CHAPTER 21

After a while, they had made their way back into the apartment. They walked in the find Pesu waiting for them, slobbering all over the place. The large dog walked right up to Franziska and began drooling on her; "M-Miles Edgeworth! Does this dog ever drool on anyone besides me?" He let out a hearty laugh. "No." He didn't add anything after that, it was just a no.

She sneered at the large, white dog; by no means did she like this revolting creature; she merely dealt with it because of Miles' affection towards it. Edgeworth snapped his fingers, signaling the large dog to go over to him. With that, she made her way towards the dinner table to look over the binder containing notes and information for tomorrow's case; she immediately noticed how he had been able to subpeona Mick Vick; she found this intriguing.

"How did you..." He was making tea; he poured his cup and took a sip before he spoke. "He's the one who stabbed de Killer in the back and got him arrested, and de Killer doesn't even know it was his own client who was responsible for his arrest. I'm hoping Wright can blow this guy's testimony apart; he's a really good liar, but I was able to subpeona him due to his involvement in the arrest. When de Killer sees this man, his own client, testifying against him, betraying him..." Franziska didn't even need him to finish his sentence before she understood what he meant.

"...I see. It'll end up like what happened with Matt Engarde 2 years ago, except with the assassin as the defendant and the client as the witness." He tapped his forehead in thought. "Precisely."

She found a flaw in his logic, though; "...but what if he doesn't show up? He's not foolish enough to testify against the man he hired to murder someone." He pondered this for a second; "...You're right. But I doubt he can escape the law's grip for very long; we'd be able find him soon enough..." This answer worried her. "I hope you're right, Miles Edgeworth."

He was very confident; "I know by having him testify, we'll bring both him and de Killer down, saving Pearl Fey and freeing Mike Meekins of false charges. I do believe we are ready for this trial tomorrow, don't you?" She nodded in agreement, but still thought his confidence to be unfounded and had her doubts about the next day. She quickly changed the subject to a more bright one to avoid arguing with him; "Engagement ring."

He almost spilt his tea onto his lap at this unexpected change of pace; "Wh-what? You want an engagement ring...?"

She blushed and grabbed her right shoulder as she looked into her lap; "Y-yes...isn't that what people to be married have? E-Engagement rings?" I should've changed it into a better subject, now I just look spoiled rotten...

He smiled and set his tea on the table; the sun shining through the window in the living room behind her revealed a bright side to his face. "Yes, it is. We'll go out for lunch, and after we're done, I'll take you to a jeweler and you can pick out our rings. How's that sound to you, Franziska?" She held her free left hand over her mouth to conceal a smile; she was currently holding her whip in her right hand. She didn't really want to ask for a ring; she was kind of hoping he'd surprise her with one. None the less, she was happy with the outcome.

By the time lunchtime came around, however, she was unhappy with this. He could be more romantic with the way he's giving me an engagment ring. It's not too troubling to make this special for both of us, is it?

They both agreed to stop at the Corner Bistro for their lunch, and she let it be known she was unhappy through her silence over the meal; he seemed unphased by this. She thought about lashing him with her whip, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. It didn't even bother him anymore, anyways.

After they were done eating, he pulled up to a large jewelry store, Grossberg Jewlers, with a sign that said closed on the door. She couldn't stand this anymore. "Miles, this store is closed!" He smirked as he got out of the car to open her door for her. She was tugging on her whip by now, furious at this man's lack of romantic knowledge. He opened the door to a dark room; "We're breaking and entering now, aren't we?" She said sarcastically. He was still unphased by this.

All of a sudden, she heard an old man clearing his throat rather loudly. "Ahh, Mr. Edgeworth, I've been expecting you. You're a bit late, don't you think?" He replied in confidence; "Sorry, Mr. Grossberg. It won't be a problem again...trust me." With that, the lights came on, causing aisles cases of jewelry to shimmer in the bright lights of the ceiling above. She let out a gasp, and Edgeworth spoke up "Mr. Manny Grossberg is the owner of this store, which is considered to be one of the most luxurious and high quality jewelry stores in the world...I felt it fitting that a woman like you get to pick our rings out from a store of this quality..." She blushed. "They're only open once a week, but Mr. Grossberg was kind enough to let me rent out the store for today." The over-the-top throat clearing surfaced once more; "Ahh, Edgeworth, don't be so humble. Ms. von Karma, I think you should know I only opened this store for you two because Mr. Edgeworth paid a day's quota out of his own pocket. You really should be thanking him."

She couldn't take it; she walked over to him and looked up with a tear in her eye. "Y-you...you did all of this...for me?" He wrapped his arms around her waist and looked down with a smile; "Of course. You're worth more to me than the cost of this, Franziska." She dropped her whip and hugged him back. The throat clearing sounded once more; "I'mby no means rushing you, but I just would like two to know that you have all the time you need. Oh, and Ms. von Karma?" She looked over at him.

"...if you ever happen to meet my older brother, Marvin, in court, please don't hurt him to badly with that whip...I've heard you can be quite dangerous with it." He said this jokingly, but his face read absolute seriousness.

She gave him a small smile back; "...no one's safe from my whip, Mr. Grossberg. No one."

He looked down to where his circular glasses fell off of hs eyes; "Oh dear."

With that, Miles led her up and down the aisles, holding her close as she ooed and awwed over all of the jewelry in the store; the jewelry in the display cases was far more luxurious and expensive than anything she had ever seen in her life, and Miles was giving her choose any two rings she wanted. She knew that he was going to wear one too to fulfill her desire of doing this the traditional German way of both partners wearing a ring, rather than just her wearing one.

She made her choice of a pair of platinum rings with four small diamonds cut to form the shape of one regular diamond. Mr. Grossberg came and got them out of the display case, and Miles purchased them.

Before they left the store, Miles picked her left hand up and removed the leather glove she had put on it; she knew that he knew she was so uncoordinated with her right hand that she'd probably accidentally break it somehow if it were to be put on the right hand; with anyone else, she would be angry with these assumptions; but with him, she admitted that is was the truth with her thoughts. He slid the ring onto her finger, and it fit perfectly; she looked up at it after he was done, and she started to shed tears of utter happiness, and nothing else. She hugged him with a smile, and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head; "And to think...you thought I wasn't being romantic at all 20 minutes ago."

She looked up at him for a moment, and then stood on her tip-toes to reach up and peck his lips before they left the store hand in hand.