It’s Sunny But I’m Depressed Chapter 27

When he seemed to be seriously contemplating, Otter quickly drove the point home.

 

“This is all for our kingdom.”

 

Again. The late king would be weeping in his grave… Our ancient kingdom of Rihue is on the brink of collapse… Whenever this rhetoric came up, Iago had no choice.

 

“Well, I’ll think about it for now.”

 

***

 

“So, it was that glasses-wearing Otter who said it?”

 

“Yes, yes. Otter said so.”

 

As soon as Otter, who had been nagging for a while, left the office, Iago hurried over to Ilena and spilled everything.

 

“What should I do now?”

 

Iago hugged a cushion gloomily.

 

“If I reject the plan, who knows what extreme measures Otter might take. And…”

 

“And?”

 

Ilena asked calmly, sipping the tea he had brewed.

 

“I don’t want to disappoint Otter anymore. He always struggles because of my shortcomings.”

 

Iago buried his face deep into the cushion. Ilena gazed at his round head. Just a moment ago, he was like a puppy wagging its tail, chattering about this and that, and now he was sulking again. He looked just like a big retriever.

 

Though his hair color was different from the golden retrievers she was used to seeing. Ilena felt an urge to stroke that sleek black hair.

 

‘I always wanted to have a retriever when I was young.’

 

When the sounds of her parents fighting echoed through the house or when she entered an empty house and turned on the lights in solitude. At those times, she wanted a big, gentle creature that would look only at her.

 

“You have a very loyal servant.”

 

When Ilena spoke while tilting her teacup, the round head peeking out from the cushion lifted slightly.

 

“…Yes. Though he goes astray sometimes, he’s a good person.”

 

Iago pressed his cheek against the cushion and smiled softly.

 

“Because Iago is a good leader, good servants stay by your side.”

 

“R-Really?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Ilena said calmly and took another sip of tea. Iago, glancing at her cautiously, asked, “Ilena, don’t you hate Otter? Even after all those cruel things he did?”

 

“No, not at all. He’s just doing his role.”

 

Ilena said calmly. People who do their best in their roles aren’t hateful. What’s annoying are those who freeload on others’ efforts. Ilena held her teacup and fell into thought for a moment. Then she suddenly spoke.

 

“What about you, Iago?”

 

“Huh? What do you mean?”

 

Iago, who was happily munching on cookies after her compliment, perked up his ears and asked. Ilena slowly put down her teacup and spoke.

 

“Don’t you dislike me?”

 

Iago’s mouth dropped open. At the same time, the cookie he was holding fell to the floor with a thud.

 

“W-What are you talking about?”

 

Did she say something so shocking? He looked as if such an absurd statement couldn’t exist in the world.

 

“You brought the priestess here, but she’s broken.”

 

Ilena said, looking at the floor with a calm face.

 

“You must have wanted to make it rain in this desert quickly. I’m sorry.”

 

“Ilena, why are you apologizing to me?”

 

At the unexpectedly firm voice ringing in her ears, Ilena looked up at Iago with slightly surprised eyes. The rabbit munching on cookies was gone, and the black king of the desert, full of majesty, was sitting there.

 

“Well…”

 

Caught off guard by the sudden change, Ilena trailed off. Iago looked down at her with his purple eyes and spoke gently.

 

“Catching a cold isn’t the fault of the person who caught it.”

 

“…”

 

“It’s not Ilena’s fault that you’re sick.”

 

Ah, again. Ilena sat quietly, swallowing the emotions rising from deep within her chest.

 

‘Yes. This is what I wanted to hear back then.’

 

And she realized. When she had confided to someone about her depression. She wanted to hear that it was okay. That this darkness wouldn’t last forever. And more than anything, she wanted to hear, ‘It’s not your fault.’

 

“But…”

 

Ilena said with a dark expression.

 

“What about the ‘Make the Priestess Cry Grand Plan’? I have to cry for it to rain in this desert.”

 

“Hmm. I was thinking about it alone yesterday.”

 

Iago, who had been nodding with a serious face, suddenly asked an unexpected question.

 

“Are you sure the priestess’s power is really influenced by the emotions Ilena feels?”

 

“Huh? …What do you mean?”

 

Ilena asked blankly, taken aback by the unexpected question.

 

“The priestess appeared suddenly with the abnormal climate ten years ago. We don’t know much about the priestess. The little we know was either told by the north or secretly found out through spies. …But maybe the premise was wrong from the start.”

 

Iago looked directly at Ilena, who wore a dazed expression, and opened his mouth.

 

“Ilena, you said you have amnesia and don’t remember much.”

 

“Yes, but…”

 

‘Well, it was just like that in the novel…’

 

Come to think of it, nothing in the novel matched, from the male lead to the dark plot, so it wasn’t certain that the settings were correct either. While Ilena was still reeling from the unexpected shock, Iago continued with another bombshell.

 

“Maybe it’s not that all the emotions Ilena feels affect the weather, but rather when Ilena ‘can’t control’ her emotions that it affects the weather?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Ilena, who was endlessly dull about matters related to emotions, blinked blankly, unable to understand. For her, Iago slowly explained.

 

“People’s emotions change several times a day, don’t they? Sometimes moods change within minutes. But the weather doesn’t change every time.”

 

“…Come to think of it.”

 

Until now, the weather had reflected her emotions during the lightning in the underground torture chamber, the sandstorm in the desert, and the dark clouds covering the sky. Each appeared when she couldn’t control her anger, loneliness, and depression.

 

On the other hand, during the conversation with Regolus, she wasn’t that angry, yet she could control the sound of thunder at will.

 

“Really, it might be.”

 

While Ilena was bewildered by the unexpected story, Iago’s face gradually filled with conviction.

 

“Yes. So if you can control your emotions, Ilena, you can make it rain with the priestess’s power without having to cry!”

 

“But… it’s just a hypothesis. It’s not certain.”

 

“Still, we should try!”

 

Iago looked incredibly refreshed, as if a burden had been lifted. He declared with a firm tone full of righteous conviction.

 

“It was wrong from the start that someone had to be sad for someone else to be happy.”

 

“But… but.”

 

“Ilena, you said you didn’t want to return to the north. Let’s try to treat your depression here with me!”

 

“But how…?”

 

Unlike his certainty, Ilena asked in an anxious tone. There were no medicines or doctors here. She had long given up on curing her depression. Iago spread his arms wide and spoke passionately.

 

“I’ve thought of a way! It’s the ‘Happiness Grand Plan’!”

 

“…What?”

 

Happiness. Ilena hesitated at that piercingly unfamiliar word.

 

“Every day, we’ll do one enjoyable thing together. It’s hard to be happy every day, but it’s easy to create one happy thing each day.”

 

Iago extended his large hand towards her with a confident expression.

 

“You can do it, Ilena. Let’s become happy together.”

 

Ilena momentarily lost her words and stared at that hand. It seemed to hold everything she had ever longed for. Warmth, comfort, acceptance, peace. Ilena reached out to Iago’s hand, which radiated warmth like the sun, as if drawn by a magnet.

 

But just before she touched that warmth, Ilena hesitated, stopping her outstretched hand and lowering her head.

 

‘…Thread?’

 

Thick spiderweb-like threads were wrapped around her hands and feet.

 

‘What is this?’

 

As she stared blankly and tried to reach out again, the thread suddenly buzzed and emitted sounds.

 

“Always be calm. Never show weakness to others!”

 

Her grandfather’s voice.

 

“Why is she being so troublesome today? Go ask the lady over there to play.”

 

Her mother’s cold voice, always pushing her away when she tried to cling.

 

“A girl showing off. So greedy.”

 

“Ugh. Such a strong-willed woman.”

 

Her brothers’ mocking and belittling voices.

 

“Always ungrateful…”

 

“President, the company’s debt after the last global launch failure…”

 

“Even though her grandfather passed away, how could she be so heartless?”

 

“Ilena?”

 

“…Huh?”

 

At the gentle voice calling her, Ilena snapped back to reality. She rubbed her arms with both hands, but of course, there was no spiderweb. It was an illusion. Just the sticky illusion of her past binding her.

 

“Ah.”

 

As she let out a single, hollow sigh, Iago rose with a face ready to cry and embraced her.

 

“It’s okay. Whether you cry or not.”

 

“…”

 

“It’s not your fault.”

 

It’s okay. It’s okay. He repeated those words like a mantra. His firm embrace and the comforting words whispered in her ear were all warm. That warmth melted something frozen inside her.