Villainess Becomes The Knight

Abigail pov

"Everyone, I am amazed at your boldness to think that you all can be the future knights of the empire. Do you think you have the courage and prowess to serve us!" spoke lord Daniel shaking his head while lord Theodore looked at us with disdain and snorted.

As if we did not deserve to sit here. We should not be part of the knighthood team.

"It is getting late. There is no benefit in wasting time in conversation. They would soon see the reality anyway." said my father in an icy cold voice.

"You have an hour-long written test in which you have to reply to all the given questions. The one who will pass this test will qualify for the practical test in which we will divide you in teams. And then you will compete with each other and the one who was left in the end would be the winner. But let me assure you there are no rules to fight. 

If anyone would be injured permanently or get killed, they would be responsible for it themselves. We are here only to see that rules are followed and the winner could be determined. Their cold voice reverberated in the room breaking many into the cold sweat. 

They were trying their best to scare everyone and it must be pointed out that they were getting successful in it.

The silence was getting deeper and the faces were turning pale. 

"But there should be a chance where we can accept defeat, right?" asked a young boy, fear was evident in his eyes.

Theodore snorted while my father didn\'t even react. As if they could not hear the voice at all. It was Sir Daniel that replied.

"The one who accepts defeat has no place in the knight\'s academy. So, yes. There is a choice that you can accept defeat. But then you would be disqualified for the exams. And you would never be apply for being a knight ever again.\'\' The strict voice, instead of making them feel better, made them worse.

"But there must be some rules to decide who would spar with whom instead of just randomly making them fight?" asked a girl, it was apparent that she was asking about physical strength. She must be thinking that at least she would get a chance to fight  with girls instead of boys.

The chuckling sound broke all her hopes when they looked at her as if she had gone crazy. 

"What is your name, young lady?" asked my father this time, though Lord Theodore was the one who chuckled.

"Penny sir." she replied, mustering all her leftover courage to sound confident. But her face was filled with sweat.

"So, lady Penny, do you think once you become a knight and protect someone, you would only get attacked by girls? Or worse if there would be another war.. Would you be able to ask them to sort all the enemies on the basis of their strength and then match them with our knights to start fighting and protecting the empire?" the message was clear, no! There was no rule that women would fight with women and men would fight with men.

The girl continued to stand at her place, she did not know what she was supposed to do. The girl sitting with her, hit her with elbow and only then did Penny come back to her senses and nodded her head. With embarrassment she sat back at her place. No one else had the courage to ask anything else. They just looked at each other, hoping others would ask the left questions but no one did. 

The three men at the stage waited for two minutes and then nodded their heads.

"Since there is no other doubt, we are starting distributing the examination\'s parchment papers." with those two junior knights who were guarding the door since the start moved and took the sheets from three men. And then they distributed a sheet to each one of us.

"The paper is set by choosing the sequence of questions randomly so that no one would ask another person the answer. So, do not even try unless you have the ability to vocalize the whole question and then hear all the answers." more than a fair warning each of their words were creating fear among the students. Most of them were already wiping their forehead and drinking water to calm themselves.

Even i took a deep breath when I received the paper. Thank goodness I was prepared well so I was not worried about who would be my sparring partner. 

The paper contained most of the questions related to war techniques and strategies and the history and geography of the empire.

Since I have been reading a lot of books since I returned, the questions were rather easy for me. I continued answering questions when my eyes fell on a queer question.

Last year the level of water in the river had increased and there were chances of flooding. So an embankment was created in many areas to keep the level of water in check so that it did not disrupt the life of the people living nearby.

But it was not that successful, so the question was asking what our thoughts were in this matter and giving a suggestion on how to solve this problem.

Though it was a very difficult situation for the people of the empire. I was quite assured that the flood could be stopped easily. Since modern technology has improved much, it is easy to get rid of the conditions of flood.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember any major flood incidents but I did not seem to remember it.

Anyways, I answered the question too and filled every answer perfectly. After getting done with all the questions, I looked above. My father was looking at me and his eyes met mine. For a second he continued to look further and there was something missing in the way he was looking at me.

But when I tried to look further he moved and started looking at other candidates. Soon, everyone started submitting the parchment paper. A final bell was rung and then the papers were taken from the rest of the students too and then the doors were opened. 

As if they were free from the cage, everyone started to walk with hurried footsteps, like they were having trouble breathing there.

When I was finally out I remembered that Gerard had called me to meet him on the roof. I was sure that the same aide must be standing outside so that he could escort me. 

I rubbed my hand as a smirk formed on my lips. Instead of going forward towards the main entrance I turned and walked backwards where powder room was situated and there were separate rooms for the masters to take rest. My father had a room there too.

Though new students were not allowed there, most of the new ones did not even know about those rooms. I knew it from my past life when I was called there for punishment. 

I walked leisurely so that no one would doubt a thing by looking at my face. But my eyes were sharp and alert. I continued moving towards the room, occasionally mixing wrong routes in between.

I finally reached towards the door and opened it as slowly as I could and then walked in. Finding my way towards the rooftop, I walked to check if the aide was still standing there and if Gerard was still in there.

I was silently looking at the person hiding in a dark place when I heard the voice of two people speaking at a distance.

"Your highness, I have made sure that everyone will get the questions you have designed to ask. But duke George was doubtful as why was i the one who wanted to set the exam questions this time. But I have managed for a while.`` I peeked to look who was speaking and I was sure the person referred was Prince William.

As expected, it was Prince Williams and Lord Theodore. Did William set the exam papers? I never knew that he was this knowledgeable. 

But why did he want to hide this fact! I hid myself further in case they drew me.

"Have you checked her paper?" asked William in a low voice.

"Yes, my lord. She had given a very queer answer. Instead of embankments she had asked to make a well type pit around and help in storing the water there. And her other answers were different from the normal ones too." my eyes widened when i realised they were talking about me. Why were they trying to analyze my result separately?

"If you are suspicious, I would personally check all her details and investigate about it, your highness.\'\' said the man again but William shook his head.

"I want you to transfer all her papers to me."