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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 3 Chapter 4 Part 1

CHAPTER 4: A Dance Just For the Two of Us

Since the beginning of April, the Royal Navy faction has been conducting joint military exercises with a certain other faction.

The name of that faction was —— “Iris Libre”.

It was one of the two great factions that have been separated from the devout religious nation that used to be known as “Iris Orthodoxy” before, but due to certain circumstances was no longer present on the maps. Now, Iris Libre, which legitimately inherited the military organization of the “Guardian Knights”, had a very close relationship with the Royal Navy, partly due to the fact that they were able to declare their establishment while seeking refuge on the Royal Isles and with the help of the Royal Navy itself.

In the Royal Navy’s dormitory, there were even a few occasions where there were tea parties prepared specifically to strengthen the bonds with the fellow “shipgirls” of the Iris Libre. Even in this joint military exercise, the two factions had such a good relationship that they were able to freely discuss their abilities, proficiency, equipment, and tactics of each single shipgirls without much reservations.

And just like that, on a certain day in June, when another of those joint military exercises arrived.

The Royal Navy’s Dormitory had a special room called the Guest Room.

Currently, the long table placed in the center of the Guest Room was lined with various delicacies prepared by the members of the Maid Corps.

「—— It is an honor to be invited to your wonderful dinner tonight, Your Majesty.」

While sitting face to face with Elizabeth, the one who opened her mouth and praised tonight’s feast was Le Triomphant, the Iris Libre Destroyer of the Le Fantasque Class. And just as one could imagine from her name and Class, each of her words and gestures were filled with grace.

「Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen circumstances, the number of shipgirls who could come with me today might be small, but……」

For the past few days, most of Iris Libre’s shipgirls have left the Home Port due to other matters that they needed to attend to, so there were only a few other people left here beside Le Triomphant.

「Don’t worry about it. I invited you because I wanted to invite you in the first place.」

Elizabeth took a sip from her teacup as she said those words.

「Besides, today’s exercise also yielded a lot of satisfying results. I think it’s all thanks to Iris Libre’s participation. We could not have done it without you.」

「I am honored to hear you say that, Your Majesty.」

Elizabeth smiled at the humbled Le Triomphant.

「Now then, do not hesitate and help yourself to some of our cooking. Our Maid Corp’s cooking is quite exquisite, I will let you know.」

Le Triomphant then picked up her spoon and started to eat many of the delicious dishes that were laid down right in front of her, prompting her companions to dig in as well.

「Well then, Your Majesty, we shall take your word for it.」

With those words as a signal, the Royal Navy and Iris Libre shipgirls’ dinner party began in earnest.

The maids, who had been waiting for a long time at the back of the room, left their positions all at once and headed to serve the shipgirls, who were enjoying their meal while chatting with each other on all kinds of topics.

While being in her way towards the table, Edinburgh was suddenly stopped by Belfast.

「Nee-san, I’m sorry, but I will continue to oversee how the dining room is doing.」

「Huh? O-Oh, yeah, right.」

In fact, just like this banquet, dinner for the children that were living in the dormitory was also being held in the large dining hall at the same time.

Right now, Newcastle was taking command at the center of the waitress service, so there should not have been any problems on that front, but as a Head Maid, Belfast wanted to also go there and make personally sure that everything was as it should be,

「Right, well then, you can leave everything in here to me, Bel.」

「Yes. Now then, Nee-san, I shall leave you with the responsibility of acting as an Acting Head Maid for a little while.」

Belfast quietly opened the door and went out into the corridor from the Guest Room.

—— Acting Head Maid…… Which means that right about now, I am the de facto Head Maid in here.

With that thought crossing her mind, Edinburgh was just passing behind Elizabeth, who was having a conversation with Le Triomphant.

「Come to think of it, I was thinking of actually throwing a small ball for the shipgirls from the Iris Libre sometime around next weekend. If you don’t mind, would you like to join us?」

While the two were talking like that, Edinburgh could hear Le Triomphant making such a proposal completely out of the blue like that..

When Edinburgh glanced at the table, it seemed that both Elizabeth and Le Triomphant were having a lively conversation there, to the point that their hands stopped moving their cutlery and their meals hadn’t progressed all that much.

—— A ball, huh……?

When it comes to Edinburgh, she always thought that balls were something special. Like, one-of-a-kind of occasion.

Originally, a ball was a place where members of the upper class, such as royalty and aristocrats, would gather and associate with one another. It was a common understanding for every maid out there.

However, for as long as humanity could remember, people always tended to yearn for things that were well beyond their reach, coming from a different world than that where they were from.

And the same kind of logic could be applied to Edinburgh here.

—— Everyone wears gorgeous dresses and dances gracefully…… Haah, how much I envy them.

Precisely because of the idea of a ball being this unreachable world to Edinburgh, her head was full of wild fantasies about that particular subject.

「Good idea. I haven’t danced in a long time because I have been busy with official duties as of late. That could serve as a nice change of pace.」

While Edinburgh was indulging herself in her wild delusions, Elizabeth nodded to Le Triomphant’s words.

「However, since the other shipgirls are actually away from the Home Port at the current moment, and neither Hood nor Illustrious are here, so it would make for a pretty lonely gathering, wouldn’t you agree?.」

「Hmm, is that so? Well, that is certainly troubling……」

Le Triomphant thought for a moment, and then she clapped her hands lively.

「I have come up with a pretty good idea —— why don’t we get your Royal Maids to participate in the ball as well?」

After saying that, Le Triomphant looked at Edinburgh, who just happened to be the closest maid to her.

「Would you like to join the ball, too?」

「Huh? Umm, this is, I mean……」

Hearing such a proposal, Edinburgh found herself to be at a loss for words. She never thought that she would be thrown such a curveball all of a sudden, and in a situation quite like that.

It was rather unusual for a mere maid to appear at a ball.

As part of their etiquette, the Maid Corps have learned some basic dance moves, just to be on the safe side.

However, thinking that there was no other choice for her but to refuse because of her low-standing position, Edinburgh politely folded her hands in front of the apron part of her maid uniform and bowed down her head deeply.

However, on the contrary, while Edinburgh was about ready to start declining that proposal,

「Yes, I think that this is actually a good idea. It will certainly serve to liven things up quite a bit, wouldn’t you agree?」

Hearing that Elizabeth agreed to the idea almost right away, and then speaking in such a lighthearted tone, Edinburgh was left quite stunned.

「H-Huh!? R-Really now!? Your Majesty!?」

More than anything, Edinburgh never would have thought that a highly irregular situation like this one would occur. Or at the very least, not in a situation quite like this.

Edinburgh, who had thought that she would be able to deal with it as usual even without Belfast’s help, desperately searched for words that she could use here.

「B-B-B-B-B–But —— We maids are not very suitable for attending any sort of social occasions and gatherings. Which is why…… No, I mean, we ARE suitable for gatherings like that, but…… How should I even put it……」

Because of this unfamiliar role and situation, Edinburgh could not help it but to feel flustered here.

「A-Anyways, umm…… Thank you very much for making this proposal, but…… I am terribly sorry but…… I’m afraid that I will have to politely decline…… for which I am deeply sorry……」

Having said that, Edinburgh deeply bowed her head down in front of Elizabeth and Le Triomphant.