Chapter 45
“I keep making things difficult, don’t I? It wasn’t on purpose…”
Erne’s voice trailed off, small and sheepish.
Windsor studied Noma and Ribera closely before waving off Erne’s apology.
“They’re your close friends, Your Highness. Especially Miss Noma—we’ve met once before, haven’t we?”
When he looked at her, Noma beamed and nodded energetically.
Erne marveled at the duke’s sharp eye for recognizing her.
“And this young lady here…?”
“She’s my twin sister, Duke,” Noma chirped cheerfully.
As Windsor glanced at Ribera’s long, flowing red hair, he let out a faint sigh.
“It’s already late. Why don’t you stay the night? We’ll prepare guest rooms for you.”
“Really? I feel awful for imposing so much,” Erne said quickly.
“You came all the way here in the middle of the night out of concern for Erne. Given the situation, I find your gesture touching. It’d be hard to send you away.”
Erne fiddled with her fingers, feeling more and more like a burden since arriving in the capital and into Windsor’s care.
She was a princess, after all—technically someone with plenty of power. How did she end up feeling so… insignificant? Her mind drifted down that path, and sure enough, it ended with him again: Derik. And her: Pasina. A familiar storm of bitterness brewed.
Scowling, Erne glared daggers at the culprits of this mess.
“Do you want to die?”
Her eyes screamed the unspoken threat loud and clear.
Hic! Noma and Ribera, realizing how their bold ambush had put Erne in an awkward spot, fell silent like two children caught red-handed.
“Erne, we really were thinking about you, you know…”
Noma offered a dazzling smile in an attempt to ease the tension, but was quickly cowed by a lethal glare.
“I think you should all get some rest first. I see now—you really are the princess’s friends. To march straight into the Duke of Douglas’s estate, bold as brass… remarkable.”
“Haha… right?” Noma scratched the back of her head, awkward smile frozen in place.
Sighing, Erne stepped in.
“This is a duke’s residence. What were you thinking coming here like this?”
Her voice dripped with reprimand, prompting Ribera to huff.
“Well, if we’d snuck in secretly, we’d probably have been quietly erased by the guards.”
A fair point. Erne couldn’t argue with that.
Still, to just show up like this, uninvited, without a word or even a signal… The gall of it left her speechless.
She was about to unleash her indignation when Noma, ever the peacemaker, jumped in again.
“Anyway, Erne, you did want to make contact with us, right?”
That was true… Erne bit her lip.
The raven had only just left. She cried out internally:
“That wasn’t supposed to be today!”
She had intended for their meeting to be discreet, covert—certainly not while she was still indebted to Windsor.
Opening her mouth to snap back, Erne was interrupted when Windsor raised a hand.
“Wait.”
All eyes turned to him.
With a grave expression, he addressed her.
“You say the princess wanted to contact you. Did she write a letter? Send someone outside?”
Caught off guard, Erne’s eyes widened like someone caught stealing.
“Uh… I did write a letter, but…”
“Did you send it through a servant? That’s strange. I haven’t received any report of that.”
He already knew what Erne had eaten today, when and where she had gone for a walk, the title of the storybook she’d read to Schucken earlier… He’d received all the reports on the way here.
But no one mentioned anything about her sending a letter outside the estate.
Naturally, Windsor found it odd.
Tilting his head, he waited. Erne, seeing no other choice, decided to come clean.
“I did send the letter outside, just… not through a servant.”
“Hm?”
“I gave it to… a raven.”
“…A raven?” Windsor’s sharp gaze narrowed.
Avoiding his eyes, Erne knew how suspicious this must sound.
“Yes… not a person, a bird.”
“A raven?”
“Haha…”
The net of interrogation was closing in. Feeling the pressure of Windsor’s piercing stare, Erne decided to pull out one of her hidden cards.
“It all began the moment I realized this novel was, in fact, a trash-tier soap opera…”
Steeling herself, she met Windsor’s eyes.
Behind his serious face, she could almost see Schucken—cute and soft—superimposed.
“The man destined to be this novel’s mastermind: Windsor. But thankfully, it seems he hasn’t turned to the dark side yet…”
She remembered Vanessa. The sunshine-filled days, the way Windsor was so genuine with the children.
She remembered how he let Selene scold him over miscolored crayon drawings, how he secretly ate the beans Ash hated.
They said a child reflects their caretaker. Schucken might be rough, but he was kind at heart. He tried. He was sweet.
“And Windsor came to find me for Schucken’s sake. That means—he must be a good father.”
Her thoughts organized, Erne raised her head to face him fully.
“Windsor. I have something to confess. Please… promise you won’t be too shocked.”
She remembered everything. Those warm days in Vanessa, where she could simply be “Yoon Da-eun,” not Princess Erne, not some extra in a novel.
And now… she was ready.
“What you’re thinking… it’s true.”
“…!” Windsor’s eyes shook.
If he was right… he didn’t care.
But could someone like Erne live safely in Neshard without being shunned or harmed? A thousand thoughts raced through his mind.
He clenched his jaw, determined.
If not, I’ll make it possible.
Misreading his serious look as expected, Erne nodded solemnly, offering an apologetic smile.
She hadn’t meant to deceive him, but somehow… it still felt like she had.
“And by what I’m thinking… do you mean…?” he began carefully.
“Yes. Hello. I’m the leader of the Raven Guild.”
“…Erne, are you… a Star-Chaser?”
“What?!”
“What?!”
Their voices overlapped in perfect confusion.
A complete misunderstanding.
Even the twins clicked their tongues at how out-of-sync they were.
＊＊＊
Erne spent the rest of the night explaining the Raven Guild to Windsor.
It had started with her, Noma, and Ribera.
Back when she realized she was stuck in a ridiculous, third-rate drama of a novel.
Back when she discovered her… unusual trait.
“Why do they follow you like that?”
Noma watched the familiar sight: Erne surrounded by a small flock of ravens in their forest hideout.
“It’s so weird. Every time you enter the forest, they come to greet you.”
“Aren’t they cute? I used to be terrified of them. But look at this one—it’s nuzzling me with its beak!”
At some point, they began circling above her whenever she entered the woods.
Then, they perched protectively above her on the trees.
Eventually, they curled up right beside her.
When Erne reached out to one, it calmly nestled into her lap.
That’s how their bond began.
Now, Coco rested quietly on her knee. Erne murmured,
“I need to get myself an insurance policy.”
“Insurance? Is that a new kind of snack?”
Time passed. And the more it did, the more Erne realized she couldn’t just sit still.
Neshard was going to fall. She was certain of it.
But she had no interest in getting tangled with powerful nobles, the heroine, or the male lead.
She was just an extra.
And she wasn’t about to screw everything up by meddling.
Her plan? Get rich. Leave the country.
She needed a solid plan and loads of capital.
“Noma. Ribera. Let’s start a business.”
“My mom says never trust a friend who wants to start a business with you,” Noma muttered.
Erne rolled her eyes, tossing back a sharp retort.
“Shut it. Are you in or not?”
“I’m in. If Erne’s doing it, so am I,” Ribera chimed in.
“Knew I could count on you! My sweet Ribera!”
“Ugh. Look at you two. Can’t we at least hear what kind of business this is before committing?”
Noma grumbled, but if Ribera was in, so was she.
Grinning, Erne pointed to Coco, now flapping its wings onto her head.
“Crows.”
“…Crows?”
They blinked. Erne beamed.
“A guild. We’re founding a guild.”
