Chapter 72 - Hiding Skills

Nickolas pov

I looked at the running girl with worried eyes. Just an hour ago she was looking annoyed by the fact that she was appointed as Noah's squire. And now look at her, she was laughing and running around.

But I still feel that my father was being too unreasonable with her.

I walked towards the father 's office with another informant paper in my hand that I had taken from the palace.

I knocked on the door and only entered when he allowed me too.

"Commandant"

He looked at me as I addressed him officially and nodded.

"Have you informed leader Noah and sir Abigail?" he asked in a formal voice and I nodded.

"Yes, commandant"

"Well done. Anything else"

"Yes, the informant parchment had another news about sir Abigail" i replied as i passed the parchment to my father.

Her name was printed in bold letters. There were faded images of her that were portrayed too. Though it was impossible to recognise her through the image, her name was enough to let all nobles and commoners know who she was.

My father read at the compliments with gritted teeth and then tore the parchment and threw it in the dustbin.

I wonder why he was so upset? If it would have been anyone else he would have been proud.

"Father.." I called him and he looked at me trying to control his emotions.

"Yes, Nickolas"

"Why are you so worried about the fact that she is getting recognized by everyone in the empire? Isn't it something to be proud of?" I couldn't help but ask.

"You think it is a good thing that a 16year old girl was able to defeat all the strong knights of the empire who were training from the past 4-5 years." he asked with a slight anger.

I shook my head. "Well, I know she has garnered a lot of attention and jealousy but hiding it all from her would only keep her in the dark. And it is not like we should stop progressing just because others would be jealous of us. You should be proud that she has shown tremendous progress in her training. It means she is more than serious about being a perfect knight.'' I replied honestly. I was too proud of her the way she defeated everyone.

He shook his head, as if he could not believe what I said. 

"She should live a simple life in the palace that all was needed from her. I have let her participate because I thought that she would never be able to win. If I had any idea, I would have never asked her to fill the place. 

We just need to hide and pressure the informants to keep the news down until the memory of nobles fades away. 

And since she is serving as a squire to Noah. She is not eligible to serve anyone as a knight. We have to keep things this way until her academy period." he said in a grave voice but i still did not understand the reason for his fears.

"Why are you so afraid father?" 

"Because I didn't want to see her injured and hurt. Did you forget the crown prince already faced more than 4 assassinations?" he asked as I was speaking nonsense.

"But father.. We are from a knight's family, we could not be a coward ``I tried to justify but he raised his hand.

"That's enough. I would be the one to decide for her. You may leave now" he replied and I left the office after bowing my head. Though I still feel that he was hiding something.

I walked towards the training ground and started training the recruits under me.

But my eyes were fixed at Noah. he was training the knights under him in anger. The voice of his shouting could be heard this far.

"Ben go and call sir Abigail. Tell her that leader Nickolas is calling her" i said to my aide and he left nodding his head.

Soon enough Abigail came running towards me but surprisingly she did not come from the area where Noah was training.

"Yes sir Nicholas"

"You were not in the training ground?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I was in the library. I need to read books for the entrance exam of the academy." she said and only then did i remember it was just a week away.

"Oh, did I disturb you then? You have requested me to help you in learning more after the training in the evening. That's why I called you.`` I replied and she gave me a warm smile. She shook her head.

"I will be honored to learn some tricks from you.'' She took out her sword and stood with the other knights. How good would it have been if she would have been in my team from the start.

As we started training I was surprised to notice her precise moments. It felt like she was training for years. There was no way such progress could be achieved in a month's training. 

"You are doing great, sir Abigail '' i praised her and she smiled awkwardly but then in the next round her progress deteriorated.

She was making silly mistakes as if she still had a lot to learn.

For a moment it felt like father she also wanted to hide her power. But why!?

"Abigail. Why don't you show the knights the dual sword technique? It would help them in learning.`` I requested and she nodded but the technique she was using was not the one she had shown that day. 

I did not say anything further as I realized both she and father were trying to cover her skills. It was better that I train her separately than the knight and try to probe further. 

"Sir Abigail"

"Yes"

"Sir Noah has sent all the details of the work you need to do as his squire for you" replied a man who came running from the area where Noah was training and provided her with a parchment.