Herbert smirked but he soon changed his expression to look more amicable.
"Whatever do you mean, Lady Elena? How could you have offended me with your actions?"
As Lady Elena gazed upwards at Herbert, she saw him smiling. If it weren't for the underlying meaning behind that smile, she would have taken a moment to appreciate his well-sculpted face. Unfortunately, she did not have the leverage to do so, she could only continue to remain submissive and be more respectful.
"If my lord says so then it must have been my mistake. However, I do hope that Sir Herbert does accept this gift as a symbol of our friendship."
After saying so, she took out a wooden box from the pouch she was carrying. She then placed it on top of the desk as she was afraid Herbert wouldn't dare to grab the gift she had given him.
Herbert glanced at her gift and did not say anything, he then looked at Ingrid who was still beside him.
"Ingrid, can you help me serve our guest some tea?"
After saying so Herbert gestured for Elena to take a seat. This gave Lady Elena a chance to calm her beating heart. She thinks that Herbert would at least give her a chance. So, she took the seat that was offered to her by Herbert and took a deep breath. She knew that this must just be the beginning. For now, she could only take a passive position and wait on Herbert's judgment.
Seeing how obedient she had become, Herbert smirked and changed his plans. At this time, he remembered the few times when he had been obsessing over Princess Amelia and how he had forced himself to attend a couple of parties with Lady Elena just to get some meager information from her. In the end, he would only be rewarded with worthless information that he felt that the entire thing had been a waste of his time. Besides that, he also knew that in the original novel, Lady Elena had always been badmouthing him behind his back whenever she had reported back to Princess Amelia. So, he decided that a little mischief wouldn't hurt.
He knew where Elena's loyalty lay. The gift that she gave him should also be considered to have also originated from Princess Amelia as well rather than it resulting from Lady Elena's initiative.
After Ingrid had given poured them tea, Herbert took a small sip and took his time. Contrary to his relaxed and comfortable position, Lady Elena felt sweat forming on her forehead. She was feeling a little bit impatient but she knew that she couldn't rush Herbert either so she could only try to dispel her nervousness by drinking the tea as well.
Soon, a minute passed, and Herbert was still enjoying his tea while Lady Elena had already emptied her cup. Nevertheless, she still controlled herself and did not speak a word.
"Hmmm…."
"Yes, my lord?"
It's finally here, Lady Elena couldn't help but gulp as she replied. She had been waiting for so long that she felt her voice had been too loud when she had spoken just now.
"Looks like your cup is already empty. Ingrid, please?"
Following his words, Ingrid proceeded to pour her another cup.
Time passed and soon they spent a couple of minutes doing nothing but spend their time leisurely drinking tea.
"Oh my, look at the time. I'm sorry that it has taken so long."
"It's nothing, my lord. It has been a pleasure to enjoy tea with you."
"Well then, I am glad that you think so. I suppose that it's about time."
Lady Elena was at the edge of her seat. It took so long to get here but she felt that this was just a test from Herbert. At this point, she thinks that by this time, she should have already passed.
"I suppose it is, my lord."
With a serious expression, Lady Elena nodded her head and placed down her cup. She then stared at Herbert intently and waited for his next words.
"Since you've traveled so far to reach the north, I wouldn't want to prevent you from taking your leave and having our well-deserved rest."
Lady Elena couldn't help but look at Herbert confused. She understood what Herbert had just spoken but she felt like she had misheard and did not understand whatever he just said. Just as she was about to ask Herbert, she was cut off.
"I assume you already know where your room is, right? Well then, the door is open, so please help yourself."
At those words, Herbert gestured towards the door and Lady Elena could only swallow her saliva and dumbfoundedly do exactly as Herbert said. By the time she had returned to her room, she was still a little absentminded and did not react much when she saw Princess Amelia waiting for her on top of her bed.
"Lady Elena, how did it go? What did he say?"
Due to her sudden barrage of questions, Lady Elena tried to compose herself first before taking a seat on top of the bed beside Princess Amelia.
"What's wrong? Did you not give him the gift?"Did he do anything to you?"
Seeing Lady Elena's different behavior, Princess Amelia couldn't help but become concerned about her and curious about what had happened.
"I gave him the gift."
"And then? What did he say? How did he react?"
"Nothing. We just drank tea."
Hearing her words, Princess Amelia almost couldn't believe her ears. Was Lady Elena keeping secrets from her? Usually, whenever Herbert had done something, Lady Elena would first complain about him before giving out a detailed summary of her report. This had always happened before, but this time, it seemed to be extremely different.
Princess Amelia knew that she had delegated a lot of things to her because she had trusted her, her actions had always served her best interest first, to which she was extremely grateful for. This was why the first thing that came to her mind seeing her behavior change wasn't to suspect that she may have betrayed her. Instead, she thought that Herbert must have threatened her or something which made Elena, her most trusted subordinate hide whatever happened. However, her behavior towards her also changed a little when she lost a lot because of the Hawkwood Barony incident, this was why Princess Amelia also had a small amount of doubt lingering in her head, but she didn't let it show.
"I see. Is that all?"
Just to make sure, Princess Amelia once again tried to probe her in case she would change her mind, but it was unfortunate that Lady Elena's mouth seemed to be tightly shut today.
"Yes. We didn't talk about anything else."