"When I first met Elze and Linze they were being harassed by some bad guys." Touya began his story but was interrupted
"Stop talking about his?! Explain why you want to leave?" Angry, Yumina stopped caring about her image and wanted answers right away.
Touya didn't react much, one exasperated look was enough.
"I am trying to explain but if you don't want to listen to me then I won't bother and I'll just leave." As he talked he opened a gate.
"Why are you acting like this?"
All the girls felt the same but Yumina was the one with long terms plans, the one that had the most to lose.
Touya sighed. "Looks like you don't want me to explain since you keep interrupting me. Goodbye everyone."
"Stop!" Elze took matters into her own hands by grabbing Yumina's arms with one hand and covering her mouth with the other hand. "Continue. I'll keep Yumina quiet."
The king and queen wanted to stop Yumina as well but Elze was faster and more effective so despite muffled calls for help, they ignored their daughter.
"Okay, then. Like I said, I meet Linze and Elze first. They helped me with many things and I started to think of them as friends." Touya gave a warm look to the twins.
Both blushing, Elze looked away and Linze hid her face with her hands.
"Linze is gentle, shy, smart and dependable. She has a passion to learn magic and I'm sure she will become a great mage some day. She is also cute."
Being praised by the man she liked, Linze felt her face burning. Not only Touya's but all eyes were on her. She felt like they were looking deep into her soul and trying to see if what Touya said was true. All poor Linze could do is hide her face even more with her arms.
"Elze can be stubborn and not think before she acts. Some might think that is a flaw. I disagree. Sometimes a quick decision is necessary. The best example of that is in combat. There is no time to think things over when you're being attacked. That quick reaction to anything coming her way, her pure strength and her fearlessness is what makes her special."
All eyes on Elze this time made her blush even more and she started sweating. She was almost overwhelmed by wanting to run and hide. However, Touya leaving kept her in her spot. She was determined to find out what was going on and go with him, to secretly follow him in the worst case. Unable to move, she kept staring at the wall away from everybody.
"Later we met Yae. Even though she was facing multiple enemies who would do bad things to her she didn't give in. She puts her family first, values honor and will fight injustice. I appreciate her dedication the skills she chose to train. She will have outstanding achievements in the future."
Looking around for a place to hide, Yae's eyes flickered left and right making her feel dizzy. In the end she gave up and just smiled awkwardly.
"The last of the group, princess Yumina. Cute and innocent on the outside, cunning and clever on the inside. I've always liked honest people, especially honest girls and when it comes to being honest and forward, Yumina is the best. She doesn't hesitate to say what she wants. That alone takes courage, but that's not all, she then fights to get it and with her abilities she I sure to succeed. A worthy successor for the throne of Belfast."
Unlike the other 3, Yumina didn't look away, didn't hide. She enjoyed getting compliments from Touya and now that he was praising her in front of everybody she could barely hold back wanting to hug him and start planning their wedding.
"As you see, I enjoyed my time with these girls. They were good companions on adventures. Until this last adventure."
Pausing, Touya took a chair and sat down, leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees.
"The mission was simple, investigate a strange tower. The five of us got there, encountered some slimes, killed a bunch and kept going up. We found out that the old man living there dedicated his life to doing research on slimes. Although a strange thing to do, I didn't think much of it. We came to the last floor."
Touya sighed.
"That's when it happened. That's when I was betrayed by my companions."
"No! We didn't… It's not like that… We just…" Yumina took the chance to escape from Elze's grip and tried to justify their actions.
Touya, looked at her coldly. "You didn't what? You didn't attack me sneakily from behind knocking me out for no reason?"
The king and queen looked worriedly at their daughter. Yumina didn't deny it. Both parents gasped for air. Touya was the benefactor of the royal family healing not only the king but also restoring the king's sister-in-law's sight.
To think that Yumina who said she would marry Touya when she barely knew him, attacked him sneakily from the back was a hard blow. As royal family, the Belfast tried their best to be good rulers, being fair, treating good people well.
That's why their daughter, the pride and joy of their love attacking the person who she supposedly wanted to marry and who was such a great benefactor to the whole family seemed like a nightmare come true.
The king couldn't stay silent any longer. Yumina wasn't giving any explanation and Touya kept coldly staring at the girls.
"Touya, what happened?"
