[she doesn't know that the world is turning just for her]

skill: [none]

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Euphemia, for the first time in a long time, was deep in her work. It was a sort of god-state, mother had always told her, whenever you channeled your inner purpose – or higher calling – or whatever. Euphemia could not doubt that it felt good, whatever it was. When she plucked a simple plant and recited its purpose in her mind, she felt as if she had value. The hours passed more quickly than she expected. It was far nicer than the grips of self-loathing she had found herself in, ever since father’s disappearance and Kuhn’s departure.

For a moment, she marveled at how long ago that all seemed, but then she would push back a low-lying bough of a bush, and some other gem would beg to be harvested and catalogued.

The maiden had not been paying any attention when the man approached her, yet she snapped to attention when he entered her golden peripheral vision. He wasn’t not handsome, and he had already paid her a compliment. Euphemia felt entirely still within her skin, attempting to grasp what he had said – mostly because no one had ever called her beautiful before.

Eventually, she determined that it also felt good to be called beautiful, and she allowed it to happen. I have lived here my whole life, she answered simply, suggesting that she was not as alone as she appeared. Furthermore, she knew these lands, and she knew there was no place she was safer, unless she was within the borders of the Vale itself. The girl allowed her feathered tail to sway, signaling to him that this interaction was welcome.

After all, he seemed concerned about her welfare. Therefore, she wasn’t alone, rendering his question defunct.

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