CHAPTER 3

Franziska went over the pajamas that were laid out on her bed by the butler; although she liked the light blue primary color with dark blue polka dots, that was not what she was looking at. She wanted to make sure that the foolish old butler had laid out her pajamas to her specifactions. Next, she went to her bathroom to see if the butler had set out her toothbrush and toothpaste like she wanted; she noted the toothbrush was on the right side. "ALFRED!" An elderly old man in a tuxedo bumbled his way into the room. "Yes, Ms. Franziska?"

SMACK! "Tell me, Alfred, what hand am I holding my riding crop in?"

The butler held his head down in shame. "Your left, Ms. Franziska." SMACK! "And what side of the sink is my toothbrush on?" Alfred seemed more and more humiliated and degraded with his response this time; "The right side, Ms. Franziska." SMACK! SMACK! The old gentleman hurredly switched the toothbrush over to the opposite side of the sink and assisted Franziska in moving her stepping stool over in front of the mirror so she could see her reflection as she brushed her teeth. Franziska then dismissed the longtime family butler after she had finished; "Thank you, Alfred. You are excused." Alfred quickly made his way out of the rather intimidating 7 year old's room.

As Franziska laid down in bed with her riding crop beside her, she couldn't help but wonder what her brother was doing in the room down the hall; her room was at the front of the top floor hallway while Miles' at the back; she hated to admit it, but she enjoyed every second she was with him ever since she could remember him in her life. She knew he only looked at her as a younger sibling, and wouldn't have any interest in her anyways, as he was 8 years her senior. Franziska then felt proud of herself as she turned off the lamp in her room. Oh, Franziska. 7 years old and making better deductions than the family butler.

She awoke the next morning and got dressed in her usual outfit and made her way down the stairs to wait for school to start. She was always at school before Miles, but today was the day she especially enjoyed; she and Miles did the mandatory school work of Math, Science, Reading, Writing, and History. Both she and Miles excelled in these subjects, although the tutor didn't give them the same assignments, unlike her father. He gave Franziska the work a 10-year old would be doing and gave Miles the work an 18-year old would be doing. She loved this school work, however. It wasn't as pressure-filled and demanding as her papa's assignments.

Miles Edgeworth was a little over a minute late. SMACK! As usual, Miles just rubbed his shoulder and bid Franziska a good morning. The tutor (Franziska really never had the desire to learn the man's name) was a rather large man, and was quite sweaty. He had but a small tuft of light brown hair atop his head and a glaring shine around it, along with a pair of small round glasses concealing his eyes. He prepared their assignments as the family servants brought Miles and Franziska a breakfast of eggs and toast with their usual beverages along with them. Franziska wished she could drink tea like Miles; but her papa wouldn't allow it at her age.

After they finished their breakfast, the large man greeted them in his booming voice; "Greetings, Miles! Greetings, Franziska! Are you ready for school today?" SMACK! "A-ah!"

Franziska didn't think she had time for stupid questions; "No. We are just sitting here with our pencils and our books." The stout man let out a laughter that seemed to work it's way up from his gut; "Oh hoh hoh! You're always on top of things, aren't you, Franziska?" With that, he passed out their assignments and began playingon his computer in case one of them had a question, although they never did.

As the day passed by, both children began dishing out 100s on their assignments until everything was all done a little ways after lunch. Franziska did enjoy the simple work and the usually early time of dismissal, but her favorite part of these days was going around to the eastern side of the manor in order to help Ms. Maria care for the family vegetable garden. As soon as she got out of school, Franziska grabbed her sun bonnet and made her way over to the garden where Ms. Maria was waiting for her before she started. Maria was a short, stocky woman of hispanic descent with short reddish-black hair and a pair of rather large framed glasses; Franziska felt as if she was the only one of the family's workers she could tolerate.

As both women made their way through the large garden, Franziska watched Ms. Maria care for the plants and carried the basket she placed the weeds she pulled out in directly in front of her while she held her riding crop at the same time. Maria was always a smiling woman who often complimented Franziska and acted as if the young child never got in the way of her job, always welcoming her to the garden whenever she pleased and, on days like this, never started until Franziska had arrived. However, Franziska's favorite thing about Ms. Maria was that she cared for the garden and it's plants to absolute perfection that a von Karma such as herself would be proud of.

They walked along each aisle of plants; Franziska's favorite ones were always the turnips, and since they grew at a quicker rate than most of the other plants, Maria would sometimes pull one out of the ground and let her keep it as long as Franziska promised to wash it off well before she ate it. A grin came over her face as Maria handed her a turnip; Miles may think it's weird how I eat these raw, but I just like them so much...

After following Maria around the garden until she was done for the day, Franziska quickly hung her sun bonnet on the hat rack and washed up in order for her daily trip to Miles' room. She slowly walked up the stairs, although she wanted to run, so that way Miles would not pick up on her excitement from the sounds of her feet stomping on the hollow staircase; she had made that mistake once, and she did not plan on making it again.

She walked into her adopted brother's room to see him reading a large book whose cover read Where the Red Fern Grows. She approached an unaware Edgeworth and sent him a cold greeting; "Hello, Miles Edgeworth." He placed his finger on the sentence he stopped on and placed his bookmark, a picture of him and his father, on the page so he could shut the book. "Hey, Franziska. How may I help you today." SMACK! "Don't ask questions you already know the answers to, Miles Edgeworth. My papa taught me that." Edgeworth did as he usually did, reciting the tales of him and his friends adventures. Franziska longed for friends like he had, sure; but the real reason she had come up to his room everyday was for the conversation between the two of them it provided.

After he was done, Franziska bid him her farewell and left the room. She retired to her room to study up on the law; she couldn't handle disappointing her father, so she was determined to become an even better prosecutor than he was, although she knew that this was unlikely. Nighttime came around, and Franziska went through her usual nightly yelling at Alfred and laid down in bed with her riding crop by her side. However, this night would turn into the nights Franziska feared most: a thunderstorm.

As she closed her eyes to go to bed, the booming sound of thunder spread through her house and through her room; she opened her eyes and sat up with a gasp, only to find herself staring at the closed door in her incredibly dark room. The sound of thunder crashing continued; this was the worst storm she had ever experienced in her life. She couldn't handle being alone anymore; she got out of bed and started towards Miles' room.

As she made her way to the door, however, an especially loud clap of thunder struck through her house; this startled her, causing her to drop her riding crop on to the pitch-black floor. Frantically, she got down on her hands and knees and searched for as she fought back tears of fear and self-doubt; thunder struck again, causing her to let out a small yelp. Quickly, she got up and ran towards Miles' room, leaving her riding crop behind.

She ran into Edgeworth's room to find him sitting up in his bed; "Franziska, I heard you running down the hall; is everything alright?" She ran up to him and hugged him tight as she was sobbing. "Miles Edgeworth! I...I...dropped my r-riding crop!" Miles hugged back and patted her on the back as she cried as an older brother would do; "Here. You can stay in my room tonight." He moved over to make room for her on his bed. Franziska was reluctant at first, but realized this was the only way she'd be able to get any sleep tonight. She let out a sniffle; "O-ok." and proceeded to lay down beside her brother in his bed. He had scooted over to the edge of his bed and left her with most of the blankets. It was when she noticed this that Franziska realized how grateful she was to have an older brother like Miles Edgeworth.