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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 3 Chapter 4 Part 9

Oh wow, what a dazzling smile she has, Edinburgh thought at that time.

Edinburgh felt like she was about to be seriously overwhelmed by her invincible smile that she was showing so brightly.

Honestly, Emile Bertin did not seem like a bad person at all.

After her brooding for some time, Edinburgh finally, in a quiet voice, poured her own frustrations out.

「Actually…… I was just about to give up a certain dream that I had with me for a really long time now.」

「Well, that’s not good.」

Emile immediately responded in earnest.

Even Edinburgh was stunned by how quick her reaction was.

「You must never give up on your dreams, no matter how great the hardships may be. There’s more hope today than yesterday in the world, and more hope tomorrow is going to be there than today.」

「Wait a minute! I haven’t even elaborated on what’s going on yet……!」

「Well, I will be with you no matter what. You can still do it. Never give up!」

「How come that you are able to say something like that to someone else with such confidence?」

Edinburgh unintentionally lashed out at Emile Bertin in a fit of rage.

However, Emile Bertin responded to her unreasonable anger with a bright and warm smile on her face.

「Because the look on your face says it all. This is a look of someone who knows full well that they do not want to give up just yet.」

Saying that, Emile Birtin separated from Edinburgh for a moment, spinning around towards her left side.

She slowly stretched her hand towards the lights hanging from the ceiling of the front porch, and then she made a vivid turn on the spot while her eyes were positively glimmering with bright light.

「I happen to know something that is going to cheer you up right away. Please look at this, Edinburgh Edinburgh ——」

It was like Emile Bertin was actually a fairy, not a shipgirl.

Emile Bertin danced so splendidly and so gracefully that even without her glasses Edinburgh was able to see that and think that with an utmost certainty. As she moved on and on around the front porch, she was using every last bit of space that was available to her, an action that would make it easy to forget just how narrow and limiting that space really was. As for Edinburgh, she was unable to take her eyes off of the Iris Libre shipgirl, that was just how bold and at the same time delicate her every single move was.

「Amazing…… How can you dance so well. Emile?」

Emile looked at Edinburgh with amusement, not stopping with her dancing as she let out another bright and warm smile in the direction of the maid.

「Rather than being something that you need to consciously think about at all times, dancing is something that springs from one’s heart. So as long as you have love and passion burning brightly inside of you, that is all that you are ever going to need —— 」

Once Edinburgh heard Emile Bertin say that, she could not help it but to gasp in a sudden realization.

If she was able to learn how to dance just like the shipgirl right in front of her, she could dance perfectly even with her eyes closed at all times.

Because right now Emile Bertin was doing just that. She was dancing with her eyes closed, but even so, not even once did she fall outside of the front porch, or run into Edinburgh by accident. As for the maid herself, she could only stare at her fellow shipgirl with blank amazement written all over her face.

「Amazing…… that’s seriously amazing.」

As Edinburgh was just standing there utterly stunned, she could only repeat the words that were surfacing in her mind, without even realizing what she was doing.

If she was really able to dance with her eyes closed like that, she should be able to dance at the ball even without her glasses.

Emile Bertin’s dancing ability was undeniably the real deal, and the proof of it was that even though she was dancing completely freely and without any choreography, Edinburgh was utterly captivated by the way in which she was moving. And seeing her like that, there was no way that she could remain silent for much longer.

「Umm.」

Before she even knew it, Edinburgh found herself addressing Emile Bertin with a voice filled with admiration.

「I wonder if I can dance like that too…… Emile, -san.」

「Please, no need for formalities. I would much rather prefer it if you were to call me Emile.」

After Emile asked Edinburgh to just drop all formalities and refer to her by her name only, she continued speaking, even though Edinburgh seemed to be rather overwhelmed by her request.

「Of course, anyone can dance if they really want to do it. Because you see, dancing is something that comes from within oneself. It is not something that is solely limited to having talent for it or memorizing the right steps and techniques.」

「Then please, I beg of you Emile-sa…… Emile.」

Edinburgh looked at Emile with her hands placed upon her chest.

—— There are some things that just can’t be helped, Nee-san.

At that moment, those exact words of Belfast echoed loudly inside of Edinburgh’s head.

It was a situation that must have happened last year, towards the end of the year, she thought. There was this one time when Edinburgh tried to make a stuffed animal plushie all on her own, so that she could decorate their room with. However, since the sewing process was not going quite the way that she envisioned it, she just decided to ultimately give up and not bother with it anymore.

—— Ah well, I guess I will just leave it all to Bel to finish it. She is bound to succeed, for sure. Besides, there is no way that I would be able to make it nearly as perfectly as she would.

Actually, I was supposed to make it until the end, but I gave up halfway and handed it over to Belfast.

Now, even after all this time, she could vividly recall that situation. She saw Kent and Suffolk right next to her, but they did not say anything to her, either.

—— I guess it cannot be helped, Nee-san. Please watch closely now. This is how you do it properly.

Saying so, Belfast splendidly sewed the stuffed animal into completion.

——Even if you can’t do it perfectly, Nee-san, as long as you put effort into it and try really hard, your feelings will come across to the recipient for sure.

However, looking at her gestures and the way in which Belfast was moving perfectly, Edinburgh was utterly stunned and shocked.

Seeing the finished stuffed animal reminded her of the difference between her and her sister, a great pit that was separating them from one another.

It was always like this, every single time. Edinburgh would be ready to give up the very moment she would stumble a little bit.

But since everyone would always tell her that it was fine and that there was nothing to worry about because of that, Edinburgh never expected all that much from herself in the first place.

—— I was worried whether I would be able to dance properly by the time the ball comes around.

The words of Sheffield the other day were a clear proof of that.

But that wasn’t enough.

No matter how much time would pass, this hazy mood inside of her mind and chest would simply not clear up no matter what.

「I am…… I am nowhere near as perfect as my little sister. I know that this is the case, and that there is no use denying that fact. …… But still,」

At that moment Edinburgh made her decision. She was going to dance at the ball of her dreams. No matter what was supposed to happen..

After all, it was her precious dream. And there was no way that she was just going to give up on it just like that.

It would seem that Emile Bertin’s words were just the words Edinburgh needed to hear in order to pull herself together. Just the right amount of motivation.

「Emile, I have a favor I need to ask of you. I want you to teach me how to dance. But I don’t want you to teach me just to dance. I want you to teach me to dance so that I can pull it off with my eyes closed!」

Edinburgh said those words while clenching her fists really hard, so much that her knuckles all turned white.

「And then I will…… I am sure that I will no longer feel the need to belittle myself so much…… I will make sure to be such a version of myself that I will learn to both like and love.」