The Vindication Gents

Kathleen Remes’ POV “You are to be sentenced to jail for exactly 5 years for the crime that you have committed and, by the power that rested in me, your time starts now. Case dismissed. The court adjourned,” the loud and clear of my father’s voice resonated in the court that I have seen so many cases before. Treason, betrayal, and forbidden love. Me? I just had the most unfortunate sentence ever; service in prison. I did not know how I got to this point but I knew, for one thing, I was innocent and I had taken the fall of my twin, who was a master of disguise. “Have fun, sister!” she whispered as she was hugging me while she was shedding her fake tears because of the sentence that my father gave to me. I could feel that she was smiling wickedly behind my back as I was walking out of the court and was heavily guarded by bodyguards that worked for my father. “See you soon. Oh wait, never mind,” she said again after she went up the stairs, leaving me with my mother and father. The other court members had gone home and I was looking at them, hard. “You know what you have done was unfit for our family etiquette. I need you to wind up in that prison and learn your lesson. Look at your sister, she never went into trouble as you did!” my father shouted, which made the court boom with his voice because it was empty. “Hush, dear. Maybe Kathleen has an explanation for us of why she did that?” my mother said as she took my father’s hand to calm him down. “No, my queen, I have nothing to say about this matter,” I said as I bowed humbly to both of them. My father was looking at me as I was staring at the floor. He sighed. “Very well. You will be serving your time in prison for 5 years and, since you will be 21 after that service, you will be placed in our juvenile jail. Do not attempt to get out or there will be consequences,” my father said as he was glaring at me like I would do anything in there. “Yes, my king. I will obey every rule,” I said before he waved his hand and I was being dragged to face my sentence. Oh, goodie… ***** “You will now conceal your identity as we don’t want anyone to know that the royal has entered the prison. Choose your weapon wisely,” the hairstylist said as he was showing me all the things that he would change about my appearance. “I want my hair to be black,” I said as I was sitting, looking at myself in the mirror. “Excellence choice, your highness,” he said as he was preparing the mixture for my hair. “I want it short, like a boy, so that they will leave me alone. They might consider that I am a bad guy, so why not just take that identity seriously? After all, I am a bad guy,” I said as I looked at my hairstylist in the mirror. “You know, sometimes, the things that you hide might be good but it will drive the person that you love away,” he said as he was working on my hair, cutting it short before he put the dye on it. “Maybe, but he does not deserve my love, then if he cannot take me at my worst, certainly he did not deserve me at my best,” I said as I looked at my hair falling on the floor. “Perhaps, anyway, Your Highness, we will be rescheduling the redyeing by 1 month. I hope that’s okay?” He said as he was cleaning my hair from that mixture. “Fine by me. I have nowhere to go, by the way, so I might as well enjoy your company once a month,” I said as I closed my eyes, trying to get myself out of this horrible place that my father thought would help me. Well, it did, but I think he might have the wrong daughter to put her in that so-called juvenile prison. “Done,” he said as he was blow-drying my hair before I looked at my new appearance in the mirror. I touched my hair as it was foreign compared to the light mane that I usually have on my head. “Thank you, Antonio, you may leave,” I said as I was getting up from the seat and was ready to leave for the prison to serve my time there. “My pleasure and Kathleen, don’t do anything stupid. The royal family already has so many enemies and more in prison. Be careful, don’t let your identity slip,” he said as he gave me a false identity that I had seen before. My father asked him to forge the essence and I took it to look for the first time at my false identity. “Kathy Ramos,” I said as I looked at him with an eyebrow arched at him. “Your father wanted me to keep the initial but not the real one,” he said as he was packing his stuff into his bag. “Whatever you say, Tony,” I said as I went to put it into my bag. “Remember, even the guards don’t know you,” he said as he looked at me for the last time. “Don’t worry, I know how to survive,” I said before I went inside the waiting car that was out of date, not the usual get-up that I get but this will do. “Wait for me, sister, because I will never let this slip my mind even if the grave was calling my name,” I mumbled as I looked at my father’s castle standing on the mountain, glistening against the sunset. Aaron Remes’ POV “I can’t believe that you let our daughter go to prison. How will she ever survive that?” My wife screamed at me as we were in our private chamber. I was rubbing my temples before I pinched my nose. “You don’t think that I might be worried about her as well? She is my daughter too, you know,” I said as I looked at my wife. She has been pacing back and forth after what I decided to do to my oldest daughter. “It is for her good. She might be able to pick up some skills when she is in that prison,” I said as I was releasing my tie from my collar. “You think?! No, you did not think it when you released that order, and I, for one, don’t agree with that,” Inari said as she looked at me with her hands on her hips. I sighed as I knew what would be coming when she stood like that in front of me. “Inari, beloved, Kathleen is a smart kid. She can survive that prison. If she survived that terrible accident that put her twin in danger, she can survive that,” I said as I looked at her with authority. She cannot defy me if I put my command to work. She went to the window to look at the stormy night when snow was falling. “You think so?” She said as she turned to look at me. I closed my eyes before I sighed. “I know so,” I said as I took a dossier that I had been holding out for too long. “Have a look,” I said as I gave it to her. Inari looked into the files and she gasped as she looked at the picture that I had been hiding from her for so long, even before Kathleen was involved in this. “How? What happened?” She asked as she looked at me. “It has to be done. Kathleen would never win that fight, so I took the liberty to put her away for a while. But I also have something planned for her release,” I said as I took a photo of a young man that I think would be a great companion to Kathleen. I gave it to Inari and she looked at it. “Who’s this then?” She asked as she looked at me. I smiled as I put my hands behind my back and looked at Katherine playing with Chris, her future betrothed. “Our future son-in-law,” I said as I was smiling when the snow was falling heavily and the duo that was playing outside had gone inside the house. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m sure he will be the perfect suitor for Kathleen, don’t you think?” I said as I crossed my arms in front of my chest and I looked at my wife. “I don’t know, beloved. Maybe he’s bad news,” she said with worry in her voice. “Maybe, but only Kathleen can take him. Believe me,” I said as I looked outside the window about the time they would meet in the future. “Don’t you worry, I have made an arrangement with the Virtanen and they agreed to our plan,” I said, taking her hand. “The person himself?” She asked as I caressed her cheek. “He did, too, after seeing our daughter’s photo,” I said as I kissed her hands. “That’s good news. Oh, Kathleen, I hope you know what you’re doing, beloved,” Inari said as she looked deep into my eyes. “I hope so too, beloved. I hope so too,” I said as I hugged her to warm ourselves on the cold winter night.