Summary: Miles Edgeworth visits his former mentor in the Detention Center for answers about the setup murder at Gourd Lake and DL-6. The very question that he wants to know, more than anything, is if Manfred Von Karma did love and care about him, even if the answer is more painful than believing he never did.

"Mr. Edgeworth, he's ready. You may go inside the Detention Center for visiting hours," the guard announced to Edgeworth, who was waiting, sitting in one of the benches inside the lobby.

"Thank you," Edgeworth replied.

Edgeworth got up from the bench, then made his way inside the Detention Center. It had been about two and a half months since the last he saw this man face to face. He never wanted to see this man's face ever again after what happened and he still didn't want to see him. Though, even Edgeworth had to admit that if it weren't for this man, he would have already died by his own hands long ago. He couldn't ignore the doubts lingering in his mind.

Opening his eyes, Edgeworth saw the man that had changed his life, then tried to ruin it, Manfred Von Karma. He was sitting on the other side of the glass with his usual prideful crossed arms and glare. Edgeworth took his seat as he was met with that glare staring right at him.

"I wasn't expecting to see you of all people. Have you come here to laugh at my defeat?" Manfred asked with venom in his voice.

"Drop the act, Mr. Von Karma. I came here to ask a few questions and no more," Edgeworth said, folding his own arms.

"Well, don't beat around the bush, Miles. Ask your foolish questions!"

"... why did you set me up?" Edgeworth finally asked. It was a simple question, but it had plagued him, since December.

"Why? What kind of foolish question is that? I killed your father and I needed someone to be convinced under those charges in my stead!" Manfred replied without skipping a beat. He snapped his finger. "No more."

"I might be naive enough to follow a corrupt man that forges evidence for a living, but if that were the case, why not set me up during the time I was the most vulnerable? Why wait until the stature of limitation was only a few days away from being completed? Also, DL-6 would not have been brought back had I not confessed. I'm certain you intended on getting rid of Robert Hammond to keep me from the truth, but I refuse to believe you had planned to take me in as your disciple, and plan the setup in three whole years prier."

"You are naive and foolish. Of course I had planned it, even down to taking you in as my disciple. I knew taking your father's life wasn't enough and thus I had taken what he treasured most and turned him into the very thing he hated before convicting him of murder."

"At the last day after gaining your first Not Guilty verdict by the hands of a rookie attorney when the statute of limitation would be over the next day? I don't believe it. Me confessing my nightmare wasn't even in your plan, only something you acted upon. You killed my father over a mere penalty and you expect me to believe you would sacrifice your 40 year win streak of Guilty verdicts just to get me to confess to the court that I killed my father? If that was your plan, why not do it ages ago? You knew of my nightmare then. I lived under your stewardship since I was 17!"

"Hmph!"

"If that wasn't enough, I'm also one of your two successors. Why plan to ruin one of your own successors? I wasn't your Cinderella and you certainly aren't my evil step father!" Edgeworth questioned Manfred, who now was starting to sweat, grabbing his shoulder where he was shot 15 years ago. "The moment I entered your office, you have taken me under your wing, cared for me and even paid for my medical treatments. I looked up to you, did everything you told me down to a T, never argued or questioned you and even look after Franziska when we were going to the same Academy in Germany. If you plan on convincing me this setup was planned from the beginning, you better have a more convincing excuse than that.

"If you truly were going to use me against my father to hurt him in the worst possible way, I would've been the one with the bullet in my heart 15 years ago. I know how you work, Von Karma! I've watched you interrogate the defendants you prosecute against using their loved ones, especially their own blood children. Being a father and grandfather yourself, you know that nothing hurts a parent more than having their children be hurt and being too helpless to do anything about it. You can't hurt my father, if he's dead. Even if I was to believe that you believed in spirits like Wright and his Fey assistant, I'd think you would've come with a better tactic than taking me in and caring for me before figuratively stabbing me in the back."

"So, you think there's an alternative reason. And, what makes you think I would just confess it? I am behind bars after all?" Manfred asked, showing his usual smirk.

"... one question has been bothering me for a while. I have been wondering how you gained the knowledge of my nightmare. Wright knows, because I told him in the Defendant's Lobby, but you were nowhere near there and the room is completely soundproof. You told me you knew at the Interrogation Room, but you never answered how you came to know this knowledge. Fortunately, I can think of one other person you could've gained this knowledge from, but the truth of it terrifies me of what I might learn. Nonetheless, I want to know the truth."

"..."

"Did you get this information from Redd White?"

"Who is this White man? Never heard of him."

"Technically, he's not white, but he's a man known for his extraordinary blackmailing tactics. He's blackmailed every person involved in DL-6, including myself," Edgeworth explained, showing a hint of a smirk as Manfred continued to frown, close his eyes and cross his arms, while clutching his sleeve. "If he somehow knew you were involved in DL-6, perhaps even someone you hired to cover your guilt, you would have gained information about my nightmare. Redd White could've known from hacking into my medical records of my previous talks with my psychiatrist. You might've even have known about it from the beginning."

"What of it? He was arrested before I was. I couldn't have contacted him."

"Prisons have phone service they can use for limited time and letters they can send to loved ones or someone they know."

"There you go, acting as foolish as your father always was-"

"I haven't acted anything like my father in the years I have been under your stewardship!"

"You really believe that, Miles? The moment we first met, I could see your father's face plastered onto your foolish face. If I was to add spectacles, you could easily pass as his twin. Even the way you bulldoze into investigations stubbornly in order to find the truth is the spitting image of your foolish father. You're still doing it now and, just like your foolish father, you won't give up until you're satisfied."

"Yet, you considered me your best disciple and favorite, according to Franziska. I might be stubborn and bulldoze my way into investigations, but right now I'm tired. I'm tired of being lied to and having those lies hide me from the truth. You have been lying tome from the moment we met. You took me in, taught me everything you knew about prosecution, made me your heir, paid for my medical appointments, praised me continually for my work, and now suddenly you decide to stab me in the back in order to cover for yourself. If I was the naive greenhorn from three years ago, I would've believed and even hated you. But, in all the years I've known you, I know for a fact that when you want something done, you will make sure it gets done one way or another. More than that... I know despite your cold hard facade, you are capable of love and compassion. I would've taken my own life, if it weren't for you. The moment I wrote that suicide note, you dragged me to the hospital. Don't tell me for a single second that you planned to hurt me or use me to hurt my father."

"What makes you think this foolish truth will help you? The truth hurts, Miles. It's not merciful."

"I don't care if it hurts! If it hurts, then at least I can move on and I won't have to question why all of this is happening to me! I won't have to feel like the foolish fool you so call me, because I chose to follow a vindictive murderer who took away my father, ruined my life and tried to set me up because I was too foolish to realize that he never loved or cared about me! Worse, I was actually foolish enough to look to him as my father and guide, so I may have a reason to live!" Edgeworth shouted, pounding against the glass wall, closing his eyes shut to keep the painful tears from pouring out. He never saw Manfred's reaction.

Edgeworth realized what he just said, the very thing he never wanted to say or admit. Even after all of this, he still saw Manfred Von Karma as his second father. How could he not? He was the man that cared for him, took him in, accepted him as a part of his family, taught him all he knew about prosecution and trusted him to look after his youngest daughter. It was this very reason why he didn't want to face his former mentor.

"You want the truth, the painful truth?" Manfred finally asked in his voice devoid of emotion. He wasn't smirking this time. "I do love and care about you. You're like the son I never had."

"... Then... why...?"

"That's the painful part, isn't it? Knowing that this man, who loved and cared for you would still ruin you the way he would, but that is the truth. It's just as painful as knowing the boy I loved was the boy I had ruined by taking away his father. Watching him grow up with pain that lingers in his eyes, even to this day, wishing his own death, developing panic attacks whenever an earthquake hits or when he's near an elevator, perhaps watching his hand shake whenever he picks up a gun or scream every night from nightly nightmares that will never go away. Do you have any idea how much suffering you've put me through, Miles Edgeworth!? Yet, perhaps that is your father's punishment for me, my own karma," Manfred said, showing a bitter smirk behind the painful smile. "I wanted to crush it. I wanted to crush that suffering you placed inside me. So, I made you my heir, I taught you all I knew, I took care of you the best I could. I did everything to make the suffering disappear, but your father's spirit is unforgiving. I am perfect in every way, but I could not heal your soul. It's good I didn't adopt you, because I failed to make you my perfect heir. Even now, you're still suffering."

Edgeworth didn't realize until that moment, but he had been crying tears the entire time of hearing his former mentor confess. Everything that he heard he knew was the truth. He took the handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the tears. Manfred turned his face away, his glare hardened.

"You should leave and once you do, I never want to see your face. You've caused me enough heartache as it is."

"You're a coward, Von Karma. The pain you feel is guilt. You're so prideful, you can't even stand to apologize."

"..."

"Why did you set me up?"

"... Redd White had connections with a former boss of mine. That former boss has many connections in the legal system. Redd White did cover up my crime, but it wasn't for me, it was for my former boss. He knew what I did and used that blackmail over my head. Though, he didn't need to. That former boss of mine also knows where my family lives and, as I said, he has connections. If I didn't do what he said...."

"Your daughters and grandchildren would pay the price. Who is your former boss?"

"That, you will have to find out for yourself. If you are as foolish as your father, you will find out. Compared to me, now that DL-6 is solved, you can't be touched. Unfortunately, even now behind these bars, my former boss can still hang many blackmails over my head. It's the same for Franziska. I never wanted her to be my heir, Miles."

"..."

"My crime caused you great pain. That is my biggest regret. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Edgeworth whispered, nodding. "I can find the one putting these blackmails on you, but not like this, not with the perfect Von Karma teachings. I understand now that in order to achieve perfection, I would need to extort to criminal behavior and I don't want that. I want to do this fairly or else I will end up like you, Lana Skye and Detective Gant, in prison."

"Oh? And, how do you plan to do that, foolish boy?" Manfred asked, returning back to his prideful stance.

"..."

"I see. You can't act foolish by disregarding all my teachings. That is foolish behavior. You know the answer to your foolish problem, Miles."

"If I'm stuck on something, return to the basics."

"Exactly," Manfred smirked devilishly.

"I never said I'd dismiss all of them, just the perfect ones."

"Call this number," Manfred said, getting out a piece of paper and jotting down a number with Amano on the front. "You can stay with him and he will provide everything you need to get you to the best legal academy." He gave the number to Edgeworth, who took it before giving a bow.

"Thank you, Mr. Von Karma."

"One more thing."

"Yes?" Edgeworth asked just when he was about to head out.

"Franziska. Before you leave, make sure she pays me a visit."

"Sure," Edgeworth replied with his signature smirk before finally leaving.

"Alright sir, time to leave," the guard ordered, leading Manfred from the Detection Center and on his way to his cell.

For some reason, Manfred felt lighter and mellow. It seemed that Edgeworth's reaction didn't make him feel sick like it often did. He never apologized to anyone in his life, but doing it and knowing Edgeworth forgave him when he didn't deserve it made things better. Perhaps telling the truth wasn't as painful as he thought. Though, Manfred would never admit that to anyone.

A/N: I kinda did this kind of take better in Turnabout Enemies, but I still thought this was an interesting one. Ever since playing Miles Edgeworth Investigations 2, I no longer consider Manfred Von Karma as purely evil as intended at the beginning. He's probably the most gray character in the AA series. Even in the anime, it seemed like Manfred Von Karma did care for Edgeworth a lot. I did sorta hint that in an earlier one shot.