WCDGS 03

The outside grew noisy, and all the guild members came into the room, knelt down, and wept as they mourned Auntie.

The funeral was held quietly. We buried Auntie on the guild grounds.

The reason I ended up living this kind of life was entirely because Auntie brought me here ten years ago.

Now that I’m free from the life I never wanted, I should feel relieved.

“…So why do I feel so awful?”

I pounded on my chest in frustration. I couldn’t make sense of the emotions swirling inside me.

When I was younger, I used to hate Auntie. I loathed her for forcing me into such grueling training and for putting me through all of it.

But ten years had changed a lot.

If Auntie hadn’t shown up after our parents died, who knows what would have happened to Seniel and me in that mountain?

In the end, I grew up fine, and Seniel was adopted into a noble family and is now living the life he wanted. So I guess that’s good enough.

I’m not thankful to Auntie, but I stopped hating her a long time ago.

I had always planned to repay her for tying me down to this place—but now she was gone, just like that.

“…Goodbye.”

In front of Auntie’s grave, I opened the bottle of liquor I’d brought.

“I’ll let this take the place of my tears. Drink all you want up there—your favorite.”

I poured out every drop of the alcohol by the grave when Railie came up beside me.

“Queen liked sweet wine more than strong liquor.”

“You don’t know. Her taste only got refined a few years ago. She used to love the strongest drinks.”

“Really? Well, if you say so. You knew her better than anyone.”

“…”

“What will you do, Prince? I want you to take over the guild. Everyone else feels the same.”

I silently set the now-empty bottle next to the grave and closed my eyes.

“I’m so tired of killing people.”

“A guild master doesn’t usually move themselves. You just give the orders. We’ll take care of the action.”

Auntie’s voice echoed in my head: “You’re a gentle child.”

‘Did she want me to leave all along?’

At first, I had no choice but to do this because of Auntie. But somewhere along the way, it became natural to me, like breathing.

These skills I’ve learned, this life I know—this is all I know. If I leave, what could I even do?

“…I need time to think. I’m taking a short vacation.”

“Where to?”

“I want to see my little brother.”

Just then, Sophia came running up to us and grabbed my pant leg, her eyes brimming with tears.

“They said Queen left the guild to you! But what happens to us if the guild master leaves? Are we disbanding or something?!”

Her tearful eyes reminded me of a puppy that had lost its owner. I almost wavered.

“Prince… you’re not really going to abandon us, are you?”

At the word abandon, a vein throbbed on my forehead.

“Then how about we all retire together? You, Railie, everyone else—you all love the guild. I don’t.”

Unlike me, who was dragged here by Auntie, the other guild members had joined willingly.

Raven may be notorious, but it’s also respected. Among the dark guilds, it’s the best.

Everyone was proud to be part of Raven.

So no one would want to see the guild shut down—except me.

“Then, Prince, how about this? You run a shop.”

“…A shop?”

I looked at Sophia like she’d just said something completely absurd.

“Yeah! A shop!”

Sophia grabbed both my hands and sparkled with enthusiasm as she explained.

“We already have one branch per region, right? We use them as contact points and for gathering information.”

“So?”

“You could take charge of one of them! If you don’t like the current ones, you can open a new one wherever you want.”

She seemed to think she’d come up with a clever solution, but I wasn’t moved at all.

“I don’t know…”

Seeing me unconvinced, Sophia leaned in closer and raised her voice.

“It’s the perfect way to live a normal life like you want, without cutting ties with us. Isn’t that good?”

“I’ll think about it.”

I brushed off Sophia’s hands and looked back at the bottle again.

Then Railie gently lifted my chin to meet her gaze.

“Go see your brother. I’ll hold things down here for as long as it takes. But in return…”

She paused briefly, her expression turning soft.

“Just come back. You’re our Prince. Queen’s successor. I believe you’ll come back.”

Railie leaned her forehead gently against mine, close enough for my reflection to show in her eyes.

I pulled back, then bumped our foreheads together again—this time, harder.

“You guys are too sentimental. Cut it out.”

“Ugh, that hurt. Rosia, your head’s way too hard!”

“I don’t care. I told you it’s a vacation! Why are you and Sophia being so serious?”

“Because it feels like you might not come back.”

I patted Railie on the shoulder—someone who resembled Auntie far more than I did—and stood up.

“Don’t worry. I’ll return with a decision.”

Only then did Sophia and Railie smile and let me go.

As I left the guild grounds, Sophia shouted after me.

“Wait! Aren’t you taking your sword?”

“You keep it. You always said you wanted it.”

“I didn’t mean it! That sword is your signature! Prince! Prrriince!”

After talking with Raven’s top two official naggers, my ears were still ringing. I shook my head to clear them.

Then I removed the mask I had worn like a second skin.

I couldn’t even remember the last time sunlight had touched my bare face.

What the past ten years in the guild had given me were—sharp skills, lethal assassination techniques, and physical prowess.

And… money.

Most of my pay had gone to Auntie, but she’d always left me a small cut.

Since I never spent it, Auntie had deposited it in the bank for me. It should’ve accumulated nicely.

“The bank’s in the capital, so I’ll visit Seniel first.”

Before going to meet him, I reviewed the regular reports I had received about Seniel.

“Multiple war engagements. Outstanding abilities. Graduated from the academy with top marks. Ranked in swordsmanship competitions. Served for years in the 2nd Prince’s private guard. Very high potential to join the Imperial Knights…”

If I lived in the shadows, Seniel walked completely in the light. Our lives couldn’t have been more different.

At the bottom of the report, someone had scribbled in red ink:

“P.S. Very popular.”

“What, just how popular is he?”

I brushed it off, gathered the papers, and placed them into an artifact.

“He’ll probably be shocked.”

Over the past ten years, Seniel and I had seen each other just once a year, for only two hours.

We’d never broken that rule. So showing up unannounced would definitely be a surprise.

I wondered if I’d just be intruding on the perfect life he had without me.

‘Still, I want to see him.’

Before I could decide what to do with my future, I had to meet Seniel.

—

After riding nonstop for an entire day, I finally arrived at the estate of the Freya family, who had adopted Seniel.

I settled into an inn near a busy square and immediately wrote a letter to send to him.

“Shell, take this to Seniel.”

I tied it to the leg of my raven, Shell, who had served as our connection for the past ten years, and sent him off.

Shell was smart—he’d deliver it for sure.

But seriously, people were getting way too curious about a stranger in the territory. I could feel their stares, and it was exhausting.

“Time to dull these senses too.”

The hyper-awareness I had developed for survival in my line of work was picking up everything around me.

I tried to forcefully shut it all out and collapsed onto the hard bed to rest from the long journey.

—

Seniel, meanwhile, was immersed in training for the Imperial Knights entrance exam, which was just two months away.

It had been a week since his last trip to the capital for training.

“Welcome back, sir. Did you get hurt anywhere?”

As the butler greeted him warmly, Seniel groaned and handed over his luggage.

“I’m covered in bruises. They made us climb mountains, cross rivers—do they think we’re beasts or what? I’m tempted to quit the exam altogether. Anyway, any important messages?”

“No, nothing in particular. Just piles of party invitations from various noble ladies. Over there.”

Seniel’s popularity was immense, and letters poured in from all over the empire.

Since he never cared about them, sorting out the important ones was the butler’s job.

“Just send polite refusals to all of them. Your call.”

Seniel glanced briefly at the pile of letters and went upstairs, saying he was exhausted.