It’s Sunny But I’m Depressed Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Villain is a Rabbit (4)

 

 As soon as Ilena left the kitchen, she hurried back to her room.

 

‘Ugh… I’m so tired… My head feels foggy…’

 

Even though she hadn’t done much, her whole body felt heavy and exhausted, as if she’d just run a marathon. The moment she returned to her room, she threw herself onto the bed. A sense of relief spread through her body as if she had finally reached where she belonged.

 

‘Ah, so cozy.’

 

Soft and warm. Whenever the damp and gloomy feeling of depression enveloped her, she longed for something warm to embrace her like this.

 

‘Yes, I wanted to live in a world without pain, soft and fluffy, just like this blanket.’

 

With that thought, Ilena fell into a deep sleep.

 

***

 

“Wake up!”

 

Ilena opened her eyes groggily to Andre’s loud voice.

 

“My goodness. How can you sleep so much without even having dinner! You need to get up and have breakfast now!”

 

“Ugh. I don’t need to eat…”

 

“Oh, no, no. What are you saying! Eat first and then you can go back to sleep!”

 

‘Oh. I’ve heard this line a lot in dramas.’

 

Ilena thought absentmindedly as she got up with Andre’s help. Eat first and then sleep! She had seen many scenes in dramas where a middle-aged woman with curly hair would smack her child’s back, saying such things. She always found it fascinating, wondering if every household was like that when she watched dramas.

 

The mansion she lived in was incredibly large and impeccably clean, yet it always felt desolate. She heard her parents had a typical arranged marriage common among the wealthy. Her mother was only interested in her art gallery business and never cared about what Ilena ate or thought.

 

Her two brothers were always wary of their sister, who had better business acumen than they did.

 

“The chairman is really something. Including a woman in the heir training. There are two perfectly good grandsons above her.”

 

“Women are too emotional. Not suitable for big responsibilities.”

 

“Exactly. All the directors are men; would they follow a female chairman?”

 

So, she tried even harder. Being emotional because she’s a woman. Being weak because she’s a woman. Being clueless about the world as a third-generation chaebol. Being incompetent because she’s a parachute. She suppressed and hid her emotions even more, hearing the whispers behind her back.

 

‘Being emotional is weak. Weakness is bad, and it should never be revealed to anyone.’

 

She kept repeating this to herself, pushing herself to the brink. And that’s how she ended up like this. Ilena looked at the sky full of dark clouds with a bitter smile.

 

“I really don’t have an appetite… huh?”

 

What is this? Something clattered at Ilena’s feet as she forced herself out of bed.

 

“Oh. I saw something like that left at the door this morning.”

 

Andre, who was setting the table for breakfast, explained as he saw what Ilena had picked up. It was a transparent crystal bottle with a cute rabbit-shaped lid.

 

“It came with this note.”

 

Andre handed over a small note that had been on the table next to the bed.

 

“Apply to the eyes.”

 

The writing was unfamiliar, but she could read it effortlessly.

 

‘Who gave this?’

 

Ilena examined the unnecessarily cute crystal bottle, puzzled. The only ones who knew about yesterday were the Black King and that snappy attendant. It couldn’t possibly be the attendant.

 

‘Then the Black King? …No, it can’t be.’

 

Recalling his cold and imposing demeanor, Ilena shook her head.

 

‘Who could it be?’

 

Last night, she was unusually depressed. And on nights when the gloom deepened, she always felt as if the moon and stars had disappeared. It felt as lonely as walking through a pitch-black night alone. Thinking that someone had been worried about her last night made her heart flutter a little.

 

“Hurry, hurry! You must have breakfast! Do you know how bad it is for your health to skip breakfast? No picky eating either! I’ll check everything, okay? After eating, we’ll do a massage and then go for a walk.”

 

Like a ‘nagging mom’ from a drama, Andre kept chattering. Ilena sighed with a smile, getting out of bed reluctantly.

 

***

 

“Your skin is really smooth, Priestess.”

 

“…Is it? …Ah, that feels good.”

 

From the separate palace where Ilena stayed, unfamiliar sounds were heard in broad daylight. If someone passing by heard, they might easily misunderstand. After breakfast, Andre suggested giving Ilena a massage with aromatic oils before their walk.

 

He even reassured her by saying he had no feelings for women.

 

“Oh my! What do you take me for!”

 

He said, waving his hands in a very cheeky manner. With such insistence, she couldn’t refuse and lay down as he instructed. And, oh my.

 

“Ah… this is so good.”

 

The hands pressing down on her calves after applying plenty of oil felt heavenly.

 

‘What if I had refused?’

 

Ilena melted like ice cream left out in the midsummer sun.

 

“Yes. Very fair… It’s a rare skin color in this desert.”

 

“Hmm… Is that so? Oh, right there. That feels good.”

 

Desert, desert… With half-closed eyes, Ilena absentmindedly looked at the rabbit-shaped crystal bottle on the table, and a thought crossed her mind. Come to think of it, didn’t the Black King have a surprisingly cute handkerchief?

 

‘Rabbit pattern… rabbit pattern…’

 

Ilena asked dreamily.

 

“…What kind of person is the Black King?”

 

“His Highness? …Oh my! Could it be, no, of course! Oh ho ho!”

 

Andre suddenly became excited. Ilena, realizing what Andre was thinking, quickly spoke.

 

“Hmm? It’s not what you’re thinking, Andre. He’s an unattainable fruit.”

 

“An unattainable fruit?”

 

‘Because of my depression, even such a handsome man doesn’t make my heart flutter.’

 

Ilena hid her true feelings and gave another reason.

 

“He has someone he’s seeing.”

 

He said he got that cute handkerchief as a gift from a lady he’s dating, so it must be true.

 

“Really? His Highness?”

 

Andre seemed overly surprised.

 

‘Why is he so surprised that a man in his prime has a lover?’

 

“I’m very close with the maids at the Sun Palace where His Highness resides. We have a gossip group, you see. Anyway.”

 

Andre continued, pressing down on her tense thighs.

 

“They’re all very worried. His Highness hasn’t brought a woman into the palace since his ascension.”

 

“Then maybe he has no feelings for women?”

 

Ilena indirectly asked if he might be gay. According to Andre, the South was relatively free when it came to love. Andre shook his head firmly.

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

“How can you be so sure?”

 

Ilena asked, intrigued.

 

“I have a sense. I can tell when I see someone with the same inclination. His Highness is definitely not.”

 

‘Ah, he means gay.’

 

Ilena had heard that people with the same inclination could recognize each other.

 

‘Then what’s left…?’

 

Would she be accused of insulting royalty for saying such things about another country’s king? Unable to suppress her curiosity, Ilena blurted out.

 

“Then maybe… he can’t function that way?”

 

“That’s absolutely not it either. Not at all!”

 

Andre replied firmly again.

 

“How do you know that, Andre?”

 

Ilena, genuinely curious this time, lifted her head from where she was lying and looked at him. Andre cupped his cheeks with his large hands, blushing.

 

“Well…”

 

Oh my, ha ha. Andre fussed alone, then lowered his voice and whispered secretly.

 

“Well… Priestess, this is a secret between us, okay? I happened to see it once. He changed clothes right in front of me without any hesitation.”

 

Andre paused the massage to explain with gestures.

 

“I see…”

 

Ilena, who had inadvertently learned about the hidden aspects of the mastermind not even mentioned in the original story, quietly lay back down.

 

“How is it?”

 

Andre asked gently as he continued the massage.

 

“What do you mean, how is it?”

 

Ilena, who had grown close to him, chuckled softly.

 

“Anyway, I’m going back to the North in three months.”

 

“Yes, indeed. Hmm… right.”

 

“Wow… this feels great. Right there, that’s good.”

 

Lying down, Ilena melted once more under Andre’s miraculous touch. In doing so, she missed the peculiar glint in Andre’s eyes.

 

***

 

After finishing the massage, Andre fussed again. He insisted that they must take a walk once a day and led Ilena outside.

 

“They say not getting sunlight is bad for your health!”

 

So, they have that kind of health knowledge here too. Come to think of it, her doctor always fussed during consultations.

 

‘People need at least two hours of sunlight a day,’ they said.

 

‘How is that possible when you leave for work in the morning and come home in the evening?’

 

It suddenly struck her that her previous life was an environment bound to cause mental distress.

 

“Oh my goodness!”

 

Lost in thought, Ilena was startled by Andre’s exclamation.

 

“It seems the royal knights are training. His Highness is there too!”

 

Andre pointed to the training ground.

 

“I honestly had no idea! His Highness is here!”

 

As he said ‘His Highness,’ he nudged Ilena’s waist.

 

“Hmm… I see…”

 

Ilena replied with a distant look. She thought it was strange that their walking route was different today, and now she understood why. Ilena sighed softly. She appreciated the effort, but she really had no interest in such things.

 

“Wow… what a sight. A spectacle. A gift from the gods.”

 

In the training ground, men presumed to be knights were swinging wooden swords or training on horseback. The sun was so hot that some had taken off their shirts. Andre, resting his chin on his hand, watched with great satisfaction.

 

Perhaps he had brought her here just to enjoy the view himself. Ilena chuckled at his candidness. Unlike her, Andre was always open about expressing his emotions. Then it happened.

 

“Watch out over there!”

 

A sudden shout. Whoosh—The sound of something slicing through the air.