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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 3 Chapter 4 Part 10

It was a strange feeling, really. Even though she was so adamant to think that even with all the practice she was doing the things would simply not go all that well, when she was right in front of Emile Bertin, Edinburgh felt that she could do her very best for sure.

Thinking about it for a moment, Edinburgh thought that Emile Bertin’s positivity might have influenced her a great deal.

At that moment Emile Bertin stopped dancing and smiled brightly at Edinburgh once again.

「…… See? Just look at you, how passionate you are right about now.」

At that moment, Edinburgh finally noticed what was happening outside of the front porch as well.

All of a sudden, the rain had stopped.

* * *

「—— I’m back.」

When Edinburgh came back through the back door of the kitchen, only the light from the small wall lamp above the cooking table was lit, and Belfast was sitting beside the table, as if she was waiting for her all this time.

As soon as she saw Edinburgh, she rose from her chair with a loud clatter.

「Nee-san, where the hell were you all this ——」

「I went for a walk down to the pier, but it started to rain while I was on my way there.」

Seeing her sister’s completely drenched figure, Belfast immediately handed her a towel.

Edinburgh then received it with gratitude, opening her mouth to speak.

「…… I am sorry for worrying you like that, Bell. You see, I have been thinking about some things for a while now. And after thinking about it, I have decided to give it my very best. Or at least trying to.」

After a short pause, Belfast just nodded her head.

「Anyways, please wipe your body with that towel immediately. Would you like for me to brink you a change of clothes as well?」

「I guess that today really is a day when I do nothing but change my clothes, huh?」

When Edinburgh laughed dryly like that after saying that, Belfast smiled in a way as if she was somewhat relieved.

「Once I get back here, I will brew you something warm to drink, so for the time being please wait here patiently, alright?」

With that being said, Belfast disappeared and Edinburgh was left all alone in the kitchen.

Remembering the way in which Emile Bertin danced in front of her not so long ago, Edinburgh remembered a promise that they had made with one another: to meet in the same place at the same time so that she could train her.

When Edinburgh returned to the Royal Navy’s Dormitory, she made sure to find the landmarks for that place so that she could be sure that she would know how to get there. So, she was sure that she would be able to get there tomorrow without fail.

「I am going to keep on trying…… As much as it takes. For as long as it takes.」

Edinburgh decided to push herself to her very limits, until the time for the ball at the end of next week would eventually come around.

The next day, Emile Bertin’s dance lessons began immediately.

「First and foremost: even if you can’t really see all that well, if you keep the width of your feet movements constant, you can pretty much deduce how far you have moved.」

Her lessons started with those exact words. In fact, she then started to walk from one end of the front porch to the other one and……

「——- Eight steps, nine steps, ten steps. I always aim to keep the same width of my every step, so when I walk on this porch, as long as I keep it in mind to do not exceed those ten steps, I will never fall off of the porch~.」

「Hmm, I see……」

Even while walking casually like that, she was able to accurately maintain a constant stride at all times.

「When dancing with a partner, each other’s stride is important. It’s like confirming each other, one on one, in a sense.」

「Is that really how it is? Are you sure?」

「Yes, I am quite sure. It’s like confirming the love between two people. And it’s important to be romantic when it comes to things like that, wouldn’t you agree?」

Under Emile Bertin’s guidance, Edinburgh practiced every day as seriously as possible at all times.

Emile Bertin’s teaching style was completely different from the one that was presented in that dancing textbook. But at the same time she was very polite and easy to understand with her explanations.

At first it took a lot of effort for Edinburgh to get a good feel for her stride.

However, as she closed her eyes and went back and forth across the front porch many times, Edinburgh gradually came to understand how long her strides were and what amount of steps was appropriate for her in this place..

And just at that exact moment, Emile Bertin told her to start practicing dancing with her as a pair.

「Now that you know how long your normal stride is, shall we start dancing together~?」

Hand in hand, Edinburgh went around the front porch with Emile Bertin who was leading the way.

「I think that we talked about stride length when dancing with your partner, but there are other important things that are essential to grapes in order to dance in a pair.」

「And what would those things be?」

When Edinburgh asked her about that, Emile Bertin suddenly grasped her hand tightly.

「Something like this, for once. Holding hands is one of the ways to confirm each other’s intentions. When it comes to dancing, it is said that ‘looking directly in your partner’s eyes is the most important factor out there, but there are various other information and clues than vision alone. You need to be aware of that fact at all times.」

And just like that, Edinburgh continued to dance with Emile Bertin as her partner across the front porch many times, always being the one who was being led.

As she accurately measured the distance with her own stride, she grasped where she was standing at all times and then continued to dance along.

At the same time, Edinburgh gradually learned newer and newer steps from Emile Bertin’s guidance.

「Say, Emile? I think that I might actually like this particular step the best.」

Emile Bertin then happily spun in place, looking all happy about the fact that Edinburgh seemed to have mastered her very first dancing step. she then said:

「That is actually a completely original dancing step that I have thought of myself. I named it ‘Expedier l’or’.」

「Expe……? What does that even mean?」

「‘The One Who Carries Gold’. The meaning of this name is derived from the brilliance that is derived from under one’s feet.」

「…… ‘The One Who Carries Gold.’」

「You see, I was often delegated to work on transporting gold back at the Iris Libre. Because of that, I have also developed a keen interest in the Cherry Blossoms of the Sakura Empire, which are incidentally called there the “Gold of the East”.」.

Edinburgh could not help it but be surprised at hearing those words.

「Oh, you too, Emile? I also happened to be assigned to Gold escort missions as part of military commissions on quite a few occasions.」

「Oh, is that so?」

Emile Bertin rolled her eyes in surprise and then chuckled slightly.

「Maybe it really was fate that happened to bring us together? Because of that very fact?」

Edinburgh nodded at her suggestion and tried the same steps once again.

「A brilliance that is derived from under one’s own feet…… Is that it?」

Just as Edinburgh was thinking how romantic it sounded, Emile Bertin stood side by side with her, and held out her hand.

「Say, Edinburgh? What kind of dress are you going to be wearing on the day of the ball?」

「On the day of the ball?」

「Oh, and while we are on that subject, where do you think the ball will be held?」

Emile smiled brightly, and then she chuckled slightly once again.

It was also then that Edinburgh suddenly realized something really important.

「Ah, I see, you are also a member of Iris Libre, Emile…… I wonder why, but in the beginning, I was very conscious of that faction, but now I’m not like that at all——」

「Fufufu, isn’t that because you already think of me as a dear friend, Edinburgh?」

「A dear friend?」

「Huh? We are not? Was I the only one who was thinking that?」

Saying that, Emile suddenly took Edinburgh with both of her hands and began to turn around in place.

「I have been thinking that ever since that day when you suddenly asked me to teach you how to dance.」