For real ?

"Wel..well...you see... It's all Zephiron's fault !" 

Rio puts on a teary face befits of a 4 years old in distress.

"I received a revelation from Zephiron forbidden me to speak to you."

After a short hicup from his pretend crying, Rio then continued " An...And I was nervous after you saw me nak..." 

"AHHHH ... Stop talking about that !" The saintess cut in, her voice tinged with embarrassment. 

Then after calming down, the saintess begins to speak to the air.

"Zeph, did you told the boy to not speak to me ?"

"Why would you do that... ?"

Then a realization dawned on her, the saintess paused, her eyes widening slightly. "Wait... is that why—" She cut herself off, a playful smile spreading across her face. Covering her mouth with a hand, she added with a teasing tone, "So you are jealous then ~ hehe."

"Sigh ~ There apparently has been a misunderstanding." The saintess spoke with a relaxed tone "Well... since you could hear Zephiron's voice, that must have mean you're somewhat special. Fate has brought us together, so we might as well get to know each other better."

The saintess placed her hand on her chest and introduced herself "Let's start over. I'm Zeraphina, the future holy saintess of Zephiron. It's a pleasure to meet you." 

Rio looked at the saintess for a short moment before continuing "I don't know my name..."

The saintess looked at him with a slight bit of surprise before muttering "Hmmmm... I believe this village has the tradition to name their children only after they pass the age of 5 in their debut, so he must be around 4 years old." The saintess then continued "But with his parents recently passing away, apparently while trying to hunt to sell materials for his medicine… That would mean he is a orphan." 

"Orphan... Hmmm... Can I adopt him ?" 

Seeing the opportunity, Rio then said with a quivering voice " My parents died ?"

The saintess then immediately covered her face with both her hand and said "Waaa... I mean that they went to a very far away place to be happy together haha... They are very much alive and well !"

"They abandoned me ?" 

"No, uhhh.... They are ... uhhh" The saintess was trying to rack her brain tyring to think of a excuse to not hurt the young boys feeling. 

Rio, feeling a little sorry for pushing the saintess so far, spoke with a tinge of sadness in his voice "It's okay Zeraphina big sis, I understand... " Then Rio immediately tried his best to squeeze out a couple of teardrops for the final step of his plan. 

The saintess looked at the crying boy, feeling her heart was unable to bear it any longer and said "Well ! Uhh.... Do you want to join the Church of Zephirons ? we can officially adopt you since our fate is so close together..."

"You would really do that Zeraphina big sis ? I'm just a nobody and can't offer you anything in return. "

Hearing that, Zeraphina's heart softened even more, causing a certain deity to facepalm in response of her naiveness. 

"Don't say that ! As long as you're pious towards Zephiron and work hard to contribute, we will always welcome you !" She then continued "Let's start by giving you a proper name shall we ?" 

"But I'm not 5 years old yet ?" 

" Screw the tradition ! Today will be your new birthday as you embark on your life's new journey !" 

"Can you name me ? Big sis zeraphina ?" 

"Of course ! uhhh.... something really cool.... uhhh" the saintess begin thinking in earnest. 

"Really cool name.... really..... real....uhhh... How about Rio ?" The saintess said with a awkward smile. 

'...' 

"I like it big sis Zeraphina !" Rio said happily, while cursing silently. 

"Hehe... They did say I'm talented in almost everything!" The saintess said with a slight smug. 

"Now Rio! heh... Follow big sis to the church !" 

After finishing her work healing the orphaned boy, the Saintess walked out of the house with the little boy following closely behind her.

Upon seeing the saintess and the healthy boy, a small commotion happened as people started praising Zephiron for this divine miracle . 

"Praise the divine and all knowing !"

"Praise the divine and all knowing !"

Upon acknowledging the chanting crowd, the saintess walked to her attendant and whispered :

" Hesione ! Can we please adopt this child ? "

Hesione frowned and reprimanded the Saintess, "You can't just adopt every orphan with a tragic fate. It's noble of you, but we can't keep feeding so many mouths if you continue like this."

"But he's special!" the Saintess protested. "He said he can hear Zephiron too, and our fates seem intertwined. I can feel it!"

"That's what you said about the last few children," Hesione retorted. After a moment's thought, she sighed and conceded, "Fine, this will be the last one. But we need to consult the village elders first, it's only common courtesy."

"Thank you Hesione !" The Saintess cheered happily and turned towards Rio "Rio ! Hesione said yes ! Now we just need to talk to your elders and then we can take you to the big cities !" 

'Sigh ~ If only everyone could be moved with tears and snot, life would be so easy' Rio innerly added.'

"Thank you big sis ! I have always wanted to see the big cities with my parents ... hic." 

"Waa, don't cry ! I'm sure you'll be able to meet them again in the future !" The saintess added warmly. 

"Zeraphina big sis ! Will I be able to come back here from time to time ? I might get homesick. " 

"Of course Rio ! We'll arrang.... ACK!" Before the saintess was able to finish her sentence, she was elbowed to the ribcage by her attendant. 

"Saintess, do you have any idea how remote this place is? Arranging transport, whether by flying or teleporting, would cost tens of gold coins for a single trip ! Not to mention, high level magicians or ships can't just wait here until Rio is finished with everything ! It would cause at least a few silver a day for the fuel or food supplies." Hesoine then continued " And don't you even think about teleporting here yourself with him ! You are a saintess ! The future face of Zephiron ! Not a coachman or a magician. Your..."

"My power is meant only for Zephiron's revelation, emergencies, or church matters—never for personal convenience. Yeah, yeah, I get it, Hesione!" The Saintess interrupted before Hesione could continue her nagging, as if this were a familiar routine. 

The saintess then turn towards Rio and ask " Sigh, you heard the lady... You are going to have to choose between big city or stay here Rio. Maybe in the future when you have enough merits you will be able to come back here !"

"Is the big city nice ?" Rio asked in a curious voice. 

"Elaris is one of the largest cities on the continent! It's so vast that you could walk from north to south for weeks without reaching the end. The food there is incredible, and the churches we'll visit are filled with wonderful people. The streets are clean, and the locals are friendly, I could go on forever !" The saintess said warmly. 

After pretend to think for a moment, Rio said in a low voice "I will trust you big sis !"

Zeraphina's eye sparkled for a few moment, looking at the short boy in front of her, she extended her hand and asked " Then shall we go talk to your elders then ?"