Elysia bite her lips even as she proceeded in the church with the mother-son pair behind her.
Today she was supposed to receive the benefactor who had played a great role in resolving the previous tricky situation with that demon's descent. He should have been rewarded long ago but this was slightly delayed as she dealt with the idiotic Bishop who had acted without understanding the rule of the system.
Now though she was faced with another rather tricky problem.
She had already inspected the woman and she had no sign of Prana in her body. She didn't seem to have been affected by the supernatural either as she could not see the aura she had been projecting.
This made things all the more hard to understand.
[Should we just kidnap him?]
'Don't. This isn't the time where the Church reigns supreme.'
In the past, the church had all the power to act with absolute impunity and no care for anyone feeling. They were the ones imposing the rules and they had caused the destruction of many religions they deemed as heretical.
Nowadays though, things were largely different and the power the church had over the world was, while still powerful, not as almighty.
They did not have the right to judge any worship as heretical as long as the one doing so was not praying to an Outer Gods or a Devilish entity.
Elysia knew that some rule were meant to be broken. But attacking the saint of a minor religion would not be seen well.
[But…Are you sure it's a minor religion? What if it's a devil cult?]
'Let's proceed with the Baptism first. Everything else can be judged later.'
She signaled discreetly to one of the nun. They needed to know everything about this woman and from where she came from.
If the boy was the saint of a minor religion. Then that would be all. But if it was a cult…
Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
Elysia was a saint. But she was not one against violence. More than anyone else, she recognized that sometimes, Violence was the best answer one could give.
.
.
.
After deciding to do as much as she could, Elysia started working fast. Usually, it would have been impossible to make a baptism on such short notice.
But as one of the Saintess, this was more than easy for her.
Hae-Won watched with awe as her little darling was taken away and changed into a white and blue tunic. It gave a somewhat holy air and Hae-Won was so moved that she would have taken photos if she wasn't worried her husband would see them.
"Madame, do you have anyone who can play the role of the godparent?"
While Godparents were not an absolute necessity for this ceremony, they were also one of the cornerstones of a good baptism.
"A godparent?"
Hae-Won's eyes widened a little before she chewed her lips. She had no particular close friend and all those she knew were in reality related to her husband and would without a doubt sell her out.
If she thought about it, there was no one she could really call a close friend of hers. This thought was rather sobering in a way.
'Then…' She thought for a moment about one man. But simply shook her head. She did not even know his true face. This was not the kind of thing you simply imposed on people and expected them to have no problem with.
Looking at the expression of the woman, Elysia understood that there should be some complicated situation. Then again, this was quite evident with how hurried this whole ceremony was.
"Very well. We can make do without a godparent for now."
They went into one of the chapels and while holding the hand of the boy, Elysia started to walk calmly while muttering the prayers on her way.
Following in the back, Hae-Won watched in silence. She could feel her heart swelling with a feeling of joy and elation. She did not know from where but she was sure that she could even hear a certain song, as if thousands of people were singing together.
Her heart felt almost overwhelmed and tears gathered at the corner of her eyes but she continued to walk without stopping.
Fixated only on the back of her small son and the kind nun who was presiding over the ceremony.
This was just a whim. A selfish desire that had perhaps not much importance. But at this very moment and instant, she felt like this was perhaps the best decision she had ever taken in her entire life.
Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes but she simply smiled and continued to walk.
When they finally reached the Podium, where the holy water was,.
Standing on the Podium alone, Elysia's prayers became more audible and brought a soothing feeling to Hae-Won.
"Father in the sky. We find ourselves today to welcome a new child."
Light bloomed as if it was responding to her call. It was something only possible when done by someone with as much holy power as a Saint.
"Tell me," Elysia looked at the mother. "What will be his name?"
Hae-Won spoke as if transfixed, uttering a name different from the one she originally intended, "His new name will be Azrael."
Surprise flashed in Elysia's eyes but she showed none of it, " [Helped by God], truly a beautiful name."
The jewel-like eyes of Elysia shone with beautiful crystalline light. Dipping her finger in the holy water she kneeled in to meet the boy's eyes and asked,
"What do you think? Do you like this name?"
The boy gave a simple innocent laugh, "I like."
"Then this is all for the better."
She placed her finger on his forehead, chest, and his two shoulders. "May the Grace of God be with you as your name intended."
[1]: Just to be clear, While I keep some of the important parts of a baptism this is in no way how a Baptism generally happens. I changed many many little details.
(AN: Tried to give a sacred feel to this chapter. Don't know if I succeeded or not.)
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