Let us start here, from square one. No, from Zero!

util/resutils.h

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <windows.h>
+#include <string>
+
+namespace resutil {
+
+    const char* load_file(int name, LPCSTR type, DWORD* size);
+    std::string load_file_string(int name, LPCSTR type=RT_RCDATA);
+    std::string load_file_string_crlf(int name, LPCSTR type=RT_RCDATA);
+}