Chapter 2
"Your honor, I motion to have this case dismissed, for the lack of any hard evidence against my client is just insulting." The lady lawyer squinted her eyes at the judge sitting before her scornfully, trying desperately to get her point across and be taken seriously.
Her name was Halle Mitchell: a short, pale, slender woman of twenty-three who towered over everyone at a whopping height of five-foot three-inches, who had the most gorgeous caramel-kissed, light brown hair that normally was swept over her left shoulder in a cascade of beautiful beach waves that blended with her bangs swept to the left side of her face. Her amber-brown eyes were considered to be the most fearsome, intimidating eyes a woman in any of the six kingdoms had ever been born with. She was well accessorized with a matching necklace and pair of earrings, and because of her fabulous style, her makeup was very well done, and her four inch black stilettos as her choice in shoes for the day were excellently decided to be worn with her outfit.
Today, this young woman, this lawyer, was dressed in a simple, deep purple, strapless, sweetheart-shaped dress that barely came down to her knees. Over top she had on a mature, black cardigan to cover her bare shoulders and to make her appear to be dressed more appropriately for the hearing she was currently at, and her gorgeous brown hair had been messily tucked up into a bun. Her fierce, sharp eyes were accented by a pair of thin, black-framed glasses that she had quickly thrown on this morning in a rush, not having the time to put in her contacts. Her vision wasn't that bad, but if she wanted to see sharper details of things twenty feet from her, she needed to wear her contacts.
"Your honor, if I may..." The opposing council rose from his chair, holding up a single finger as he addressed Judge Harlan. "You cannot dismiss this case so easily, given the evidence we have compiled against Ms. Mitchell's client." He sneered over at the lady lawyer, feeling bitter simply because she even dared to challenge his client's accusation against hers in attempt to get this case thrown out before it went to trial.
Judge Harlan impatiently rose his gavel to the two bickering lawyers. "Council, this is my office. Not the courthouse. If you two cannot stop bickering long enough to plead your case, I won't even bother to listen to another word," the older man adjusted his harsh glower from one lawyer to another.
"Your honor, any evidence the DA has against my client, Mr. Thomas, is purely circumstantial." Halle bowed her head slightly, respecting the judge's impatience.
"How is this circumstantial, Ms. Mitchell?" The judge squared his shoulders, not changing the even, serious look on his face for a single second.
Halle tried to resist the urge to allow the corners of her lips to stretch into a sinister grin at the sight of the judge's curiosity. "Sure, your honor, someone did, in fact, bash in Tammy Thomas' car with a baseball bat, but other than the discarded bat found at the scene, and an anonymous report of a man that looked similar to my client fleeing the scene from an unnamed eye witness, the DA has no hard evidence tying my client to the crime." The woman stood tall and proud and she fiercely began obliterating the DA's case against her client. "Yes, Tammy's soon-to-be-ex husband, my client Mr. Thomas, did, in fact, have the motive to smash up her car, given that Ms. Thomas has recently been seeing another man after she initiated the divorce, but my client has an alibi." Halle rose her chin up to meet the judge's face. "Mr. Thomas' boss can vouch for his whereabouts, and he assures that my client was golfing with him at the time of the crime."
The opposing council looked a little nervous at Ms. Mitchell's tough argument. "Your honor, Ms. Mitchell's client had the motive to destroy my client's car, not to mention the anonymous tip reporting a man similar to Mr. Thomas fleeing the scene." He placed a hand on his client's shoulder, directing the judge's attention to Tammy. "The damages to her vehicle cannot go unpaid."
"Do you have a recorded video of my client committing the crime?" Halle immediately interjected, stabbing her opposing council's argument with a sharp knife. "Unless you have something other than motive and circumstantial evidence, I highly doubt you can possibly prove my client is guilty of damaging Ms. Thomas' car." A bitter smirk found its way to her lips as she scoffed under her breath, rolling her eyes at her client's ridiculous excuse of an ex wife. "Even though they were barely two months separated when she started seeing someone else just to purposefully spite my client..."
"Objection!" The opposing council slammed his fist down on his bench. "Council is testifying!" He glared over at the judge to do something as he pointed a shaky finger at Halle.
"Withdrawn." Halle calmly held her hands up in the air defensively as she took a step back, backing off of her previous statement.
Judge Harlan sighed exasperatedly, slumping his shoulders as he took in one long, deep breath. "I'm inclined to agree with Ms. Mitchell: the evidence against Mr. Thomas is circumstantial." The judge glared over at the opposing council, unhappy that he wasted his time with such a flimsy case. "Council, I suggest you start looking for someone else to sue for the damages to your client's car, because this case is dismissed."
Halle's lips curled up into a bright grin as she watched the judge's gavel come into contact with his desk, ignoring her opposing council's jaw clattering to the floor suddenly from his hard loss as the loud bang of the gavel reverberated through the room.
Mr. Thomas rose from his chair with an intense look of relief on his face, and he sighed happily as he embraced his lawyer in a tight hug. "Oh my god, thank you, Halle!"
Halle chuckled slightly as she pulled away from her client, watching an angry former Mrs. Thomas storm out of the judge's office with her lawyer close behind her. "It was no trouble at all. I told you I could get this case dismissed before it went to trial, didn't I?" She smiled reassuringly at her client as she swung her black purse over her shoulder, turning to leave.
"I know it was a pain for you to travel all the way out to Charles to take my case, but..." Mr. Thomas smiled at his lawyer brightly, just as an innocent man proven just that, would. "Thank you."
"Any time." Halle nodded her head to him as she calmly strode out of the judge's office, clicking her high heels as she began to pick up her pace.
She had to walk a little faster and get out of here fairly quick. After all, if she wasted even a single second, she would miss her flight! A three hour, nonstop flight to Altaria? Oh joy, what a thing to look forward to...
But the poor girl had no idea just what kind of trouble she would run into shortly at the airport.
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One hour earlier, in Nobel Michel Castle...
Tonight, Nobel Michel Castle was hosting a grand, glorious party for all of the six kingdoms to attend, as well as the noblemen and women. In a room inside the castle gathered the six Princes, who were all hanging out with each other before the party tonight. The party was going to start in just two hours, and they already had a disaster on their hands.
"What do you mean she is not coming!?" Prince Joshua of Dres Van barked at his insignificant butler Jan, completely annoyed and enraged with his insubordination beyond belief.
An apologetic Jan remained calm and respectful on the outside in order to be polite towards his master. "I am sorry, your Highness. Mia, your escort for tonight, cancelled last-minute. Something about..."
The twenty-four-year-old narrowed his purple eyes at his butler, turning his head to the side. "I do not care what her excuse was." Prince Joshua impatiently snapped, cutting Jan off. "Just find me a new escort!" A low scoff reached Prince Joshua's ears, and the purple-haired prince spun quickly on his heel to face the chuckling Prince Glenn of Oriens. "And what about this is funny to you, Prince Glenn?"
"Nothing at all." The sarcastic, witty eighteen-year-old bitterly smiled at Prince Joshua, relaxing on the couch in his current sitting position. "I'm just thinking it will be rather hard to find someone within half an hour."
The blonde Prince with sharp blue eyes looked over at the flustered Prince Joshua, appearing to be very bored. "True... It is very late notice, and the lady would barely have any time to get ready and prepare herself. Not to mention finding her a dress to wear..."
Prince Joshua glared at the man who just spoke. "Well, do you have any better ideas, Prince Wilfred?"
The twenty-five-year-old from before looked off the side and away from Prince Joshua. "No. Not really."
"I'm sure we can find someone for you." A smiling man with purple eyes and shock-white hair placed a reassuring hand on Prince Joshua's shoulder. He was dressed in his country's formal attire that mainly consisted of red and blue, bearing Charles' crest proudly. "Try not to worry too much, Joshua."
"Try not to worry?" A scoff and an eye roll came from a spiky brown-haired Prince who appeared to have a permanent bitter attitude surrounding him. "Prince Edward, do not kid yourself. It would be completely embarrassing for Joshua to show up to this party alone, not to mention just how much it would harm his reputation."
Prince Joshua glared a thousand daggers at Liberty's Prince Keith, the one who had just spoken. "Which is why this matter needs to be resolved immediately. This is a complete waste of my time!" Prince Joshua tried to remain calm as he paced around the room, thinking both this party and this little "catastrophe" were a waste of his time.
Neither of these things had anything to do with him taking the throne, therefore making them a waste of the Dres Van Prince's precious, limited free time.
"Calm down, Josh!" Prince Joshua cringed when he felt Prince Roberto swing a carefree arm over his shoulders, smiling brightly at him. "We just have to find you a date real quick, and then this will all be over!"
Prince Joshua was annoyed by Altaria's Prince Roberto, unable to comprehend how the brown-haired, brown-eyed, twenty-five-year-old could act so childishly like he always did.
Jan quickly interjected in the conversation. "Your Highness, if I may..." He hesitantly rose a finger as he addressed Prince Joshua. "Perhaps you could call someone you already know?"
Prince Joshua just scoffed at what a ridiculous question that was. "And ask for a favor? Nonsense. I know no such woman who would agree to come on such short notice."
"Probably because you hate women and don't actually know any..." Prince Roberto coughed awkwardly under his breath, then quickly smiled apologetically when he met with Prince Joshua's angry glare. "I didn't say anything!" He quickly denied his statement, trying desperately not to laugh at how angry the Dres Van Prince was.
Prince Edward smiled and shook his head at the two. "Perhaps someone else in the room knows someone who could be here within the hour?" His wandering eyes landed on each of the other Princes, gauging their reactions.
Prince Glenn couldn't seem to think of anyone as he immediately gave up trying. Prince Keith looked like he was so bored with this useless conversation that he started tuning it out several minutes ago. Prince Wilfred appeared to be genuinely lost deep in thought trying to think of someone.
And Prince Roberto...
Prince Edward glanced at the Prince dressed in red, black, and white formal attire from his country, who seemed to have this look on his face that suggested he was hiding something. "Roberto, do you know of someone who could perhaps act as Joshua's escort for the evening?"
Prince Roberto squirmed slightly under Prince Edward's impossibly kind stare, looking at anything but the white-haired Prince. "Well, kinda, but..." He laughed awkwardly, running a hand through his light brown hair. "I'm just not sure how willing she'd be to do this favor for me."
Alberto, a tall, slender, stern man who was Prince Roberto's butler stood off to the side of the room, and he quirked one of his eyebrows when his Prince mentioned such a woman. He knew exactly who Prince Roberto was talking about, and he was already dreading what his Prince was about to do.
"Well, it's not like we have any other choice." Prince Joshua flashed Prince Roberto a hardened glare, crossing his arms over his white suit tightly. "Call her."
A nervous bead of sweat rolled down Prince Roberto's forehead as he reluctantly pulled out his cell phone. "Well, I can't do that, exactly..." He laughed a little as he began dialing the number of the airport. He was already dreading this.
Prince Glenn, the Prince with reddish-brown spiky hair and sharp eyes of the same color, looked over at Prince Roberto quizzically. "And why not?"
Prince Roberto held the cell phone up to his ear as he shot Prince Glenn a nervous smile. "Well, young Glenn, that is simply because she won't come."
A vein bulged from Prince Glenn's forehead at the "young Glenn" comment, but his insecurity about his age was quickly dismissed by Prince Joshua, who angrily turned to Prince Roberto. "If she will not come, then how are you going to get her here? And why would I even want to bother tolerating the presence of an inferior woman who would refuse such an invitation?"
"Because you have no other choice, Josh." Prince Roberto looked uncharacteristically serious as he glanced over at the grumpy Prince before he heard the airport suddenly pick up his call. "Oh, hi! Uh... Yeah. I would like to report a suspicious woman wandering around the airport with what looks like a bomb in her purse? Yeah, she's about five-foot three-inches tall, has pretty brown hair and eyes, and---"
The other five Princes stared at Prince Roberto in absolute shock as they witnessed the Altarian Prince commit a felony. He didn't seriously just do that, did he...?
"What are you doing!?" Prince Joshua snatched Prince Roberto's phone from him just as he finished the call, a little too late to stop him. "Faking a bomb threat is against the law!"
Prince Roberto chuckled nervously under his breath, patting Prince Joshua on the shoulder. "Well, Josh, I just got you a date for tonight's party!" He nervously stared down at the floor as his shoulders slumped. "Although she's probably going to kill me when she gets here in about...twenty minutes."
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So, this is kind of my take on Joshua's story from Voltage's Be My Princess game. As you can clearly see, both this plot and my main character are...a bit different. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this little intro chapter that introduces you to a majority of the characters! XD
Read, comment, vote, and enjoy!
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