After the summer exam week ended half a year ago, Shade had gone to the opera alone with Dorothy. Back then, he still called her "Miss Louisa."
But after this exam week, Shade was going to Saint Byrens to receive a medal—and he was going there in person. Though Shade did not know the standard award ceremony procedures or whether he truly needed to visit the Academy, he vaguely felt that this probably had something to do with Miss Danist.
In any case, although everyone's results had been somewhat unexpected, they had all successfully passed the Year 1853 academic examinations.
After confirming that Shade still had to go to Saint Byrens that evening, Dorothy left first. The Year 1853 Kingdom Literature Award ceremony was approaching, and her father, Professor Louisa, had recently been helping her "pull some strings," so she also needed to visit home often.
Luvia then said goodbye as well. She needed to return and write a formal report on her examination results and year-end evaluation for submission to the Seer Association, allowing the Association to discuss her course selections for the new year and her choice of Words of Sublimation with Saint Byrens as soon as possible.
Such reports even had to be prepared in duplicate, and they could not be typed on a mechanical typewriter; they had to be entirely handwritten. Along with seeking stamps and signatures from different people, the Girl with Purple Eyes would probably be busy for several days.
The Doctor and the Priest helped Shade clean up the examination room. The Old Priest had originally intended to have Doctor Schneider leave that Poetry Manuscript Paper for Shade so he could contact the Academy, and then have a drink together according to their usual custom, but Shade stopped them:
"Priest, Doctor, please wait.