Her Majesty’s Secret Service

054. Childbirth

After looking at the work site where the ship was being built, I went into my office located in a building near the dry dock and was writing a report and listening to Peter’s work report.

“Well, I’m sorry for saying this to you this morning. “There are not enough trees.”

“yes? “Are there not enough trees?”

“That’s right, nothing else, but there is a huge shortage of wood to make the central mast. “We’ve already used up all the wood that could be used for the mast.”

“You mean, even though we brought in all the wood to build another ship, we still don’t have enough wood?”

“Isn’t that why I’m talking this way?”

wait for a sec. There isn’t enough wood for the mast. Have you already spent all of your £30,000 budget?

“No matter how much money they say they set aside for paying salaries, the 30,000 pound budget has already been used up?”

“Oh, I said something wrong. To be precise, they were saying that there was not enough wood for the center mast of this ship called ‘Constitution’.”

Damn, weren’t you shocked because you thought you’d already used up your budget?

“Please don’t scare people. Yes, pine tree… All right. “Is there a way to save it?”

“We need to start manufacturing the mast right away, so the fastest way would be to buy it from a nearby shipyard.”

“Then let’s do it. pine tree… And what else?”

“There is nothing more. Oh, I’d like to ask you something about Mr. Brian’s technique… .”

“Oh, that’s next… “I have to go up to London right now.”

After seeing the drawings I brought, Peter, like a queen, became an ardent follower of ‘Brian’ and was eager to talk about ship technology with me whenever he had time.

‘Damn it, why did the queen tell me such a story… .’

It seems that Queen Thane was informed of this with good intentions, but it was only annoying. What kind of technology would I know to discuss ship technology with someone who has been building ships for decades?

Today again, I barely escaped from Brian, got on a horse, and headed to London.

After commuting for several months, I had no choice but to learn horseback riding. carriage? Rather than riding it for half a year, it was better to learn horseback riding.

With that, he put a report in his arms to deliver to the Queen, got on a horse, and headed to London.

London and Deptford are not that far away, so we should be able to get there before lunch.

* * *

London and its outskirts have been in a festive mood for several months now.

Even though it was chilly at the end of January, the streets were full of people. Everyone walking down the street was whispering and talking about when the Queen’s child would be born.

“Late January! Three shillings at the end of January!”

“I’m in early February! “To be exact, the first Wednesday of February!”

The Queen’s birth was receiving so much attention that citizens even made bets on whether the Queen would give birth.

“Today, I will pray for Her Majesty the Queen’s safe delivery.”

During the Sunday mass, all religious denominations, including the Catholic and Anglican churches, prayed for the Queen’s safe birth.

Many people prayed for the queen to have a safe birth, but the people who especially prayed for the queen’s safety were the farmers.

This may be due to the spread of anecdotes of people harvesting themselves, but the number of merchants plowing their fields has decreased noticeably since Mary’s accession to the throne.

“Other than Her Majesty Mary, there has never been a king who has thought of us like this. A person like this should live for a long time and rule over us… .”

“Please, may the noble one be safe…” .”

“In fact, isn’t it all thanks to Her Majesty the Queen’s fight at Dartford that the landowners’ vicious behavior stopped?”

“Cancer, that’s right. That’s why those evil b*stards are quiet.”

In reality, the merchants simply stopped the enclosure because it was not profitable, but as the stories overlapped, it was perceived among the farmers that the enclosure was stopped because Mary punished the ‘bad merchants’.

In the Dartford area, Mary’s popularity among farmers was soaring that a folktale called ‘The story of the queen scolding lords and merchants’ began to be created.

As such, the farmers were desperately hoping that Mary would give birth safely and that a successor would be born who would carry on the great queen’s blood. This was due to the vague belief that if she was the queen’s child, whether she was a boy or a girl, she would continue the reign for them.

Meanwhile, the reactions of the nobles were largely divided into two. Those who wish for Mary to give birth safely and those who wish for something to go wrong during childbirth.

“I hate making a fuss over the succession issue again. Please, Her Majesty the Queen, must give birth to an heir safely… .”

Naturally, it was because of the right of succession.

As Mary’s stomach began to swell, the issue of succession rights began to surface once again.

As a result of the final negotiations with Sweden, Eric and Mary had no children and if Mary died, Eric would have to step down from his position as co-king. Then, Elizabeth and Jane Gray would become the legitimate successors, and both of them happened to be Anglicans who believed in the Anglican Church.

If Mary dies in childbirth, the Anglican king will ascend to the throne, regardless of whether Elizabeth, Jane, or whoever becomes king. The Anglican nobles, who are clearly inferior to the Catholic powers, want Mary to die in childbirth. In the case of the Catholic nobles who were immediately in power, they were hoping that the queen would give birth safely.

What both powers had in common was for the queen to die giving birth to a child, but for the child to be born safely. In that case, the child would be educated in Sweden while growing up, and Eric would act as regent until the child grew up.

Neither the Catholic nor the Anglican nobility wanted Sweden to influence England.

As time passed and the Queen’s birthday approached, all of England’s attention focused on Whitehall Palace, where the Queen resided.

No matter how the situation progressed or what the nobles’ stance on this birth was, Mary, who was about to give birth, was calming down in her room, quietly stroking her swollen belly.

“Hey… It’s my child… Please, just be born safely… .”

When her stomach began to bloat and she began to feel unwell, two months after deciding to build a new royal flagship, Mary began to reduce her workload.

The palace meetings that were held three times a week were changed to twice a month, and hearing reports on all business was passed on to Bishop Nicholas and Eric, unless it was a very important task. That is.

Today, as I was quietly sitting in my office and trying to collect myself, my door, which had not rang for quite some time in the past few months, began to ring.

“Her Majesty, Sir Logan has come to visit.”

“Logan? Tell them to come in.”

Soon the door opened and Logan came in and bowed. Mary briefly responded to Logan’s yes and then opened her mouth.

“Hmm, it’s really been a while. So, how’s things going in Deptford? “What is the performance of the ‘salary system’ that was previously reported?”

Regardless of other matters, he had given an order to convey only the matter of building the royal flagship to him.

Fortunately, it seemed like the message was conveyed correctly. As the request for permission to implement an unprecedented method of lowering wages to shipbuilders on a set day of each month was always reported, Mary went to Logan to check on the progress of the work. I had polished it.

“Yes, Her Majesty. “Before you tell me, could you please look at this first?”

“report? Didn’t you come yourself? Hmm… where… .”

Mary frowned slightly as she saw Logan handing over the report without answering, then opened the report Logan had presented and began to look at the contents.

“No, is this really true? “The hull of that big ship is almost complete?”

“yes. As Her Majesty the Queen knows, the shipbuilders of the past… .”

Logan’s explanation continued. He reported that work efficiency increased as a result of paying shipwrights even on their days off.

“Hmm… “Is this the method used in your country?”

“yes? yes… Well, that’s it.”

“Because we don’t have a very strong budget, we can’t use that method… indeed… .”

Mary began to become interested in Joseon, the eastern country where Logan had come from.

This time, thanks to Spain’s subsidies and the confiscation of the traitors’ property, the budget was sufficient to use this method, but it was financially impossible for England to use this ‘salary system’ every time.

By the way, that kind of method is used in the country where Logan came from. Considering that Logan suggested such a payment method as if it were natural, it was clear that such a payment method was common in the country called Joseon.

‘Hmm, such a rich country is hidden in the far East… You said Logan came to England with Brian, right? At that time, Logan’s map clearly… okay. Since I was planning on sending explorers anyway, I guess I should target that country called Joseon. Even Logan said he couldn’t remember the exact route, but he probably knows the approximate route… .’

“I am so glad that you lived up to my expectations. After giving birth, I will have to go see the hull in person. From then on, it’s up to the shipbuilders, so it would be nice to return to the kitchen soon. Actually, what you did was a little better than Marco’s. Oh, it’s a secret from Marco.”

“It is an honor, Your Majesty.”

When Mary told him to return to the kitchen, Logan bowed with a happy expression on his face.

It was when Mary was about to say that it was okay to go back.

“aaah!”

Mary suddenly started clutching her stomach and complaining of pain. At the sound of her screams, many servants, including her servants and maids, came running.

In the midst of the commotion, the royal doctor who was waiting in a nearby room ran over and shouted:

“Ah, the baby is coming out! It’s colic! Someone please go and fetch His Highness the Archduke!”

On the afternoon of January 1555, when Logan returned and reported to the Queen, the Queen went into labor.

* * *

As soon as Eric heard that Mary was going into labor, he rushed into Mary’s room.

By the time Eric arrived, many maids and servants had gathered in front of Mary’s room to pray for her safe birth.

“aaah!”

Mary’s screams in labor were coming from inside the room. Eric, who had just arrived and heard Mary’s screams, frowned and grabbed the doorknob of the door, which was closed tightly.

However, the guard’s strong hand stopped Eric.

“Let go of this hand.”

“Your Highness, the Grand Duke, cannot enter. “Don’t you know the law?”

“This guy!”

Just as he was about to yell at the guard, a voice came from behind the Archduke.

“Your Highness, please calm down. Her Majesty the Queen will be safe.”

“Logan? “Weren’t you in Deptford?”

“I came back today. under… I went into labor as soon as I got back. What is this… .”

“Apparently, the doctors said the baby will be born sometime next week. Damn, I can’t do it because I’m anxious. “I guess I should go in and take a look.”

“Why would someone who knows the law better than me do that?”

“My wife might die, so what…” !”

Logan looked at Eric with an expression of surprise. The word ‘wife’ came out of Eric’s mouth.

Eric felt slightly uncomfortable at Logan’s gaze, but he didn’t care and grabbed the doorknob again.

“Anyway, I guess I should go in.”

“Your Highness, you will have to wait another half a day anyway. “It’s not like His Highness can do anything by going in.”

“but… !”

“I just have no choice but to pray.”

From noble mtl dot come

At Logan’s firm words and the strong hand of the guard, Eric sighed deeply and relaxed his grip on the doorknob.

“Lord… .”

Eric muttered that and stood in front of the door, waiting for Mary’s screams to die down.

And how long has it been?

Mary’s screams from labor pain began to subside little by little, and the screams of pain stopped completely.

And from inside the door, the loud cries of a child began to be heard.