Her Majesty’s Secret Service - Chapter 94



094. Gogo-class restaurant

New Year’s Day, July 18th.

At the palace, he invited his servant and sister-in-law to attend a banquet welcoming the arrival of a Scottish treacherous official in London.

Because of this, Jonghyung and his sister-in-law fought once again, but in the end, Jonghyung decided to attend the banquet with his sister-in-law. The atmosphere between the two people suddenly became softer, and it seemed similar to when Jonghyung and his sister-in-law first met.

The story probably worked out well. I felt truly fortunate.

New Year’s Day, July 19th.

As planned the other day, I visited a shipyard located in a place called ‘Deptford’. Since this was the first time in his life he had seen a shipyard of this scale, our envoy could not keep his mouth shut and could only express admiration.

When it was explained that this was the place where the ship ‘Mary’, the ship we came on, was built, the Governor exclaimed with admiration, saying, “This is indeed a place worthy of building ships of that size.” The Vice Minister looked around at the other shipyards gathered around and said, “It is a place owned by the country.” “It’s surprising that the shipyard is so big, and when people come together to form such a large shipyard, I feel it again and again, but England is a truly wealthy country,” he said, admiring it.

Additionally, the Prime Minister looked around at the ships built and anchored around him and said, “According to what I have seen so far, the shipbuilding technology of this country called England is far superior to that of our own country, and even such a country cannot focus on building ships. “Now I know that what Prince Songheum said was right,” he said with admiration, and said to his adjutant, “If I learn England’s shipbuilding technology and build a ship that is bigger and faster than our country’s ships, I think we will be able to exterminate the pirates that are rampant at sea. “When we return home, let’s talk to the queen and ask her to give us some English shipbuilders,” he said.

* * *

I carefully got out of bed, pulled back the curtains, and looked out the window, afraid that Jane, who was lying next to me, would wake up.

Instead of bright sunlight, it was filled with gloomy clouds. I was irritated as I remembered what happened at the banquet hall yesterday.

In the end, it seemed almost certain that Jane would become Queen of Scotland.

In the banquet hall, that b*stard Walsingham was walking around near the queen and sticking his face in, and the queen and Knox even met separately during the banquet, so it was easy to tell where the queen’s mind was leaning.

There was no way for me to know what was exchanged between the two, but wasn’t it obvious what was roughly exchanged?

It seemed that the negotiations between the Queen and Nox would be concluded within two weeks. A Scottish envoy decided to stay in London for two weeks.

Since the Queen’s mind was already inclined to send Jane to Queen of Scotland, there was only so much I could do.

“We must make it so that the queen cannot easily abandon our family.”

After meeting the queen a few days ago, I was given permission to build a new ship in the name of my ‘companion’, and I had also secured the right to claim a stake in the Eastern trade.

I was planning to share the rights I had secured in this way with those who had invested in me. If you can’t lead the work among the mainstream nobles, wouldn’t you be able to form your own force by attracting gentry and non-mainstream nobles?

Based on the funds raised from them, I planned to solidify my position not only in Eastern trade but also by establishing my ‘business’ in England.

“Umm… as… case?”

As I was looking out the window and thinking, I heard Jane’s voice from the bed. I turned my head towards the bed and saw Jane rubbing her sleepy eyes.

“Jane, why don’t you lie down a little longer?”

“Haam… no… I have to wake up… Umm… .”

Jane, who was completely drowsy and struggling to get out of her seat, looked dangerous, so I went over and helped her up.

“lol… “Thank you, Logan.”

“What are you talking about?”

“No, not this one. “Thank you for respecting my choice.”

Jane’s voice was clearer than before, and I sighed internally, but pretended nothing had happened.

“Thank you.”

Ah, the long cold war with Jane ended with me bowing first.

So, this is what happened yesterday when someone from the palace came to ask me to attend the welcome banquet for the Scots.

* * *

Jane, who had been locked in her room while engaged in a cold war with me, was sharing the same space with me for the first time in a long time when she heard that someone had come out of the palace.

I had decided what I would say to the envoy who told me that my wife and I were being invited to a banquet to welcome the Scottish envoy.

“Ask me to attend the banquet? Hmm… I’m not feeling well right now… “I guess my wife and I won’t be able to attend.”

How could he possibly want to take Jane to an event that was not just another banquet but was held to sell Jane out?

Although I knew it was clearly an emotional choice, I answered that I would not attend the banquet with the excuse that I was not feeling well, and when Jane heard that, she immediately expressed an opinion that was contrary to my opinion.

“What do you mean? I will attend. If Logan doesn’t go, I can go alone. “Please tell Her Majesty the Queen so.”

I glanced at Jane, who was saying with a cold face that she would attend the banquet on her own, and then I opened my mouth to the envoy once again.

“no no. “My husband and I will not be attending.”

“I am attending. will do. “It is.”

Jane’s eyes were focused on me as she continued to speak with a cold expression. I returned his gaze without avoiding it, and a moment of silence lingered between me and Jane.

And a moment later, a voice from my mouth broke this silence.

“how… Why don’t you know my heart? I’m just for you… .”

“For me? Does caring for me mean selling out my younger siblings? Have you talked to Catherine? Do you even recognize Mary’s face?”

“I definitely apologized for that… .”

“apologize? “That’s not an excuse?!”

“If you think so, I have nothing more to say. Anyway, we won’t be attending so I know that. Hey, Her Majesty the Queen is not attending… .”

“… Logan, you and the Duke are the same. I mean… Without even listening… I thought you were someone else… !”

To the person who came to ask whether or not to attend the banquet, “Anyway, we will not attend.” When she answered, Jane’s eyes began to turn red. She cried, saying that she was the same as the duke, but Jane ended up crying.

During our last argument, Jane, who had been pushing me one-sidedly, suddenly showed weakness and started crying, so I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

Embarrassed, I tried to get Jane to stop crying and went in first, lowering my head and saying, “I did something wrong, so please stop crying.”

Even though I bowed down first, Jane continued to cry and screamed, ‘Why don’t you respect my choice?’ When I heard those words, I was able to guess why she was so angry.

Looking back, didn’t I ignore Jane’s decision in the name of doing it for her? It wasn’t enough that I sold my sisters-in-law’s names without consulting Jane, but I also forced my decision on Jane without listening to her determination.

After thinking about that, I apologized to Jane, saying, “I wasn’t thinking about your position.” Then, perhaps because she thought my apology was sincere, Jane stopped crying a little and began to talk quietly with me for the first time in weeks.

They talked to each other for a while and resolved their mutual misunderstandings, and eventually decided to attend the banquet according to Jane’s wishes.

* * *

In that way, I was able to restore my relationship with Jane, and from last night, I was able to sleep under the same blanket as Jane again.

Her son Richard was also able to see Jane without being noticed.

So, for the first time in a few weeks, I was able to spend the night with Jane, have breakfast, and spend some intimate time together for the first time in a long time.

As time passed, the gloomy weather cleared and the blue sky appeared.

While I was watching Richard with Jane, a servant from the manor came to me and spoke to me.

“Baron, your guests have arrived. “He came to see me with a letter from the Baron, so I showed him to the parlor.”

“letter? sighe! Yes, was that today? “How many people came?”

“Including ‘Hawkins’ and ‘Drake’ who just arrived, there are a total of 17 people.”

A few days ago, I sent a letter to the merchants who invested in me to allocate the rights to ‘Oriental Trade’ acquired from the Queen to investors and to begin ‘Shanghai’ activities in earnest.

Yesterday, I attended the banquet, saw some unpleasant faces, and spent time with Jane for the first time in a while, so even though I had called them, I had forgotten about them for a while.

“Jane, I’m sorry. These are the people I called a few days ago… .”

“I’m sorry. Bye. “Logan.”

I told Jane that I would be back soon, and I left Richard’s room and headed to the living room, who happily told me to leave without any signs of displeasure.

* * *

After asking for Jane’s understanding and reaching the reception room where the investors gathered at my call were waiting, I opened the door and felt the eyes of the ‘investors’ waiting for me inside.

“I’m sorry about this. “Have you all been waiting long?”

“no. Baron, what is this… .”

“No problem. I wonder if we came too early, and I feel really sorry… .”

There was nothing that felt a little burdensome, but when I hid those feelings and took my time, the investors started flattering me, saying, ‘There’s nothing wrong with us.’

They signed up to ‘invest’ in me, but in reality, rather than investing, they were giving me money and getting an opportunity to take a step into Eastern trade.

Looking at the profits, it was clearly an ‘Eastern trade’ that was difficult for even those with even the most connections to get involved, so it was only natural that they would take that attitude.

“Since everyone is busy, let’s get straight to the point. “You all saw what was written in the letter, right?”

“Yes, you said construction of a new ship has begun.”

“you’re right. The size of the newly built ship is significantly smaller than that of the ‘Mary’, but its cargo capacity is equivalent to that of the ‘Mary’. The £10,000 you invested and the £5,000 grant we received by petitioning Her Majesty the Queen. She will be built on a total budget of £15,000. The name of her ship will have to be decided later.”

“So, are we going to share the rest except for the portion to be given to the royal family? And what about the rights to load and unload goods?”

“Fortunately, Her Majesty the Queen said that she would pay one-fifth of the profits from the new ship as customs duties and leave to me the rights to load and unload the goods, as well as the rights to sell them. In short, I have been given full authority.”

After saying that, I took out the ‘license’ I received from the Queen and placed it on the table. The investors looked at the permit one by one, confirmed that it had the Queen’s seal on it, and let out a short exclamation.

The right to load goods refers to the right to purchase specific items in other countries, the right to unload refers to the right to sell goods in other countries, and the right to sell refers to the right to distribute goods within England.

In the case of small-scale trade, it was common for the guild to control these rights, and in case of large-scale trade, such as eastern trade, the state would directly control these rights.

Therefore, when getting permission to build a new ship from the queen, they also wanted permission for ‘loading and unloading rights’, but for some reason, the queen delegated all rights.

“Huh… If not… .”

“I don’t know about the ‘Mary’, but aren’t you saying that all the profits that the new ship will bring, excluding tariffs, belong to our ‘merry’? “If you think about it, the tariff is a little cheaper than average.”

The faces of investors with bright smiles after checking the permits caught my eye. They had probably calculated how much profit they could make.

I continued talking to them who were smiling like that.

“We will continue the story about Eastern trade later… “I need to ask you guys for some help.”

“You mean help?”

“I was thinking about opening a business in London.”

“Are you talking about London? Maybe even a ranch in the suburbs… .”

The investors’ curious eyes turned to me. Some of them mentioned ranches to me, as if they had had fun building a ranch, but the new ‘business’ I was thinking of was not a ranch.

“It’s not a ranch… “I’m thinking of opening a small restaurant.”

Having secured investors using Eastern trade as bait, they now planned to unite the gentry through a restaurant.

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*Nowadays, formal restaurants are called ‘restaurants’, but in the 16th century, all shops selling food were called diners.