The Wise Man's Grandson Volume 2 extra chapter

Extra chapter 

I confessed to Sicily, she accepted, and we became a couple.

It was an overwhelmingly joyful moment for me, and it seemed the research society was thrilled too. They gathered in a large room to celebrate.

“Well, it’s kinda weird. We’ve seen them being all lovey-dovey forever, so hearing they’re officially a couple doesn’t quite hit,” Maria said.

“It’d feel more natural if they said, ‘We’re engaged!’” Alice added.

“E-Engaged!?” Sicily stammered, flustered by Alice’s words.

I’m somewhat prepared for that. After all, Sicily’s the daughter of a viscount family.

Even in the Earlshide Kingdom, where love matches are fairly accepted, there’s a certain level of propriety expected.

That aside, the girls were showering Sicily with congratulations, but I was more curious about the others.

“By the way, I saw them today for the first time, but Aug and Ellie have known each other forever. Did Aug propose himself, or was it arranged by their parents?” Shin asked.

At that, Aug froze.

“…Does it matter? Today’s about you and Claude, isn’t it?” Aug deflected.

“C’mon, I’m curious. How did Aug propose?” Shin pressed.

Perhaps because they’d never dared ask about a royal and ducal engagement before, the others perked up with interest.

“Yeah! I wanna know how the always-cool, teasing Highness got engaged to Elisabeth-sama!” Alice said, raising her hand enthusiastically.

“…It’s not a big deal. We played together a lot as kids. When it was time to choose a fiancée, I picked Ellie because we were closest,” Aug said, sounding embarrassed.

That’s…

“That’s it…? August-sama… when you said on the palace terrace, ‘It has to be you,’ was that a lie?” Ellie said, her eyes welling up.

See! That’s what happens when you say it like that!

Aug panicked as Ellie teared up.

“N-No way! I just brushed it off because Shin was being annoying!” Aug said.

“Annoying!? That’s harsh!” Shin protested.

“Not harsh! Look! You made Ellie cry!”

“It’s clearly your fault!” Shin retorted.

Aug’s blame-shifting is ruthless!

“…You two really are close, aren’t you?” Ellie said.

Danger! Her suspicions about us are flaring up again!

“N-No way! That’s just how guys are, right? Anyway, when did you meet Aug?” Shin asked, redirecting.

“It’s already amazing you can talk to August-sama like that… Let’s see, I met August-sama when I was five, at a children’s debut event for noble families,” Ellie said.

Children’s debut? What’s that?

Confused, Shin looked to Sicily, a fellow noble.

“Oh, Shin-kun wouldn’t know. Nobles and royals hold debut events for their children at five. It’s so they can build relationships in high society from a young age, fostering trust,” Sicily explained.

“Oh, cool,” Shin said.

“Maria and I were neighbors, so we knew each other earlier, but I met His Highness and Elisabeth-sama at that event,” Sicily said.

“So the noble group are all like childhood friends?” Shin asked.

“Pretty much. I’ve known everyone since we were little,” Mark said.

“Thor used to get mistaken for a girl a lot,” Maria teased.

“Oh, yeah, that happened,” Sicily giggled.

“Hey! Don’t dig up my dark past!” Thor protested.

The noble group got caught up reminiscing about their childhood.

“Wow, that’s nice. When I was five… I was hunting deer in the forest…” Shin said.

A total wild child with zero friends.

I didn’t think much of it back then, but hearing them bond over childhood memories makes me… well, pretty jealous.

“Oh… s-sorry! That was thoughtless of us in front of Shin-kun…” Sicily said.

“Nah, I’m not bothered. You’re all my friends now. I’m just a bit jealous of the ‘childhood friend’ vibe,” Shin said.

“We were jealous of Shin-dono’s environment, but for Shin-dono, it’s the opposite, huh?” Mark said.

“I only started feeling that way recently. Anyway, what happened after you met? Tell me more,” Shin said.

“When I first met August-sama at the debut, he was surrounded by girls… I couldn’t get close,” Ellie said.

“Yeah, that’s how it was,” Maria said nostalgically.

“I was too scared to join them…” Sicily added.

“Scared?” Shin asked.

“Even at five, girls are girls. Their parents probably told them to ‘win over August-dono.’ It was all about outdoing each other, pulling each other down. They tried to flirt, I guess, but at five… even to me back then, it was laughable,” Maria explained.

“I genuinely thought it was better to stay away than get involved,” Ellie said.

A five-year-old girl desperately trying to show off.

To someone with a particular fetish, that might be a reward, but…

“How was it for the guy on the receiving end?” Shin asked.

“Awful. Getting fawned over by girls I barely knew, with their weird attempts to appeal to me… I seriously swore I’d never talk to those girls again,”

So it completely backfired… Aug did mention before that nothing’s more annoying than being surrounded by strangers.

“A few of us, including me, didn’t approach August-sama. Then August-sama came to talk to me himself,” Ellie said.

“Were there others? I thought it was just Ellie,” Aug said.

“Sicily and I were there, but Sicily got swarmed by boys and looked like she wanted to escape, so we left early,” Maria explained.

“Oh? So if you’d stayed, one of you might’ve been Aug’s fiancée?” Shin asked.

“Probably not. I thought being near August-dono was too much hassle, and Sicily didn’t even know what love was until she met Shin,” Maria said.

“Huh? Really?” Shin asked.

“Hey, Maria! Why’d you say that!?” Sicily protested.

“C’mon, it’s fine. Having your first love come true is super lucky,” Maria said.

“Th-That’s a different matter!” Sicily stammered.

“So, Sicily, you too, huh?” Shin said.

“Huh? ‘Too’?” Sicily asked.

“You and Maria were the first people my age I ever met in this world. Of course it’s my first love,” Shin said.

Now that I think about it, it’s my first love in this world.

The closest woman to my age was Kris-nee-chan, but she was so curt and always bickering with Sieg-nii-chan… I only saw her as a hopeless older sister.

Plus, this feeling is like my first love from my past life.

No specific reason… just helplessly, hopelessly in love.

“Knowing there wasn’t anyone you loved before me… is it weird that it makes me happy?” Shin asked.

“It’s not weird! I’m happy too… knowing there wasn’t anyone before me!” Sicily said.

“Sicily…” Shin said softly.

“Shin-kun…” Sicily replied.

“You kids, young men and women shouldn’t be in the same room late at night,” Merida said, suddenly barging in.

Startled, Shin and Sicily reflexively pulled away from each other.

This room, meant for large groups, had six beds.

We’d been sitting on them to talk, but maybe sitting together on a bed was a problem?

“You’ve got training tomorrow, right? Stop making a racket and get to bed,” Merida said, delivering a brief lecture before leaving.

“Got scolded by Grandma,” Shin said.

“Should we head back to our rooms?” Sicily asked.

“Huh? We haven’t heard the main part yet,” Shin said.

“Main part?” Sicily asked.

“How Aug proposed,” Shin clarified.

“Ugh…” Aug groaned.

“Um… do we have to talk about it?” Ellie asked nervously.

“I wanna hear it! A royal and high noble love story? It’s straight out of a romance novel! You don’t get to hear this every day!” Alice said eagerly.

Man, she’s fearless with a royal and high noble. Has she gotten too used to Aug?

“I told you to be casual, but I didn’t expect you to pry this much,” Aug said, slightly regretting his earlier words.

Still, it’s better than having weird walls between research society members.

“So? Why Ellie?” Shin asked.

“From what I heard, there were others, but to me, Ellie was the only one who didn’t seem to be sucking up to me. That piqued my interest, so I talked to her…” Aug said.

“And got brutally rejected,” 

“She said, ‘Getting involved with Your Highness seems like a hassle.’ I still remember it,” Thor added.

“P-Please stop… that was when I was five…” Ellie said, embarrassed.

“I never dreamed I’d hear something like that. So I started thinking about how to win her over,” Aug said.

Aug and his group looked nostalgic, while Ellie seemed mortified.

Wow, five-year-olds are fearless.

Well, she probably got away with it because she was a kid.

“She wouldn’t open up to me at first. It wasn’t even about liking her—it was just stubbornness,” Aug said.

“No matter how many times I refused, he kept inviting me to tea parties and such… Eventually, I felt bad always declining, so I accepted,” Ellie said.

Oh, Aug’s persistence paid off.

“At the tea party, August-sama greeted me with a huge smile… I remember my heart racing for no reason,” Ellie said.

“I was just thrilled she finally accepted my invitation,” Aug said.

A huge smile? From Aug?

“…All I can picture is that shady grin he gets when he finds something to tease me about…” Shin said.

“…That was my childhood,” Aug said defensively.

“He was like that even back then. But in front of me, His Highness showed a genuine smile… That contrast might’ve done me in,” Ellie said.

“Ellie was different from other noble girls. She had a clear sense of self. The way she looked at the noisy, trendy girls with cold eyes left an impression,” Aug said.

“So… Aug fell for Ellie’s icy stare?” Shin asked.

…Is Aug an M…?

“You’re imagining something weird, aren’t you? It’s not that! I fell for her strong will, which set her apart from the other girls!” Aug said passionately.

Wow, a royal declaring his love so boldly.

“A-August-sama… in front of everyone…” Ellie said, blushing.

“…Forget you heard that,” Aug said.

“No way, that’s too rare to forget,” Shin said.

“Yeah, impossible!” Alice agreed.

“So? How’d you propose?” Shin pressed.

“…That’s a secret between us,” Aug said.

“Boo! He dodged it!” Alice said.

“Please, have mercy… I want to keep that a secret between us…” Ellie pleaded.

Fair enough.

I was just curious, so hearing their history is good enough.

I never thought I’d actually get this much.

“By the way, what about Bean and Stone? You two are childhood friends, right? When did you start dating?” Aug asked, redirecting.

“Whoa! It’s coming for us!” Mark exclaimed.

“Sicily and I heard some of it from Olivia already,” Maria said.

“Hehe, I was so jealous when I heard,” Sicily added.

“We haven’t heard it. Spill it,” Aug said.

“An interrogation, huh?” Mark said.

Having been thoroughly teased, Aug was hunting for new targets.

Mark and Olivia were the only ones left, making them perfect prey.

“Uh, well… Olivia and I grew up nearby, so we played together a lot,” Mark said.

“Just normal kid stuff. Playing with the neighborhood kids, boys and girls clashing, then playing together again,” Olivia said.

“And… I’d always liked her, but when we got to middle academy, we drifted apart a bit…” Mark said.

“Then we found out we both had magic aptitude, so we started taking basic magic classes together,” Olivia said.

“Seeing Olivia up close after so long… she’d become so beautiful…” Mark said.

“Mark had gotten really handsome too…” Olivia said.

“But, like… when you’ve known someone since you were kids, you get stubborn or can’t be honest,” Mark said.

“Handsome Mark was pretty popular. I thought, ‘Oh, he’ll probably date some other girl,’” Olivia said.

“Olivia was… really popular at her middle academy too. When I heard rumors she might date some other guy… I couldn’t stand it and confessed, and we started dating,” Mark said.

…So sweet! What a bittersweet youthful romance!

It’s making me blush just hearing it!

“It’s like… the textbook middle academy love story,” Maria said.

“It’s all stuff you’d read in a novel… I’m so jealous,” Sicily said.

Maria and Sicily, who’d already heard from Olivia, looked at Mark and Olivia with envy.

The others, especially the girls, seemed jealous too.

“Compared to that, our story doesn’t feel very normal,” Shin said.

Our meeting was full of chaos, after all.

“Shin and Sicily’s case… it’s not something you’d read in a story…” Aug said.

“It’s stuff you’d only read in a story…” Thor added.

“Shin-nii-chan’s amazing! I want a meeting like that too!” May said.

“…Hey, I just thought… with His Highness and Shin, why was I never chosen?” Maria asked.

…

Everyone averted their eyes at Maria’s question.

Despite being there for both Aug’s and Shin’s meetings, Maria never got a romantic flag…

“A prince of a kingdom, the grandson of a hero… to miss every single chance like that… what am I?” Maria said, dejected.

“C’mon, cheer up, Maria! I never even had those chances!” Alice said.

“Me neither,” Lynn added.

Alice and Lynn, stung by their own words, started sulking.

…What a tragic self-destruct…

“What about Yuri? You’ve probably had a boyfriend or two, right?” Maria asked.

“Hm? Hehe, well…” Yuri said, winking one eye.

“It’s a s-e-c-r-e-t,” she teased.

“Yuri, that’s unfair…” Maria said.

“Shh!” Shin said, cutting off Alice as she tried to press Yuri.

He’d noticed something and put a finger to his lips, signaling everyone to be quiet.

Footsteps echoed from the hallway beyond the door.

This is bad!

Shin signaled with his eyes, and everyone hurriedly dove into their beds.

“You kids! That’s enough!” Merida bellowed, kicking the door open with enough force to break it.

“Hm? They’re all in bed…” she said.

They’d pulled the sheets over themselves just in time, but…

“Phew… did we fool her?” Shin whispered, peeking out to check.

“Ah… n…” a soft, suggestive voice came from beneath him.

…Uh-oh.

When they’d realized Merida was coming, they’d all dove into the beds they were sitting on.

The person Shin had been sitting with was…

“…Sicily?” Shin whispered.

“Y… Yes,” Sicily replied.

As expected, Shin had ended up in the same bed as Sicily.

In his haste to cover them with the sheet, he’d pushed her down onto the bed…

“S-Sorry. I’m heavy… right?” Shin asked.

“N… No… it’s not… ah, that…” Sicily said, her voice shaky.

Shin was currently pinning Sicily down…

What’s going on? Sicily’s making those suggestive sounds every now and then.

Their position—Shin had pushed Sicily face-down and covered them with the sheet, holding her from behind.

And… where were his hands?

He moved to check.

“Ah! Nn!” Sicily gasped, her voice taking on a sultry tone.

Oh no.

Shin’s hand was trapped between Sicily’s ample chest and the bed!

Even the slightest movement meant he was rubbing her chest! And from the feel of it, since she’d already bathed, she wasn’t wearing any undergarments.

To make matters worse, one of Shin’s legs was wedged between Sicily’s, making it… not exactly lucky, but impossible to move without causing a scene, all while trapped under the sheet!

Merida was still in the room. Making a loud noise would reveal they were awake… or worse, get them in trouble for what they were doing.

Even if he claimed it was an accident, would Merida buy it?

For now, they had to stay still and endure until Merida left.

Using [Mana Detection], Shin sensed… oh no, Merida was checking each bed one by one.

If he moved, Sicily might make a sound. But the heat trapped under the sheet was intense…

To avoid putting his full weight on Sicily, Shin propped himself up like he was doing a push-up, keeping just a slight distance.

But if he lifted too far, the sheet would bulge, so he could only hover slightly. In this heat, holding this position was brutal!

“N… nn…” Sicily whimpered.

“S-Sorry…” Shin whispered.

The heat and strain made him shift slightly, and his hand brushed against sensitive spots on Sicily’s chest or hips.

Sicily, trying not to make noise, seemed to be biting the sheet.

Her earnest effort… it tugged at Shin’s heart.

Merida’s presence was almost at their bed. Holding his breath and staying perfectly still, Shin waited for her to pass.

Finally, after checking all the beds, Merida moved away.

Confirming this, Shin, unable to maintain the grueling position, slowly collapsed beside Sicily.

“Ah… n… Shin-kun…” Sicily said, breathless.

The heat and lack of air under the sheet had left both Shin and Sicily slightly oxygen-deprived, clouding their thoughts.

In his dazed state, Shin realized Sicily was still in his arms as he lay on his side.

The softness of her body…

The amazing scent coming from her, amplified by the heat…

The heat and oxygen deprivation made the sensation too overwhelming for his foggy mind.

“Sicily…” Shin murmured.

“Ah… Shin-kun…” Sicily replied.

Her softness and scent overwhelmed his senses, and unable to hold back his feelings, Shin hugged her tightly.

“…I love you… Sicily…” he whispered into her ear.

The atmosphere must’ve made her imagine what could come next.

“N… No… we haven’t even kissed yet…” Sicily said softly.

But her body was completely relaxed, making it clear her words were just a token protest.

Unrejected, Shin tightened his embrace, pressing their bodies closer.

“Ha… Sicily… you’re so cute…” Shin said.

“Oh… Shin-kun… it’s hot…” Sicily murmured.

“What are you two doing!?” Merida roared, ripping off the sheet.

The sudden exposure cleared Shin’s oxygen-deprived mind as fresh air flooded in.

Huh? What was I doing?

As he tried to process, he noticed the figure before him.

There stood Merida, sheet in hand, with the face of a monster.

“You two… you just started dating today, and you’re already trying to cross that line!?” she bellowed.

We weren’t going to…

Well, no. In that atmosphere, we might’ve gone all the way…

“Man… I thought you were really gonna go for it,” 

“That was thrilling!” 

“Sicily… going further and further…” 

“Eek! Eek! Shin-kun and Sicily are naughty!” May chirped.

Looking around, Shin realized it wasn’t just Merida. The entire group had gotten out of their beds and surrounded theirs.

Seriously!?

In front of everyone… what were we doing?

…This is bad… I can’t even look at their faces from embarrassment.

Sicily was curled up, bright red, covering her face and trembling slightly, clearly mortified.

“You two, sit right there!” Merida ordered.

For the next hour, Merida lectured them both.

“Um, shouldn’t we just go to bed…?” Shin mumbled.

“…You’ve got some guts,” Merida said.

Shin’s lecture got extended another hour.