Chapter 41
After Noah turned his face away from Agnès, she could no longer attack Rickman as fiercely as before.
Of course, all the crucial evidence had already been revealed, and even the priest knew that Rickman was not a decent human being.
Under normal circumstances, the priest would have ruled in Agnès’s favor without hesitation.
However, Rickman’s claim that “Agnès is not the biological mother”, combined with Noah’s inability to even look at Agnès, continued to weigh heavily on the opposite side of the scale.
While the priest hesitated, Rickman lifted Noah into his arms, pretending to be a loving father.
Agnès, whose heart had half-collapsed after Noah avoided her gaze, came back to her senses the moment she saw that scene.
Noah looked deeply unstable in Rickman’s arms. He couldn’t relax against his father’s chest and didn’t know where to place his eyes, staring only at the floor.
Agnès knew the unchanging truth that parents do not fully understand their children.
Even a child she had fed, clothed, and raised would someday do things she never expected, think thoughts she could not imagine, and show sides she had never seen.
But not now.
Right now, Agnès could clearly see Noah’s fear of Rickman, and his anxiety in this unfamiliar place.
Why did I lose my confidence like this? Did I really think Rickman wouldn’t fight dirty? Am I going to let Noah fall back into his hands again?
Scolding herself, Agnès straightened her posture and spoke the words Rickman feared most.
“There is one more thing I must say about Hassel Overhan.”
Just as she expected, Rickman finally stopped talking.
Until now, he had been boasting endlessly about how much Noah adored him and insisting that Noah should inherit the Overhan title.
Now his mouth closed completely.
“Priest, Rickman Overhan imprisoned Hassel Overhan and left him to slowly lose his mind in order to steal the countship. But think carefully—why would Rickman lock Hassel in an abandoned townhouse? Wouldn’t there have been an easier way?”
“Agnès, stop saying such nonsense!”
Rickman roughly set Noah down beside him and slammed his hands on the stand, growling like a wild animal. But his face had already turned pale, almost blue.
If Rickman had not obsessed over noble bloodlines and perfect ancestry, being infertile would not have been such a fatal problem.
But Rickman cared more about lineage than anyone else, and he was extremely sensitive to the eyes of noble society.
Instead of saying the words directly, Agnès intended to make Rickman realize his own weakness.
“Rickman was deeply inferior to Hassel.”
She looked straight at him—her expression pitiful, yet filled with quiet contempt.
This was something she had learned by watching Dylan closely.
You didn’t need shouting or violence to destroy someone.
You could crush their pride instead.
“Your brother could easily do what you never could. That’s why you kept Hassel alive—”
Before she could finish—
“Agnès! Aaaaaah!”
Rickman completely lost his composure and charged at her with a feral scream.
He hadn’t spoken a single explicit word.
Neither Noah nor the priest even understood what Agnès had been about to say.
But Rickman’s wounded pride, Agnès’s disdainful gaze, and the despair of knowing all his crimes were already exposed pushed him past reason.
He snapped.
Agnès stared at the madly rushing Rickman without blinking.
She wasn’t frozen by fear.
She truly wasn’t afraid.
Dylan was here.
The guards were here.
Even if Rickman managed to hurt her, it would only make the trial turn even more in her favor.
If that was the case, getting injured didn’t matter.
Rickman’s approach felt strangely slow.
His bloodshot eyes.
His disheveled clothes.
His throat bobbing wildly as he screamed.
She could see it all clearly.
She also felt Dylan moving toward her faster than any guard.
And then—
She saw Noah.
Standing near the platform, his face looked like he was about to cry.
He stretched out both arms and ran toward Agnès.
Don’t come, Noah. It’s dangerous.
She wanted to say it.
At that moment, a golden, glowing sphere shot out from Noah’s hand and struck Rickman’s calf.
“Ah—!”
Rickman collapsed right in front of Agnès.
But she didn’t spare him even a glance.
What mattered was this:
Noah had used a strange power.
And for the first time since being expelled from Overhan, she heard his voice.
That was all that mattered.
“Noah!”
Agnès rushed past Rickman and pulled Noah into her arms, pressing him tightly against her chest and calling his name again and again.
“Noah, Noah… what happened? Are you okay?”
She didn’t care that this was a trial.
She didn’t care who was watching.
She cupped Noah’s cheeks and looked straight into his eyes.
Then Noah’s small face crumpled completely, and he burst into loud, bitter tears.
“M-mom… hic… m-mom…!”
Noah hugged her back, but his crying only grew louder.
Agnès wasn’t the only one who had forgotten about the trial.
Even the priest stared down at them in stunned silence.
Rickman, who had fallen awkwardly after being attacked by his own son, looked completely dazed, unable to understand what was happening.
Noah continued crying, calling only for his mother.
It seemed that was the only word he had truly recovered.
And it made one thing painfully clear:
The child’s heart already belonged somewhere else.
At last, the priest spoke gravely.
“It is shocking enough that Rickman Overhan attacked the opposing party during a sacred trial. But seeing the son he claimed to cherish strike his father to protect his mother… I must question whether Rickman Overhan has spoken truthfully at any point in this court.”
That meant the claim that Agnès was not Noah’s biological mother was now deeply doubtful.
The priest’s judgment had completely shifted.
The guards helped Rickman to his feet, but they handled him like a criminal, not a noble.
“Priest! Priest!”
“I will consult the gods and deliver a verdict soon. Remove Count Overhan.”
Rickman called out desperately, but the priest coldly shook his head.
However, when he looked at Noah, there was a hint of warmth and pity in his eyes.
“Agnès Everchen, remain here. We will immediately discuss Noah Overhan’s custody with the priests.”
In truth, it was practically a declaration that Noah would be entrusted to her.
The temple was complex and contradictory—cold at times, yet compassionate at others.
At this moment, Agnès was sincerely grateful.
Holding Noah close, she bowed deeply in thanks.
“Before that, I wish to speak briefly with the child. Noah Overhan, is that alright?”
The priest spoke gently when addressing Noah.
Noah looked to Agnès, unsure.
She wiped his tear-stained cheeks softly and nodded, stroking his head to calm him.
She then asked the priest anxiously,
“Priest… will Noah using magic be a problem?”
“It is true the temple once opposed magic,” the priest replied, “but now what matters is how it is used. Noah is only a child who has just awakened his power. That cannot be held against him.”
Relieved, Agnès patted Noah’s back.
The priest gave Noah a faint, reassuring smile.
Only then did Noah take the priest’s hand.
The priest led him toward a room behind the courtroom.
Agnès watched until the door finally closed.
Then she felt someone’s gaze and turned her head.
Dylan was smiling at her.
Rickman had fallen.
Noah had returned.
This was undeniably Agnès’s victory.
Dylan’s flawless smile looked like a silent celebration meant just for her.
Seeing his calm, unshaken expression, her tension finally melted away.
Without realizing it, Agnès ran to him and threw her arms around him.
