Lillian cried over her daughter’s body without any restraint. Ever since her husband died she had been repressing the sorrow, the grief, and even the indignation of being harassed and robbed by her in-laws. However now, she could no longer hold it inside. Even though reason told her that Euphemia was gone, her heart held on to hope. She prayed to the Lady in all blessings she could remember, and even begged the Christian God.

The widow could only blame herself for letting her daughter starve. She had been turning a blind eye to her eldest sharing food with the younger children. What else could she do? The youngest was sick and couldn’t even leave the bed; her boy was the only man in the house and was also often sick. The little one on her belly would probably not even live through birth.

Her Euphemia looked healthier and had the heart to share with her weaker siblings, but now she understood that the girl was actually hiding her own woes. The girl was too much like her father, energetic and so eager to take upon herself the responsibility of taking care of everyone. Maybe her in-laws had been right, and she should have raised the eldest more like a ‘girl’.

However, before Lillian started to regret her every action, Euphemia breathed again. The girl woke up panting and feeling as if she had been holding her breath for a long time. She was dizzy and trying to recall what just happen with Master cat, but her mother hugged her tightly before she could do anything.

“My daughter, my Euphemia. You’re okay, you’re okay…” The woman couldn’t stop crying, but now out of relief.

“Mom… mom… let me breathe!” The little girl couldn’t help but start crying too.

Raylan cheered and joined his mother in squeezing his sister. He had been too scared and would probably have nightmares for months.

“Sister, sister! You’re okay. You fainted and I had to call mom…” He was too excited and relieved. The young boy didn’t want his sister to go away forever like his father.

“It’s okay Ray, sister is okay… Thank you for helping sister.” She finally struggled out of her mother’s embrace and smiled.

“Yes, Raylan was very good. He’s already a young man. He didn’t panic and called mother…” After checking that Euphemia was really okay, Lillian started to praise the little boy to ease everyone’s mood.

“Raylan, give your sister a cup of water and take her to bed while mother prepares some porridge. We’ll have a noon meal today!”

Raylan cheered and ran to get the water, but Euphemia stared at her mother with a reluctant expression.

“Mother, we…”

“It’s okay to have an extra meal… Don’t worry, it’s just one more meal. Mother will prepare it fast and return to the fields…” Lillian smiled and repressed the tears. Her daughter was too young to be so responsible, but unfortunately, there was no other way.

Euphemia had a lot to think of, so she nodded and went to the next room. Their house was very simple and only had a kitchen and a sleeping room. She walked to the larger bed and check on the pale girl sleeping under a straw blanket. Her sister Brid had been weak since birth, but the youngest’s health had become even worse after their father died. She felt the girl’s temperature and tried to cool it down with a cloth drenched in water from a nearby bowl. Unfortunately, they couldn’t afford a healer or medicine, so they could only try the common methods.

Just when she sat on the other side of the bed, Raylan appeared with the water. She drank it slowly and returned the cup to her brother to take back. Euphemia waited for the boy to leave, and after checking that her sister was still sleeping, she decided to check the Celestial Records.

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Actually, if it wasn’t for the small star mark on her chest, Euphemia would have thought that her encounter with the Master cat had been a dream. The cat hadn’t explained how she could reach the book in the so-called star space, so she first tried touching it. Yet, nothing happened. For a moment, the girl started to panic. What if the book had disappeared? What if she couldn’t take it out?

The Master cat had mentioned ‘going inside to read it’, so maybe she had to go inside. Clueless, Euphemia continued to touch the star mark under her tattered worn dress. She even tried to copy the cat’s paw movements, which she couldn’t really remember. However, it wasn’t until she got irritated and complained in her mind, that something happened.

‘I want to go in’, she thought before everything around her distorted and became a bright room with only the Celestial Records floating inside. The star space was a bright room not much bigger than their sleeping room. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of the same white material that didn’t seem to have any texture or ‘feel’. She walked around but didn’t find anything other than the floating book.

“How can I make money?” Euphemia asked the question directly. She knew that money could solve most of the problems of her family. However, she didn’t though to ask for money or even where could she find it. Her parents had taught her that money should always be yearned honestly, or else she would lose the Lady’s favor.

This time, however, the book reacted. It opened on an empty page, and then words started appearing to fill the blank. Strangely, the words were easier to read than anything her father had shown her.

[Considering the owner’s condition, the best ways to earn money are: One, collect medicinal and edible plants in nearby woods to sell in the village and nearest towns. Two,… ]

She read through the options but stopped on the tenth. Except for the first, the other options were too difficult for her, and it seemed as if each following option was more difficult than the previous. Euphemia was very excited about the idea of gathering plants to sell. Although some villagers would often pick wild vegetables, she had never heard of collecting medicinal plants. Still, she didn’t doubt the words of the book, nor did she consider the challenges of collecting the plants. She was just too excited.

Soon, the girl remembered the meal that her mother was preparing and realized that the star space didn’t have any doors or windows for her to leave. However, she didn’t panic. To enter the space, she only had to think about her wish hard, so leaving might need the same thing.

Euphemia concentrated and wished to leave the space in her mind. She was happy to see the space in front of her distorting, but she didn’t disappear immediately. Through the distortion, she could see the sleeping room from where she entered the space. Everything looked the same, and no one was there except for her sleeping sister. Uncertainly, the girl decided to step into the distortion and treat it as a door.

Fortunately, the bright space disappeared and Euphemia was back in bed as if nothing had happened. Then, she realized her mistake. She had left for at least an hour, and her mother or Raylan should have come looking for her. Since they didn’t know where she was, they would be worried and searching for her outside. Even though it was normal for her to go play around, she had just fainted so her mother would be worried.

She stood up quickly and ran to the kitchen just in time to find Raylan entering the house with a scared expression.

“Where were you? I looked for you everywhere… Thank the Lady, mother hasn’t finished cooking, or she would spank me for letting you go out alone…” He whispered in distress, but his expression was clearly happy.

“I… I just ran outside to find something I lost… I’m sorry, I lost track of time… Anyway, why is mother taking so long to cook porridge?” She decided to change the subject to hide her embarrassment and the secret.

“Long? Mother only takes half an hour to cook it… And if she was faster we would be punished… No, I would be punished.”

“Half an hour?” Euphemia was confused. Usually, her time sense was very good. “How long has it been since you left me in the room?”

“Why do you care? Maybe ten or twenty minutes… I don’t know exactly because I was LOOKING for you. ”

“Hum… Sorry, Raylan… I really lost track of time.” Either that or something was very strange in the star space. Later she would ask the book.

“It’s fine… Just take care of yourself more… I won’t accept your share of the meals anymore. You said you had eaten enough, but then you…” His voice became quavering and Euphemia knew he was about to cry.

“I’m okay, Raylan… Sister will only be healthier in the future… I promise…”