression turned pale, not just from shock.

Courtney might have been boasting about becoming a grand duke, but Steve, the bishop and her trusted advisor, being the mastermind behind Wyatt’s rebellion? It was natural for the Queen to be so astonished.

Prince Eric began to explain everything that had happened. As the prince’s explanation continued, the Queen’s expression changed moment by moment. After hearing the whole story, the Queen looked at me with disbelief in her eyes.

“Logan, is everything I’ve heard true?”

—

—

“It’s all true. Bishop Steve and Earl Courtney, no, the two traitors have already confessed everything. They say they were behind this rebellion.”

As I answered the Queen’s question, I picked up the prepared confession. It was a confession signed by Courtney and Bishop Steve. This document detailed all the preparations they had made thus far.

The Queen began to skim through the confession I handed her. Her gaze, which had been reading the document over and over, focused on one spot. It was where Bishop Steve’s signature was flamboyantly inscribed.

“I can hardly believe it, even as I see it with my own eyes. That Steve would betray me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Prince Eric noticed the plan and entrusted me with this task. It is an honor to be of even modest help.”

I intended to credit some of my achievements to Prince Eric. Even if he took the honor of having led all this, my contributions were far from minor.

And if I were to take the honor of having led this, it was clear that the seal issue would become a nuisance.

No matter how inevitable the situation, a mere chef using the Queen’s seal at will could certainly be problematic.

The three cavalrymen I had attached next to Duke Howard, their names were… Archibald, Adam, and George, I believe.

If all three were to die, there would be no problem, but if even one returned alive, it was certain that the ‘secret command’ issue would be raised. Rather than living in anxiety over the seal issue, it was more profitable to pass on the credit and gain the Prince’s favor.

Upon hearing my words, the Queen sent another tender look towards Eric. The Prince, seemingly burdened by her gaze, received it with an awkward smile.

After looking at the Prince for a moment, the Queen’s eyes changed, and she asked in a sharp voice.

“So, where are Steve and Courtney now? Lead me to them. I must see them myself.”

The Queen’s voice was filled with anger. It was natural, given how much she had cherished Bishop Steve.

I led her to the secret room where the two were imprisoned. Soon, the firmly locked door opened, revealing Bishop Steve sitting quietly with his eyes closed and Earl Courtney biting his nails anxiously.

“Steve, and Courtney. Do you have anything to say to me?”

The Queen did not hesitate to speak as soon as she saw the two. Her voice was rough, seemingly very agitated. The Queen’s voice, filled with a sense of betrayal, hung in the room.

Bishop Steve remained silent with his eyes closed, while Courtney, upon hearing the Queen’s voice, immediately fell to his knees and began to beg for mercy.

“Your Majesty, please, just once, forgive me. I was momentarily blinded. Bishop Steve promised me a dukedom, and I lost my senses for a moment. Please, Your Majesty! For the sake of the times we’ve known each other, please show mercy just this once…!”

At Courtney’s disgraceful display, the Queen frowned. She seemed to want no further words with Courtney.

—

With a gesture, the Queen ordered Courtney to be taken away, and upon her command, the soldiers seized Courtney and dragged her to a corner. Even as she was pulled away from the Queen, Courtney did not cease her struggle.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

Perhaps no longer wishing to hear Courtney’s voice, the Queen commanded silence. The soldiers’ rough hands covered Courtney’s mouth, and the brief tumult subsided.

The Queen, having watched Courtney’s disgraceful display, now turned her gaze to Bishop Steve.

“Steve, why have you betrayed me?”

Her voice, laden with anger, was directed at Bishop Steve. Hearing this, he opened his eyes, which had been closed, and looked straight at the Queen. His eyes were filled with a sense of injustice.

“Betrayal? It was Your Majesty who betrayed first.”

“I, betrayed you?”

“Why… have you changed so? Where has your promise gone, the one to revive true faith in England? I could understand protecting the heretics, but to align with a nation that believes in the heretic Luther’s doctrine through marriage!”

The Bishop, his voice raising in pitch, accused the Queen. She looked at him with a troubled gaze and spoke.

“Is that so. Indeed, you were not serving me after all.”

“I serve Your Majesty in life, and the Lord in death. It was Your Majesty who first betrayed the Lord.”

Bishop Steve spoke boldly, causing the Queen to frown deeply.

“If that is what you think, there is nothing more to say. How did you, who taught that even heretics should be embraced for politics, come to this?”

With a heavy heart, the Queen spoke to Steve, then turned her head towards me again.

“Logan. Write an order to imprison these traitors in the Tower of London and return to the palace. Their fate will be decided after the rebellion is suppressed.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After writing the order, the Queen left the mansion without a backward glance, accompanied by Eric.

I took the Queen’s order and, having imprisoned the two in the Tower of London, headed for St. James’s Palace, where the Queen would be staying.

* * *

Upon arriving at the palace, a guard came out to greet me. By the queen’s command, I was taken to her office, where Prince Eric and the familiar face of Count Herbert were seated.

“Logan, take a seat beside Eric. I’ve heard all about it. You led Eric’s soldiers alone and quelled the traitors? It wasn’t just bravado when you spoke to me before. You served in the military, didn’t you?”

Once, without much thought, I mentioned I had served in the military as a Sergeant, and it seemed the queen had cleverly remembered that.

It wasn’t a lie, was it? Even if I was just a cook, a Sergeant is still a Sergeant.

“It wasn’t a difficult task. I just had to follow the prince’s orders.”

I humbly responded to the queen’s words and took my seat beside the prince as commanded.

Looking around from my seat, I noticed three usual spots were conspicuously empty. They were the seats of Bishop Steve, Duke Howard, and Count Courtney. The emptiness of the chairs, which should have been filled, made the betrayal of the courtiers feel all the more real.

Though I had distinguished myself, it was only due to these extraordinary circumstances that a mere chef like me was sitting here,

“Let’s continue the story, shall we? Count Herbert?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Based on Courtney’s confession, we are weeding out the enemies within. There are thirty in total, who were supposed to open the gates in case of an emergency to collaborate with those scoundrels… What shall we do with those we’ve subdued?”

“Send the involved nobles to the tower, and confine the soldiers separately. Once this is over, we will mete out appropriate punishment according to the severity of their crimes.”

Now I saw, a meeting on the aftermath of this incident was in full swing.

The queen seemed all the more impressive anew. Even with many of her close aides betraying her, she worked on suppressing the rebellion with an unfazed demeanor, truly, a king is a king.

After all, even though the internal traitors had been removed, the rebel army marching towards London was still a force to be reckoned with.

As the discussion on the aftermath concluded, the conversation shifted to how to stop the rebel army.

There were talks about reinforcing the city walls, deploying the remaining troops as efficiently as possible, whether to call up the local lords, or perhaps it would be better to recruit a militia in London itself.

“I’m considering entrusting the command of the 150 soldiers guarding the gate to a fellow named Logan. We’re short on trustworthy commanders, you see.”

While listening quietly, an unavoidable topic slipped from Count Herbert’s lips. At this rate, I might find myself experiencing a medieval war I never asked for.

“Wait a moment! Count Herbert, what are you saying? I’m to command?”

—

“Yes, indeed. There are many who can command soldiers, but you are the only trustworthy commander who is certain not to join them.”

“I am a cook! What command could I possibly…!”

“Weren’t you a sergeant before you came here?”

Count Herbert’s voice strikes my bones. My past statements have come back to haunt me.

Words meant to curry favor with the Queen now jeopardize my life. War, indeed. To guard the city gates. I am a cook, after all. A cook who wishes to sit comfortably in the palace, waiting only for the outcome.

“But that’s… 150 men. That’s beyond my ability. Moreover, it’s been so long since I commanded soldiers, I doubt I can do it properly… And I am a cook, am I not? If word gets out that a cook is commanding soldiers, morale will surely plummet.”

150 men in name, but how can I command 150 men? I tried to make excuses, to back out, but a shocking statement from the Queen’s lips sealed mine.

“Worry not about that. I shall join you atop the city walls.”

With the Queen herself stepping forward, I had no more tricks to escape. Reluctantly, I had to agree to follow the order.

In December of 1553, I became entangled once more with a group I had not interacted with since my discharge.

This time, my position was not that of a cook, but a commander over 150 men.

—

Footnote:

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