Judge: Do you know why you are here today, Mr. Jacobs?
Jacobs: Yes, Your Honor. I am being accused of murdering my best friend Josh and his girlfriend.
Judge: Have you talked to your lawyer properly, Mr. Jacobs?
Jacob: Yes, Your Honor. He advised me to plead guilty, and I would like a new lawyer because of that.
Narrator/Jacob: That's not what actually happened, but I'll eventually get to that. My best friend and his girlfriend were murdered, and I was accused because apparently I wanted to be with his girlfriend. I want to delay this trial for as long as possible. It will take a while to get a new lawyer, which means that the next court day would be delayed. Well, that's what I thought until I heard this.
Judge: Your request is denied. Unless you are to represent yourself, Mr. Wilson will be your lawyer. He is a public defender. No one else in Zoravia wants to represent you.
Prosecutor: If it would please the court, I have no objection to Mr. Jacob finding a new lawyer.
Judge: Please do not talk if I do not call on you, Mr. Mills.
Narrator/Jacob: This wasn't the worst moment in my life. I remember when I was little and my dad used to beat my mom, and the officers here in this country would do nothing.
Judge: I understand your situation, young man. I will give you five days to find a new lawyer. If you do not find a new lawyer before then, you will be represented by Mr. Wilson.
Narrator/Jacob: I didn't like the situation I was in, but I knew what I needed to do to win this case. Nothing.
Jacob: Will I be allowed to represent myself, Your Honor?
Judge: Would you like to represent yourself? As a person of the court, and having the right to appoint a person to represent oneself, you will need to know the law and have valid credentials with documents stamped by the king proving you are competent and able to understand the law. Do you have the requirements to represent yourself?
Jacob: No, but as someone with noble lineage, I have the right to represent myself without documentation according to the old laws of the empire.
Murmurs in the court.
Judge: The laws of the old empire state that such a person would need to be a direct descendant, both parents have to be at least a baron. Do you have proof that you are of royal lineage?
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Prosecutor: I object. No one this day and age uses the laws of the old empire.
Judge: That is true, but the laws from the old empire benefited the nobles, so they never removed the laws, just replaced the ones that were too cruel with new ones. All nobles are allowed to represent oneself if accused of murder, treason, attempted assassination, threats against the empire. Those are the main ones, of course.
Prosecutor: I object. I do not believe letting this killer represent himself will be a good idea for the image of the empire.
Murmurs in the court.
Guy in crowd: WHY ARE WE LETTING A MURDERER REPRESENT HIMSELF?
Judge: Order in the court! Guard, arrest that man and put him in a cell.
Two men wearing sashes and in full armor walked over and arrested the man and dragged him out of the court.
Judge bangs gavel and yells: ORDER IN THE COURT!
A man in a black robe walked into the courtroom.
The man in the robe stood up from his chair, reached into his robe, and stabbed Jacob in the neck.
Narrator: I felt a tingle in my neck. I grabbed my neck and saw blood, and then everything went dark.
Jacob: (Where am I?) WAHHHHHH. (How did I get here?) WAHHHH.
Woman in the background: It's a beautiful baby boy, Your Majesty.
Narrator/Jacob: Hold up, where am I? Why can't I move? Wasn't I just in the courtroom about to be released, or at least that's what I thought was going to happen. I used all my savings to get that fake noble document, and now this is the result. I want to cry.
Baby crying (WAHHH WAHHH WAHHH)
Jacob/Narrator: Okay, I am probably not in my body anymore. I heard the woman in the corner call the person on the bed "Your Majesty."
Jacob begins to move and flips over. A woman in a maid outfit walks over to the baby holder.
Maid: Aww, the prince flipped himself over. Would you like to...
A man in royal robes walked in. He had bright blue eyes and a look of bloodlust that made all the maids kneel down once he walked into the room.
King: Is this the baby that was born from the traitorous woman? Make sure to lock that woman up in a cell. Thorne, make sure to not let that woman eat for weeks and then throw her out of my country.
Thorne: What do you want me to do with the baby?
King: KILL HIM!
Mother: But he is your son. I don't care to have my life taken, but please don't hurt my child.
The woman pleaded on the ground. She was dragged out by the guards, yelling and pleading.
The king looked at Jacob and noticed the accumulating mana in his nerves.
King: I changed my mind. This boy will be a soldier in the army. But don't tell that traitor woman that her son is alive. I want her to live with the fact that she killed her son and die lonely.
Everyone in the room carried out the king's orders. The king walked over towards the sleeping baby and looked in disgust.
King: Silas!
A man wearing nothing but black popped out of thin air and kneeled beside the king.
Silas: Yes, my lord.
King: Are you able to perform the face-changing technique on this baby?
Silas: Yes, my lord.
King: I don't want this baby to look like me or his evil mother. Make him look average.
Silas: Yes, my lord. I will carry out your order as soon as I have the appropriate materials.
King: Okay, you are dismissed.
The king walked out of the room, leaving the baby alive.
Jacob: Is he going to change my face? Why would he do that?