Andrea Valenti was perfectly used to the crushing weight of defending the crimes of the Crown. Many of her former colleagues, those who had begun at the same pace as her, and then left, to do righteous, good work, had speculated that Andrea lacked a conscience, or, perhaps even more tragically, a heart.

Her father was a Kingsguard, Sir Ander, and, ever since she was a little girl learning how to read, he’d told her that law and justice existed to protect the weak.

But he was wrong. The law existed to uphold the strong, and she was the strongest of all, Atlas the Giant, carrying the throne on her bare shoulders.

She was used to it by now. She’d turned in her paperwork to condemn a homeless mother stealing diapers for her child, and left, with not even a single glance back. She had stood by and heard the headman of some nameless, unimportant construction company tell the residents of a struggling Elderly Home that their house was going to be demolished to make way for a road and that they’d be properly relocated, and years had passed by without her ever caring to check what happened to them. She’d watched people be hanged for the crime of existing and ignored as criminals were rewarded freedom.

Her father was a good man. Someone who chose to pick up a sword not to cause suffering, but to prevent it. Someone who prayed on his knees every morning and who broke bread with anyone, from the stable boys to the King’s Counselor. He’d raised her to be a light in a world drowned in shadows.

But Andrea was a horrible person, as the popular opinion had labeled her, the devil on the King’s shoulders, whispering to him nothing but rotten words. A crown keeper built on the misfortune of others.

So, it stood to reason that, when the case of a war relic awakening from eternal slumber and promptly murdering a child reached the King’s ears, she was the one assigned to defend it.

“They’re calling it the Puppet that Came Alive,” Lauren quipped, looking over from her workstation. “Can you believe it?”.

Looking at the countless headlines splattered on the screen, Andrea replied: “Yes, quite so. Can we focus?”.

“Sorry, boss”.

“I asked everyone available to run a thorough investigation on the Whitlocks. What came of it?”.

Lauren and Mark exchanged a glance, quietly deciding who should speak first.

She did. “They’re not legacy, that was very easily deductible”.

“And, they owe the Crown”.

“How much money are we talking about?”.

He smirked. “Let's just say the Doc could sell his soul to the Old and the Dead and he'd still be drowning in debt".

"Apparently," Lauren picked up. "They got into this huge lawsuit about a hundred years ago. Accused one of their apprentices of necromancy. It went all the way to the Royal Court, but the kid was found innocent".

"He bled them dry. They had to close practice and, for a while, lived with the dad's grandmother, in East-Central," a collective shudder was felt throughout the office at the mention of the dreaded outskirts of the city. "Eventually, they got rid of their shame, since it wasn't paying the bills, and then--".

"The mother begged the Princess for a pardon. The Princess took pity on them, and so it was settled that, if they did community work for three generations, their debt would be paid".

"And the other option?" Asked Andrea.

Third article of Bargaining Law. No weaker part of a Binding Contract should adhere to it without a clause stating the possibility of liberation. Useful in times of literal life-long contracts, as were the norm centuries ago, but could still be sustained in Court.

"They could pay the Crown three billion rals".

"So, they were cornered," Andrea concluded. "Makes sense".

"This one is the Whitlock's last generation of payment. Theoretically, Eileen, the dead kid, could go on to do whatever she wanted after her dad kicked the bucket".

"Except," Lauren whispered. "She couldn't. Her great-uncle took on another debt, from Prince Howard".

"The Leprosy Prince?".

"That one. He knew he couldn't walk back into the Palace like that, so he went to the one doctor in the Steelands dumb enough to try it, and told him that if could get that thing off him without chopping out pieces of his flesh, he'd pardon his sentence".

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"But seems like the Whitlocks greatly overstate both their financials and medical abilities, because Howard came home missing an entire arm. As soon as the news reached the Queen, their debt was added on by a billion and a half, so, even if the Doc were to peacefully pass out in his sleep tomorrow, his daughter would still have a hefty weight on her shoulders," an uneasy pause, followed by: "well, would have. Poor thing".

"Yes," Andrea agreed, not paying attention to the last part. "To put it shortly, it's safe to say the Whitlock family has a bone to pick with the Royal Family that has nothing to do with the dead kid".

"To put it shortly," said Lauren. "So the course of action is pretty clear, right? I mean, it's obvious. The Whitlocks illegally kept a war relic in their possession and it backfired. It's no different from blaming the Crown for getting shot in the face while handling your gun. There is no actual core to this lawsuit. It's self-inflicted damage, and since there is no second party involved, the lawsuit lacks basic requirements to be even acknowledged in court. right, Ma'am?".

"Wrong," Mark answered, leaning over. "It does have a second party involved. The State".

"Oh, fuck off".

"Might want to revise the rule of objective responsibility, Monroe. A hundred and twelve years ago, the State ordered the retriaval of all Dolls and their subsequent destruction. Since that thing is, technically, still considered a Doll, it's still under the State's responsibility. The Dollmaker Decree was revoked forty years ago. Can't we argue that?".

"And look like clowns in front of the Court?" Lauren huffed. "Imagine someone was found guilty of drinking shadowblood, going off the rails, and killing someone, and we argued that, technically the law about shadowblood consumption fell in disuse a decade ago because no one actually fucking does it anymore".

"Except it's not the same, because one was forgotten and one was very clearly revoked".

"Jensen--".

"-- Besides, that's not my point. They're going to argue it's objective responsibility, anyway. You know it as much as I do. What we can do is counter it. Even if theoretically the actions of the Doll could fall under the jurisdiction of the Crown, it's false equivalence based on lack of legality. The Doll belongs to the State, but from the moment the Whitlocks failed to give it back, it's considered stolen, and becomes their property".

"What are you even saying?".

"If the Doll did kill the kid, then it's their responsibility for choosing to keep it around".

"So what you're saying is that crimes committed by utilizing illegally acquired weapons cannot be held against the Crown? That's great," Lauren smirked. "Tell me all about how the First Law of State Security does not apply here".

"It's not the same".

"How so? If the Doll is a weapon, then the crime committed by utilizing it, in this case, murder, may I remind you, is considered to have been preventable had the State properly done its job in securing the absence of those weapons in civilian hands".

Mark groaned. "What about the Principle of Illicit Withholding? Couldn't we argue that?".

Andrea found his suggestion funny enough to interfere: "That's tax law and applied only to enrichment, not property. Unless the property has a set value, which is not the case with Dolls. And besides," she looked at him straight in the eyes. "One can still be tried for enrichment by illicit dealings. It's considered to be a collection by the state, not a sanction in response to a crime".

"Oh, alright," he blushed, clearly embarrassed. "So it's hopeless".

"We could always try the deviation from the legal intent argument," Lauren said. "Although it's kind of humiliating".

"Agreed. Plus, His Royal Majesty would have our necks for breakfast if we argue that the Crown is being cornered into pardoning a legal debt. Doesn't look good".

Silence overtook the office, then, and even the sounding of keyboards and cursors stopped for a second, as every attorney and intern realized Andrea had remained quiet.

"Ma'am?".

"Well," Andrea rested her chin on a closet fist, still staring at the screen. "What's that old story about a big, wooden horse?".

BREAKING NEWS: The Royal Office of Law has released a statement arguing for BOTH the Royal House and the Whitlock Family's innocence in the Puppet Case.

"We're being mocked, you do know that, right?" Kaneshiro asked as he sat himself beside her.

"You'll get over it".

"Oh, it's not about me," he said, charming as ever. "But won't the King want you dead?".

Kaneshiro was her oldest colleague in the Office, one of the only ones with blood cold enough to withstand the job of protecting the overbearing power of the State. He never seemed to care about anything other than wine and old records.

"His Majesty will surely understand when we don't get all of our heads guillotined".

Kaneshiro whistled. "That's the outcome?".

Andrea looked around the lunch room, taking note of every set of ears nearby, and then whispered: "You're not that dense, Kaneshiro".

"I certainly wish I was," he opened his can of cold coffee and took a sip. "Everyone else seems to be so incredibly relaxed. Say, what do you think they believe the worst possible outcome will be? The Crown publicly apologizing? Like, a late-night special?".

Andrea didn't respond. Sometimes, she thought Kaneshiro was even more insane than herself: he was the only one in that work field still cracking jokes.

"I doubt the Whitlocks will take your peace offering, though," he said. "A grieving parent is a horrible thing".

"I've tried to contact their lawyers".

"To no effect, I presume?" Andrea simply stared at him. "Alright, I'll get right to it. I'll be damned if I spent all those years shoveling their shit just to be beheaded as well".

He looked about to walk off, so Andrea held him but the sleeve of his suit jacket. "Kaneshiro".

"Yes?".

"Is there anything else I should know about this? Something the higher-ups are purposefully hiding from me?".

"You're our Royal Attorney. What could I possibly know, that you wouldn't?".

BREAKING NEWS: The Whitlock Family REFUSES the Royal Office's attempt at Conciliation. The first Hearing is to be officially scheduled.