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She had been given a little extra time to search for books while at the bookstore to find more legal books to go through. It was made very clear to her that she was to use this time to better herself, and she was not to throw this time away.
Though on the shelf sat a book that looked rather interesting. She passed it on the way back to where all the law books were kept. It looked far more vibrant and exciting, with illustrations even on the side.
It had beautiful horses on it. They looked so wonderful, so majestic.
So free.
Looking at them she could practically feel the wind blowing through her hair as she imagined herself on the back of one. She would look like some sort of princess nobly galloping on the back of her noble steed.
The book was snuck into her basket as she went and grabbed the books she had been sent to collect.
After that, she spent nights reading it over, cover to cover. She read it so many times she knew it about as well as she knew her law books. It was only one book, but she felt as though she was somewhat of an expert. She certainly knew a lot more than her younger brother. She bet he knew nothing of horses.
One day, her, Miles Edgeworth, and Papa were all out shopping together when they saw a horse drawn carriage move through the street.
“That must be a Friesian. You can tell because of its perfect black coat and wonderful mane,” she boasted.
Miles Edgeworth showed mild interest, looking at the horse in question. He clearly knew nothing . He didn’t even need to say anything, his expression had told her clearly that she had beaten him soundly.
“Why have you filled your head with such nonsense? For what purpose have you filled your head with useless factoids of even more useless beasts? Have you forgotten you’re a von Karma? Or have you come to your senses and realized you’re better suited for a life like Adette?”
Her Papa’s words hit hard. The relevance of her comment being true no longer mattered. It was foolish knowledge.
But she knew that when she picked up the book. It was a distraction. A von Karma didn’t get distracted, and they stayed focused on what mattered most.
Perfection.
The thought of being a little housewife to be married off to some other high profile family sat ill in her stomach. She could be a prosecutor. She would be the one to be Papa’s favourite.
She would be the one to succeed him.
But years passed, and the bright eyed days of her youth now started to change into something more focused, but more relaxed.
The years of chasing the backs of men were long behind her, and she was now a woman who stood on her own. Miles now ran his little district prosecutor’s office, and Papa now lies cold and disgraced in his grave. She could now confidently walk her own path, working internationally with Interpol and working to find the truth rather than some foolish notion of victory through guilty verdict.
Gone were the days where she’d pretend that perfection was obtainable, that victory would save her brother, and she was above a moment’s rest.
The last point was hard to refuse when it meant spending time in her girlfriend’s arms. The choice of show was seldom her own, but when it meant she got to see how cute and excited she got over the silly little fight scenes, it made it worth it.
On screen, she couldn’t help but notice the horses used for the scene. They were beautiful black horses with long golden manes.
“They must be decently trained at horseback riding to have chosen Black Forests. A Morgan would certainly be the better choice for beginning riders.” she said, before realizing that nobody cared about her foolish facts, and there was no purpose to knowing these things.
“Makes you wonder what this Black Forest is like. They have pretty horses, good ham, good cake. Basically everything anyone could ever want,” Maya mused, and Franziska wondered how much of that was genuine.
She could put thoughts of a genuine trip the two could take on hold for later.
But Maya cut in before she could say anything. “Sorry, you were telling me smart things about horses and I got distracted by Black Forest.”
Franziska couldn’t help but blink. “You honestly want me to continue with foolish thoughts of horses?”
“I don’t think it’s foolish, I didn’t even know horses had breeds like that,” she paused. “Wait I know there’s a bean one, and the tall boys with socks!”
“You mean Pintos and Clydesdales?” Franziska asked. It wasn’t as if she didn’t trust her girlfriend, but she wasn’t completely convinced that this wasn’t some sort of elaborate ruse to make her look like a fool.
“Yeah! Those are the ones. Are those good riding horses?”
“Surely you don’t intend to listen to me talk about something as foolish as that.”
Maya huffed, pouting down at her. “I don’t get to see you get all excited about stuff a lot. Plus it’s important to you, so who cares about what other people say?”
“You are also important to me, Ms. Maya Fey. I do not wish to waste your time with foolish things.”
“You’re wrong if you think you can out stubborn me, Ziska,” she huffed again. “If I’m important, what I want must be important too. And I wanna see my girlfriend get all cute talking about horses!”
Franziska could feel her face burn. She was no stranger to compliments, but compliments of this nature were still foreign to her. “I suppose I could talk about them a little, though I must warn you I am no expert on them.”
“I’m not asking you to be an expert, I just like seeing you talk about them. You can’t give me a hint of excitement and then take it away like that. That’s just mean.”
She’d concede that she did have a point. This did fall into her ongoing endeavor of straying away from perfection.
The thought of talking about her foolish little horses alone brought a feeling she felt a lot when she was with Maya Fey. Though now it took her back to a bookstore in Germany back when she was a little girl. After all this time she had finally figured out what it was she felt.
Free.
“Very well, I suppose I can share what precious little I know with you.”