“Euphemia! Euphemia! Mother is here. Mother will make sweet pancakes for you, so wake up… Wake up!”

Inside a small thatched house, a woman with a slightly rotund belly knelt and held her daughter’s body tightly. The muddy hands marked the girl’s cheeks and teardrops further stained her face. The younger brother waited at the side, quietly sobbing; he didn’t dare to cry out loud. The emaciated girl could faintly hear the words, but her conscience was fading. Soon, not even her mother’s crying could reach her…

Euphemia ‘woke up’ in a bright space. There was no side or end to anything, all was nothing. However, she was calm and at peace. She figured that the place should be the so-called heavenly lands, which meant she would soon meet her father. It had been three months since he passed, but she would still cry for missing him sometimes. The girl was excited for a few moments until she remembered her mother and siblings. She wouldn’t see them again.

“So, I died…?” She felt like crying, but no tears came.

“No, you did not… At least, not yet. Meow…” A childish and arrogant voice sounded out of nowhere.

Euphemia looked around and only saw brightness. But then, a huge majestic throne appeared in front of her eyes. A black cat was resting on a golden cushion, licking its paw unconcernedly. She took a step back by instinct before her eyes widened in surprise. The cat looked oddly like the cat that she just met, right before… dying.

The animal was crying behind her house, seemingly from starving. At that time, she was finishing her shores while trying to ignore her own hunger. The cat looked so pitiful; somehow, she could tell that it would die soon. Against her better judgment, she choose to share with the cat a small piece of bread, which would be her only meal until the evening. The bread was already a third of what mother left for her because Euphemia had also shared it with her two younger siblings. They were young and often sick, so she was used to giving them a share when their mother wasn’t seeing.

Unfortunately, she was young and sick too. So, a few minutes after feeding the cat, she fainted and her body started to give in. Her brother noticed and ran to call their mother, who was in the fields trying to salvage whatever harvest she could. There was no other way; they were too poor.

“Did you die too, Mr. cat?” Maybe she should have kept the bread to herself… Or maybe not. With one less mouth, her family might survive.

“Meow…” The cat stopped licking its paw and looked at her. “No, little cub. This sovereignty can’t die.”

She felt the urge to pat the cat, but it didn’t look very friendly.

“Good, the bread wasn’t wasted…”

“No, it was... That cat died.” There was a hint of sadness in its voice.

Euphemia wanted to cry but the tears still didn’t come.

“Mr. cat, where am I? Is my dad here?” Her voice was shaky.

“You are not dead, little cub… However, if you want to die, this sovereignty can let you be…”

“No!” The protest came instinctively. She was only another mouth to feed; useless, as her grandmother and aunt often said, but she still wanted to live.

“This sovereignty shall grant your wish…”

“But I don’t know if I can awake… I’m so hungry and weak…” Euphemia was confused. She wasn’t feeling anything now; it looked like a dream.

“This sovereignty will give you an extra breath. Your kindness to that stupid little one has to be repaid…”

“Thank you, Mr. Cat… I’m sorry that the cat didn’t survive…”

“You do not need to be sorry, little cub. Not even this sovereignty can directly control life and death…”

“I know… I couldn’t save my dad too… But I promise to pray for that cat as I pray for my father.” She tried to force a smile to comfort the cat, but it looked annoyed instead of sad.

It liked to act superior and magnificent in the presence of mortals, but this human cub was difficult to deal with. She wasn’t worshipping the sovereignty as others would usually do, and she had only offered a word of gratitude for the gift the sovereignty was bound to grant. And now, her promise of prayer would bound the sovereignty to grant yet another wish.

“This sovereignty is magnanimous, and will grant the little cub another wish.”

Stolen story; please report.

Euphemia almost jumped in excitement, she had only received gifts a few times before.

“What can I ask? I don’t want to make it difficult for you…” Her mother had taught her to never ask for too much.

“Humph… This sovereignty can grant anything…”

The cat was very proud, but also annoyed. Why wasn’t the human cub hurrying to ask for some scraps, as most would? It would be better not to reveal much, or the little cub might be greedy and the sovereignty would be bound to agree. However, she dared to belittle the sovereignty.

After hearing the answer, Euphemia became even more excited. If the cat could make her live again, it should be very powerful. The first thing that came to mind was money. If they had money, they could buy enough food and clothes. They could even move to a better house… However, she couldn’t help but remember something her father said after her grandmother scolded him for ‘wasting time’ teaching her how to read. He had said that ‘knowledge is the most precious treasure in the world’.

“Knowledge!” She said resolutely while trying to ignore the temptation of asking for delicious food and money.

“What knowledge?” The cat now sounded more serious. The sovereignty was annoyed with her choice. She should have asked for something easy and stupid like other humans usually did. It couldn’t deny her, but the sovereignty could ask for an explanation if she was unclear.

Euphemia didn’t have to think much to answer. Coincidently, the cat’s question was exactly what her grandmother had said at that time; ‘What knowledge? The girl only needs to learn to cook and sew. What’s the use of other things?’, and her father had answered: ‘All knowledge is useful!’

“All knowledge.” She said proudly. Of course, the cat didn’t know that she was just following her father’s ideas.

“…” The sovereignty had the urge to scold her for being greedy. It would be better if it had just granted the wish without asking for a specification. Instead of simplifying, she added countless layers of difficulty.

“Is that too much, Mr. cat? I can…” She realized that the cat wasn’t happy so she hurried to change her wish. Euphemia didn’t want to cause trouble, after all, it was just a simple gift. However, the cat didn’t allow her.

“Humph. Too much? It might be a problem for others, but for this sovereignty is… easy.” The last word sounded somewhat forced, but she was too excited to notice.

The cat moved its paw in a strange and complicated pattern, and then the space ahead of Euphemia distorted.  Before she could react, a giant book appeared from thin air. She hurried to catch it, but the book didn’t fall. It just floated in front of her.

Seeing her confused state, the sovereignty was finally appeased; the previous irritation seemed to disappear. Euphemia couldn’t take her eyes off the book, but she didn’t dare to touch it. The cat was even more pleased. It snickered, condescendingly before saying:

“Are you impressed? This is the Celestial Records… It has recorded all knowledge in the universe… The little cub can ask it anything and it will give you the best-recorded answer… Humph. Can you see how powerful this sovereignty is, little cub?”

“Anything? It can tell me anything I want to know?” Euphemia’s eyes couldn’t go wider. She was just too excited to remember being humble and grateful.

“Of course!” The sovereignty was also too pleased with disdaining such an ignorant being to remember her previous treacherous behavior. However, after seeing her glowing eyes, it had a bad premonition. It shouldn’t have explained too much, nor asked her anything. The sovereignty should have sent her away after granting the wish. In fact, it was ready to do so, but the little cub was faster. There was something she always wanted to know, something that her parents would refuse to say.

“I want to know my parents' secrets!”

Euphemia stared at the book but it didn’t move. Of course, it couldn’t tell her what other people talked or thought. It could show her countless ways of acquiring that information, but not their secrets because it was never recorded.

The sovereignty panicked. It should know better than giving the cunning human cub a chance to take more from it. How could she think of such a thing? Why hadn’t she just asked for precious gems or chests of gold like other humans? Actually, it would have been okay to just give her the book and send her away, but the sovereignty had been deceived into promising that it could answer any question. By divine law, it was bound to compensate her.

The sovereignty decided to be more careful with what it promised her. It would be better to choose the words carefully this time. However, before it could say anything, she acted again.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I’m troubling Mr. cat…” She couldn’t hide her disappointment, but she had asked for too much. Her mother would scold her if she knew.

“No! It is no trouble for this sovereignty… The little cub does not need to be sorry.” The cat added quickly. Her words would only aggravate the situation, making the sovereignty more ‘indebted’.

It had been a long time since the sovereignty was so restrained in the presence of a mortal. The risk of the human cub ripping even more benefits was too high, so the sovereignty decided to cut its losses. It would gift her something good and send her away immediately.

“After returning, where will the little cub hide the Celestial Records? The little cub should remember that the book must not be seen by another mortal, otherwise, it will be taken back.”

Euphemia’s attention was brought back to the book. She couldn’t think too far into the future, in fact, all her thoughts about the book were quite simple; ‘how to make money’, ‘how to get delicious food’, and ‘how to make her sister healthy’. The little girl squatted and held her head while trying hard to think of a solution. It was impossible to hide it inside the house because her mother would surely find it. Maybe she could bury it in the backyard.

“This sovereignty is too magnanimous and will help you solve this problem.” The cat waved its paw in another set of complex movements causing the space to be distorted again. Then, a glowing bead appeared flying towards Euphemia. She stepped back instinctively, but the bead continued until it disappeared straight into her chest leaving only a star mark behind.

“This sovereignty gifted you with a star space. The little cub can hide the book inside and go in to read it at any time. Remember not to let anyone see it… Now, the little cub must leave.”

The sovereignty waved its paw hurriedly, and before she could even process her second gift, the Celestial Records disappeared into the star mark and Euphemia lost conscience.

“Meow, this human cub is very dangerous… This sovereignty should keep an eye on it.”