CHAPTER 6

Miles Edgeworth awoke in bed like every other morning. However, he knew very well that this was not like every other morning. He quickly got dressed to meet his mentor, prosecuting god Manfred von Karma, downstairs to go over the trial today, as he was to listen in on the trial as a learning experience. Miles Edgeworth also knew, however, that wasn't the only big thing happening to him that day.

He was returning to America to attend law school later that very evening.

With Mr. von Karma's tutelage (and, Miles expected some of his mentor's pull to be involved as well) he had obtained his undergraduate's degree at the age of 18, when most students his age were just now receiving their high school diplomas. He felt bad for leaving Franziska behind, knowing that he was probably the only person she had in the world right now, but he had to do what had to be done. He had to go back to America to figure out the entire truth of the incident that happened 8 years ago...what had really happened in that elevator that day, and he didn't care if it took him the rest of his life; he was going to find the truth.

He walked down the stairs on this dark, gloomy morning to find Manfred von Karma reading the newspaper of a cup of the blackest coffee money could buy. Perhaps, Miles thought, if the only kind of coffee we had in this house wasn't so strong and bitter, I would be drinking that instead of tea.

Manfred von Karma immediately looked up from his newspaper when Miles had finished his thought, as if he had read his mind just then. He snapped; "Don't let your mind wonder like weak, pathetic fool, boy. You need to be absolutely and perfectly prepared for the trial today, whether you're prosecuting it or not. No disciple of mine will be imperfect, no matter what, and trust me, boy, you could use the learning experience of witnessing a perfect trial for future reference." The last words he spoke had a sinister twist to them.

Miles simply bowed in agreement. "Understood, sir." With that, his mentor interrogated him about every single aspect of the trial, down to every dotted i and crossed t. When Miles Edgeworth gave him every single detail of the trial in perfect form, Manfred finally felt ready to go. As they walked out of the car, Miles decided to bring up something he saw in the case file that bothered him. "Excuse me, sir." Manfred looked over his car's hood with an expression of malicious interest in what Miles had to say. "There's one thing that bothered me in the report; the murder weapon had two sets of fingerprints on it, and one of them belonged to a witness you prepared yourself."

Manfred snapped his fingers at the young man once more; "A prosecutor's soul purpose is to find the defendant guilty. No more, no less, and I expect a member of the house of von Karma to understand that much, plus the fact that not doing so is entirely unacceptable. Do I make myself clear, boy?"

"Yes, sir." Manfred let out a "Hmph." and entered his car, followed by Edgeworth entering through the passenger seat.

When they arrived at court, Manfred told Edgeworth to sit at the front of the gallery, and that he would be personally inspecting the boy's notes after the trial. Miles simply gave the response he felt obliged to give, but not out of respect, instead, out of fear; "Understood, sir."

Miles sat in the gallery, taking notes over every last detail on the trial, and having a seperate page beside it for Mr. von Karma's behavior and attitude alone. As he watched the young defense attorney falter at the defense's bench across from a completely control Manfred von Karma. Although the witness he had prepared slipped up several times, implicating himself as the murderer, Manfred quickly had these things stricken from the record. When the judge announced the guilty verdict at the end of the trial, the defendant, a woman who appeared to be no older than Miles himself, had to be carried away by the bailiff, screaming her innocence in tears. Miles felt he had no choice but to simply ignore this outburst.

After court was dismissed, Manfred had packed up his belongings in his suitcase and made his way over to Miles to inspect his notes, as he had said he was to do so before the case. Miles saw the dark shadow hanging over him with an outstreched hand as he put the finishing touches on his notes over the trial. He handed his mentor the notes. "I believe you will find everything to be in the proper order, sir." Manfred disregarded what the young man had to say as he read his notes, his eyes combing through every details, as if he were simply trying to find any and all imperfections rather than notice Miles' incredibly competent and well-organized notes.

"Very good, Miles. Now let us go. I believe you have some packing to do." Miles bowed before him again; "Yes, sir." They left the courthouse and got to Manfred's luxury sedan, and rode back to the manor in complete and utter silence.

As soon as they entered the manor, Miles began to pack his belongings into his suitcase for the trip back to America; one he would not be returning from. Franziska walked into his room for their daily reading session, but noticed he had packed all of his belongings. "Miles Edgeworth. Why are all of your possesion packed up?" Miles sat down on the bed, and told Franziska about how he would be leaving for America; not to be returning. He could see the anger and sadness building up inside of Franziska, along with the tears building up in her eyes; SMACK! "But little brother! You are a member of the house of von Karma! You must stay here, and prosecute in Germany!" Miles closed his eyes, as he felt the feeling of sadness building up inside of him as well. "I'm sorry, Franziska. That's just not in the cards for me." Before Franziska could hit him with her riding crop again, he pulled out a small box out from under his bed with the words To Franziska written on it; "Here. I want you to have this before I leave." Franziska opened up the box and began to cry warm tears; First she pulled out Miles' Captain America flashlight, followed by the book they were reading together at the time, then the picture of him and his father fishing. Finally, she began to shake as she pulled out the final item; the first book they read together. "The Call of the Wild..." She reached over towards Miles' coat and began drying her eyes on it. "But little brother...you can't leave me here..." Miles heard Alfred call from down the hall; "Master Edgeworth, I am to take you to the airport now for your flight. Please be completely ready. I will be waiting for you downstairs." Franziska blew her nose onto his jacket as he stood up, suitcase in tow. As he walked towards the door, Franziska fell onto her knees.

"Miles Edgeworth..." she said as she fought back the tears and tried to keep her speech coherent; "If you leave me here...I will never forgive you...I will hate you for the rest of my life."

Miles simply turned back, trying to remain as apathetic and professional as possible. "I'm sorry to hear that, Franziska."

And with that, he left the little girl crying on the floor, alone in the empty, unfurnished room that used to belong to him, shedding a single tear as he made his exit from the place he called home for the past 8 years.