Chapter 35
Having just finished a banquet and begun negotiating a marriage treaty with the Queen of Scots, Don Carlos, drunk, pushed open the door to his bedroom, threw his sable coat next to the inkwell, and slumped onto the bed.
“This little place is so small that even tapestries are scarce. Remember to go to the servant in charge of purchasing tomorrow and have them install tapestries and Turkish rugs in my bedroom. Also, go and get me some mead,” Carlos asked with his eyes closed.
The servant quickly went to the kitchen and fetched a small cup of mead, handing it to the Spanish crown prince on the bed and whispering, "Your Highness, this is Scotland after all. If you criticize the decorations of their palace, it will surely incur the wrath of the Scots."
“Shut up! Scotland will soon be mine. If they’re unhappy, give them a few lashes so they understand that my orders are just as important as the Queen of Scots’s! They must show respect to the future King of Scotland…” Carlos said with his eyes closed, proudly lifting his leg and downing the mead in one gulp. “…Why is there so little? Has Scotland become so poor that it can’t even afford wine?”
“You have a head injury, and the doctor has advised you not to drink too much alcohol,” the servant advised in a low voice.
Carlos's response was to smash an empty wine glass at him. His personal valet dodged the glass in time, quietly left, and handed over the task of serving the crown prince to the Spanish maid who had been brought by the crown prince.
A maid wearing a burgundy velvet dress entered the bedroom, removed her necklace and veil to reveal her beautiful face, and let her dazzling golden-brown hair cascade down, making her even more alluring.
She knelt by the bed and began to help the Spanish crown prince remove his cumbersome clothes.
"Are you really going to marry the Queen of Scots?... I mean, she's several years older than you, practically an old maid, and she's been married once before," the maid said softly.
Carlos, with his eyes closed, enjoyed the service of his mistress and maid, and said, "Compared to the British throne, these are not problems. Besides, although she is a bit older than me, the Queen of Scots is very beautiful and healthy. Having such a wife is not bad."
Like those poems that celebrate her, Mary, Queen of Scots, possessed a remarkably beautiful appearance. Her hair was lustrous black, her skin as white as snow, and the lines of her facial features were exquisite and beautiful. Her deep black eyes seemed to be immersed in a pool of mercury. When she was quiet, she resembled an oil painting, and when she smiled, it seemed as if stars were twinkling in them.
Thinking of this, Don Carlos immediately felt a burning sensation in his lower abdomen, so he pulled the maid to sit on his lap and serve him.
"...Does Your Highness think that Queen Scottish is prettier than me?" The maid, suppressing her annoyance, teased with a smile during a break.
Those who can serve the crown prince are usually not ordinary people; she was born into Spanish nobility and was the fifth daughter of a count.
Don Carlos, enjoying himself, said lazily, "Put away your... shallow jealousy, women. I know what you're thinking, but it's impossible."
"I will get married eventually, even if it's not the Queen of Scotland... it will be a princess of Austria or Portugal... um... no matter who I marry in the future, you must be the most loyal servant of the Crown Princess of Spain, and serve her as you serve me."
...
Inside Whitehall Palace in London, Queen Elizabeth was never calm after hearing the news of the impending marriage between the Spanish Crown Prince and the Queen of Scotland.
She had thought that Lord Darnley's secret trip to Edinburgh with the help of his lover, possibly to marry the Queen of Scots, and the humiliation he had caused her, was the worst possible outcome.
Unexpectedly, things could get even worse.
The Spanish crown prince actually went to Scotland right under his nose to propose marriage. Are the British navy just sitting around doing nothing?
Thinking of this, Elizabeth felt a chill run down her spine, as if she were standing in the snow and ice of winter.
As soon as Spain marries the Queen of Scots, they will immediately launch a military campaign under the pretext that her parents were Protestant and that their children were not entitled to inherit the throne. They will throw her into the Tower of London and, like they chopped off her mother Anne Boleyn, behead her!
Elizabeth took off the ring she always carried and pressed it tightly against her heart, trying to gain some warmth. She gritted her teeth and said, "I cannot allow this to happen. The Queen of Scots must not associate with Spain."
Beside her, Secretary of State Cecil adjusted his glasses and pondered, “We can’t find any reason to stop the Queen of Scots from choosing a husband, and Spain will not allow an already settled engagement to be broken… However, as long as you also immediately announce the marriage to Spain, those suitors will certainly not fawn over the Queen of Scots like a pack of hounds, but will rush to London and try every means to win your favor.”
“Abandon that idea, Cecil. I will never marry in my life, and if I must choose a husband, it will only be England,” Elizabeth said.
“So what do you want to do?” Cecil asked.
“Mary Stuart wants the rightful succession, then I will grant her the rightful succession! But she absolutely cannot marry Don Carlos, or I will immediately order the army to attack Scotland!” Elizabeth said resolutely.
...
At the Queen's command, the entire British army began to mobilize, preparing provisions and artillery, and was sent in waves to the Scottish border, ready to launch another war at any time.
This scene undoubtedly terrified the entire Scottish nobility. People naturally knew that this was a crisis brought about by the Queen's engagement, and they flocked to Holyrood Palace from all over the country to plead with the Queen to resolve the crisis.
No Scots wanted to be plundered by England anymore, especially the common people, who had only enjoyed a few good years and managed to accumulate some wealth of their own.
In the hall filled with Scottish nobles, Mary sneered, "I am surprised that Elizabeth is so rash as to start another war. It seems that she not only has no pity for the safety of her neighbor, the Scottish people, but also does not care about the safety of her own country, the English. Even if it means thousands of young English men die on the battlefield, she wants to show her power and tyranny and deprive her sister of the right to happiness."
Sitting next to the Queen of Scots, Don Carlos scoffed with equal disdain: “The British have always been so heartless and ungrateful. How could they care about blood ties? I will never forget how Catherine the Spanish princess was tortured to death by Queen Elizabeth’s parents, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, after she married into England. Now their daughter has inherited the same cruelty and malice from her parents.”
Mary held Carlos's hand tightly and said apologetically, "Your Highness, to be honest, Elizabeth is very hostile to Spain. As soon as I showed my intention to marry, she sent an envoy to see me and told me that if I accepted Spain's proposal, she would immediately regard me as an enemy and declare war on Scotland."
Anger turned Carlos's face red. He clenched his fist and said, "This illegitimate daughter is too arrogant. We must not let her have her way!"
Mary looked even more apologetic and said, "Yes, Your Highness, but I am now more worried about your safety. Spain is a powerful country, but you are in Scotland and cannot get help from your own army. On the battlefield, swords have no eyes. Once Edinburgh is captured, I am very worried that something might happen to you."
Circumstances are more powerful than people.
Don Carlos's face paled, and he swallowed his arrogant words about making Elizabeth pay.
Just then, a servant came to report that the Queen of England's envoy had returned from London with a letter for the Queen of Scotland.
Mary tapped the table with her finger, signaling for the British envoy to be brought in. She calmly addressed those around her, saying, "Let's see what Elizabeth has to say."
British envoy Randolph struggled to remain calm as he entered the hall of Holyrood Palace, surrounded by several guards. Facing such menacing gazes, he was incredibly nervous, his sweaty palms barely able to grip the documents.
"Your Excellency Queen of Scots, I bring to Her Majesty the promise of peace and friendship."
"If you immediately renounce your engagement to any foreigner, Her Majesty Elizabeth will announce something significant in the English Parliament."
"That is, the Queen of Scots will be the first in line to the throne of England and will enjoy the undisputed British throne in the future, just like Elizabeth's own child."
“What if I refuse?” Mary said in a low voice.
Randolph took a deep breath, suppressing his fear, and said calmly, "Then England will immediately declare war on Scotland."
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