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He’d been sitting in the detention centre for almost a day when his second visitor arrived.
The first visitor had been Wright and Miles felt hatred boil inside of him at the sight of his rival. He’d thought, he’d hoped, that he would be above mockery. That way he could save his dignity too, since Wright wouldn’t see what a horrid state he’d fallen into.
But he did come. And the fool even wanted to defend him. Miles immediately turned him down, of course. The last thing he needed was Phoenix Wright getting involved in his hopeless case.
So he was in a particularly foul mood when he was informed that he had yet another visitor. Miles very nearly refused to see them, but ultimately decided that he didn’t want to doom his defence even further. Once he saw who it was, however, he wished he’d gone with his first instinct.
Manfred Von Karma.
His mentor glared at him through the glass, his thick white eyebrows furrowed in utter disgust. Miles felt himself slowly lose all resolve.
“S-Sir,” he began in a desperate attempt to explain, but Von Karma held up his hand to silence him.
“Don’t speak until you’re spoken to, boy.” He growled. Miles had to stop himself from apologising.
“I thought better of you.” He continued with a frown. “I took you in and fixed the mess that Gregory Edgeworth had made of you. I raised you as my own. And this is how you repay me?! Petty revenge through murder?”
Miles tried to hide his shaking as his anger grew. “I did not kill him, Sir!”
“The evidence all points towards you, Edgeworth.” Von Karma replied calmly and… smugly? “And the evidence never lies so, frankly, I don’t believe you.”
It hurt Miles to think that his own mentor, his father figure would think of him in such a way. Miles was prepared to drop everything for Von Karma, the best of the best when it came to prosecutors, while the other refused to even hear his side of the story.
“Could you at least get someone like Payne to prosecute, please?” He asked, though all his hope felt like it was draining away. “So I could at least stand a chance?”
Von Karma laughed. It was a rattling, evil sound that made Miles wish he could rip his own heart out to prevent himself from being on the receiving end. Because it was aimed at him. Because this was all his fault.
“No, Edgeworth,” his mentor snarled, “I will be prosecuting your case. And I shall be relentless. The law is blind to relationships, and you were never my son. I will make sure that poor soul you murdered will get justice.”
He leaned closer to the glass and whispered so quietly that Miles struggled to pick it up. “And we both know who really killed your father. I will be getting justice for him too.”
Each word felt like Miles was being stabbed in the heart. He choked back a sob, unable to find the words to respond.
“I’ll see you in court, Edgeworth.” Von Karma said, before hailing the guard inside the cell to alert him that they were done talking.
Miles didn’t wait a second to rush out of the room and away from the man as soon as he could, broken by his betrayal.
Had he waited just a moment longer however, he would have heard that devilish laughter again, though that time it was a murderer’s laugh of triumph.