conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  TODAY WAS THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY of the twelfth month. In the modern world, today would have lined up with the day called Christmas Eve. But this was the world of Revolution. There was no Christmas here—or so you might think. Instead, you see, we had this holiday called the Holy Night Festival.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “The prevailing belief is that the Great Spirit descended to the earth on this day. That’s why the Holy Night Festival is an important event to the Spiritual Church.”
conversations.prefix: Claire:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Uh-huh.” I already knew that, but I let Claire talk anyway. She looked so cute when she haughtily explained things to me. As you might have guessed, the Holy Night Festival was a game event modeled after Christmas. Yet another aspect of Japanese culture inserted into the world-building—although I suppose Christmas was originally European in origin.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “So what do you do on this day?”
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Well, nobles often held marvelous parties and invited guests, but I believe the common—ahem, the citizens didn’t celebrate so lavishly.” As a noble, Claire did seem the type to like parties. “To my knowledge,” Claire continued, “citizens would decorate their rooms and set up fir trees, then invite family, friends, and lovers over to exchange gifts.”
conversations.prefix: Claire:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Oooh, that sounds wonderful.” It sounded exactly like Christmas in Japan. I’d thought it might be a bit different, since I’d heard Christmas in Western countries was more of a quiet affair spent with family. Christmas in Japan was a party, kind of like New Year’s Eve in the west, while New Year’s Day in Japan was generally the quiet family event.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Will we be celebrating like citizens?”
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Of course we will. Do you have any idea how much it’d cost to hold a party and invite people?”
conversations.prefix: Claire:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “That’s true.” We’d have to reserve a place, pay for food, and prepare entertainment for the guests. We weren’t poor by any means, but that wasn’t feasible on the salary of two teachers. If we had that kind of money, I’d rather use it on Claire, May, and Aleah first.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “But I do want to have a small celebration with our family.”
conversations.prefix: Claire:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “As do I, Miss Claire.” Spending the Holy Night with family without having to worry about guests sounded pretty great. A good way to end the year with the ones you love.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “We can afford to indulge ourselves with a feast, I think. Can you do the cooking, Rae?”
conversations.prefix: Claire:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Of course. Leave it to me!” I struck my chest with pride. This was a good opportunity to show off my stuff.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “All that’s left are the presents, then. For us and the kids.”
conversations.prefix: Claire:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Let’s go shopping first thing tomorrow.” We could leave the two children behind and go on a shopping date. No impure motives—we just needed to keep the presents a surprise from the girls.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Sounds like fun…”
conversations.prefix: Claire:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Sure does.”
conversations.prefix: Rae: