The Paradox of Freedom (4)

Winter break.

The season that brought the year to a close, when you could feel the year spent at the academy drawing to an end.

Unlike summer break, winter break brought little travel among the cadets, as snow and cold restricted movement. So year-end events and ceremonies for the graduating class were held.

For example.

The day they parted with the ‘Vow of Chastity.’

A ceremony presided over by Lua, the Sun God, and Ien, the Angel of the Morning Star, in which the girls declared they had become true adults.

There were cadets at the academy who underwent that ceremony, too.

One snowy evening.

In front of the academy’s grand cathedral, third-year female cadets huddled together in thick white robes. They regarded this ceremony, held alongside graduation, as their final youthful event.

So they chatted, their faces slightly excited...