“Abi, are you okay?” he asked as he wiped the tears from my eyes only then did i realise i was crying again,

‘Oh lord, having been young again has also affected my mental level, why have I become such a cry baby.’ I cursed myself and looked at him, he was looking more worried than before.

“I..” my voice was wet and my words were incoherent, he passed me a glass of water when Isabella spoke.

“Are you crying because you are not prepared for the entrance exam again, even though I will go to the academy this year” there was a mocking gaze though her voice sounded concerned, “you don’t need to worry, there is always a next year.. You will definitely get admission… someday” i could not believe that i cried hugging her too, why could she just not let me be.

‘Its okay, Abi, she is just a little girl, and you had taunted and beaten her in the past too.’ I repeated it twice in my mind and only then did I feel better.

“Abigail, do you need more time, or maybe I can teach you a few things. I will do it slowly, I promise.” added Nickolas and i could see genuine worry in his eyes.

“Are you still not ready for your exam, Abigail. It is your second trial” said my father, the softness he was having in his voice was long gone. I could see the anger taking its place.

How easily they had assumed why I was crying without even waiting for my reply. This shows how much distant we were from hearts and how messed up our conversations were. Though it was not only their mistake, I was adamant and rude too.

I always tried to create troubles for them.

“I am prepared for the test father. I am crying because I think I had applied for the wrong course.” i replied finally drinking the water and making my voice confident enough.

My father looked at me and then at my stepmother. She laughed awkwardly as she looked at me and spoke

“Our empire only has three set of courses my dear, one for men, one from women and last one for knights. So there is only one for the woman, how could you choose the wrong course, i have checked your form twice before submitting.“ She said, though she was talking to me, her eyes were set on father to observe his reactions.

“You are right, mother.” It felt like my lips burned when I called her mother. No matter how many lives I lived, she just did not fit in the mother figure for me.

In fact, if I look carefully. She looked like a vamp in K-pop drama with her black dress and dark lipstick, moreover her acting was always top notch. If she would have taken rebirth there. She would have been a perfect antagonist for many movies.

“If she is right, then what is the mistake Abigail, speak properly, we are talking to you.” my father roared, he just could not stay in the sweet role for a long while and here i was thinking we were going to give a perfect relationship now.

“As mother said, there are three set of courses. I wanted to take the course for knights” ‘I declared and they all became shocked. I could see the fork in Isabella’s hand stopped in the middle with still a piece of steak on it.

Even my father and my stepmother looked at me as if I had grown two heads.

I rolled my eyes internally at their exaggerated reactions, I never noticed that my precious life had so much drama. Still I stayed silent and let them get adjusted to the fact.

In the end the silence was broken by loud laughter of Isabella, she was laughing like she had gone crazy.

“You.. you will join the course of knight, you must be kidding, right. Have you even looked at you in a long while?” she mocked me again and i looked down, i was slim, slimmer. I could see I was fragile right now.

“Abi,” Nickolas called me hesitantly

“Bella is right, you are not fit for the knight’s course. You felt unconscious just by running two days ago.” he said in an apologetic tone as if it was his mistake that I fainted.

“Tell me Abigail, is it because you are not able to learn for the test that you are making excuses?” asked my stepmother, her voice was sounding confident.

I looked at my father who was just looking at us silently as if this conversation had nothing to do with him. But I could see his eyes were set on me from the start.

“Daddy, what did you think about it?” i asked sweetly yet hesitantly because if he also denied then it would be impossible for me to get trained.

“Training as a knight is not easy, and many start training at the age of 10, you are already 15” he said in an emotionless voice, which did not let me know what he was feeling.

“But i still want to give it a try. If i failed i am ready to accept any punishment but if i passed the entrance, you would let me join the knights course and i will go to the royal palace with you.” I added and he raised a brow.

“But father had promised me to take with him, right?” Isabella asked, making an aggrieved face and he nodded.

Just when i thought that i lost again, he looked at me, “but i can take both of you together if you want.” he replied and that was all i needed.

My face bloomed, “thank you, daddy” i said with a cherry face, even forgetting the embarrassment i was feeling a whole ago.

He coughed several times and nodded, “you can practice with Nickolas for a week then i will check your strength. If you passed the test, you can prepare for being a knight, but if not then you will have to give the academy test and pass it too”