ISBD 02

Chapter 2.

 I’ve Possessed Someone, but I Have Depression (2)

Burnout hit hard the moment she possessed the body.

‘…I give up.’

Forget adapting—Ilena sprawled on the bed like a slime.

Antidepressants usually need to be tapered off slowly over six months to a year, while monitoring symptoms. But cutting them off suddenly like this brought on a terrifying wave of lethargy within days.

Back in Korea, she’d lived on five hours of sleep, splitting her day into twenty-minute blocks. Now, she couldn’t stop sleeping. Even after sleeping twelve hours a day, her body felt heavy and drained.

Her mind was foggy. She couldn’t think.

‘Let’s just rest a little.’

Maybe… she’d always wanted to live like this.

Thinking that, Ilena slumped her shoulders and sat limply on the bed, staring out the window.

A sky filled with gray storm clouds. The occasional drizzle falling like scattered mist.

‘So this is what my heart has always been like. Then why was I trying so hard to live?’

Seeing her inner world reflected so perfectly in the weather, all the emotions she’d buried and ignored came rushing back—and she couldn’t shake off the bitterness.

“Lady Ilena! I came as soon as I heard. Are you unwell?!”

A man who practically had “I’m a doctor” written all over his face came rushing in.

“This is strange. There’s nothing physically wrong…”

The elderly doctor tilted his head while checking her pulse.

‘Of course. It’s not a physical issue.’

Ilena didn’t bother to explain. She just mumbled internally with listless resignation.

Everyone who came to check on her said the same soulless words of encouragement.

“Lady Ilena, stay strong!”

“You’ll overcome this soon! Don’t give up!”

‘Stay strong… Easier said than done. How exactly am I supposed to do that?’

Traditionally, if someone became the main character of a novel, even if they were suddenly dropped into a strange new country, they were expected to quickly accept their possession, then fight to survive, seek revenge, or save this unfamiliar world.

‘Yeah. So I should try a little harder too.’

A protagonist shouldn’t fall apart at the first obstacle. She must have some kind of hidden power and determination befitting the heroine of this world.

With grim resolve, Ilena mustered her strength—

And flopped over onto her other side with a soft ugh.

‘Ugh… this is hard…’

Even that felt exhausting and annoying.

She vaguely remembered that, as a priestess, she should be taking care of the weather—but the thought faded quickly.

Why should she bother saving a world she didn’t even know? She didn’t even know why she was alive in the first place.

Ilena’s arm slipped limply off the side of the bed.

Lying down was the most comfortable.

She didn’t want to think about anything.

Without her medication, she had no energy. Her brain just wouldn’t function.

‘I… I can’t do anything anymore.’

And so, it had been three months since the priestess had latched onto her bed like a tick.

“The sun hasn’t risen in three months! This hasn’t happened since the priestess first appeared ten years ago to stop the strange weather in the Kingdom of Manoa!”

A nobleman with a finely groomed white beard declared dramatically.

The mood in the grand council chamber—gathered with the king, crown prince, and nobles of the north—was heavy with concern.

“At this rate, the crops will fail, and people will starve to death!”

“Trees in the rainforest are rotting without sunlight.”

“Fruits aren’t ripening either. And for the people of this island, they’re practically a staple!”

One by one, the ministers shared bad news.

Their expressions were etched with unmistakable fear.

Mai Island had a tropical climate and was once a land of abundance, where crops and fruits flourished effortlessly under the scorching sun.

But a sudden climate anomaly had struck the island about ten years ago.

Fortunately, the Kingdom of Manoa—located in the north—had been saved when a priestess appeared who could control the weather.

Other kingdoms were nearly wiped out.

Now, the ministers feared that even the north might fall to the same abnormal weather.

“Hmph.”

The current king, lounging on the highest throne with his chin in his hand, asked in a bored tone:

“What’s the priestess doing?”

It was shockingly flippant for a king.

The disaster ten years ago had turned what was once a kind and warm-hearted king into this disinterested figure.

“Well, she’s been acting strange. She hasn’t controlled the weather at all, and… she seems like a different person.”

A minister, glancing nervously at the king, quickly spoke.

Then the king turned to the man sitting beside him.

“Didn’t the priestess’s powers depend on her emotions? Crown Prince, you didn’t have a fight with your fiancée or anything?”

“Of course not! I swear by the god Aufus, nothing happened!”

Prince Friedhen, who had been sitting silently, suddenly sprang up to deny it.

With his shining blond hair and red eyes, and a face so handsome it looked sculpted from marble—he was the very image of a male lead in a novel.

“The prince speaks the truth. He has tried everything for three months to cheer her up, but nothing worked.”

In reality, the prince hadn’t visited his fiancée even once—but a noble from his mother’s family quickly came to his defense.

“Hmph. Then she must just be unwell. What does the doctor say?”

“Nothing wrong, physically.”

“Be more specific.”

When the king snapped, a noble urgently waved over a servant waiting by the door.

“We had the royal physician on standby just in case.”

Soon, the elderly doctor who examined Ilena appeared before the council.

The king was notorious for his cruel punishments when displeased, so the doctor gulped nervously and chose his words carefully.

“The priestess shows no physical abnormalities. However…”

“However? Spit it out.”

“She may be suffering from an illness of the heart.”

“…An illness of the heart? Like heart disease?”

“What do you mean, a mental illness?”

The room stirred in confusion.

“Well… it’s like a cold, but for the mind. A temporary illness of the heart.”

People murmured, clearly not understanding.

“Did something sad happen to the priestess?”

“If so, shouldn’t she be crying? But she doesn’t cry.”

“She doesn’t laugh either.”

A noble furrowed his brow, and the doctor cautiously added:

“Crying also requires emotional energy. The priestess… seems to be in a deep state of lethargy.”

“Lethargy? Why so suddenly?”

“A priestess with such weak willpower… How pathetic.”

“Seriously. She’s not the only one struggling—everyone’s having a hard time.”

They all mumbled heartlessly, trying to stay on the king’s good side.

It was a painfully ignorant display of how little they understood depression.

The king and crown prince exchanged a strange look.

Even though everyone was mocking his fiancée, the prince didn’t defend her. But then, unexpectedly, he spoke.

“In that case, what about this idea?”

“What idea?”

“Shock therapy.”

“Shock?”

The king sounded uninterested but didn’t object.

Taking that as a green light, the crown prince confidently continued.

“Lethargy? Nonsense. The priestess is just lazy. She’s had it too easy for too long.”

“So you want to give her a shock? Like what?”

“Well, for example…”

Pretending to ponder, he revealed the plan he’d already devised.

“No! Mental illness is still an illness! As a doctor, I cannot condone such cruelty toward a patient!”

“How dare you! A lowly doctor speaks of permission to a crown prince?!”

Shouting echoed from outside the room.

Ilena slowly opened her eyes from the bed.

One voice was the elderly doctor she vaguely remembered. The other, a young man’s voice she didn’t recognize.

‘But does it matter…? It’s all so tiring.’

Then the door burst open.

Ilena turned her head sluggishly toward the uninvited guest who stormed in without knocking.

‘…Whoa. A handsome man.’

Even in her drained state, his looks registered.

Dazzling blond hair. Crimson eyes.

A ridiculously good-looking man—someone she’d never seen even in her past life.

‘Ah… No doubt. He’s the male lead.’

After binge-reading so many novels, she could recognize one at a glance.

But why had he only come now? Ilena looked at him in confusion.

In the original story, he was supposed to be her fiancé since childhood. Yet, he hadn’t visited her even once in the past three months.

The man marched straight to her bedside, grabbed her frail body, and yanked her up without warning.

Then, shaking her thin frame—worn out from barely eating—he shouted:

“Ilena, Ilena… Ilena! What is wrong with you?!”

“Ugh…”

She was dizzy. Even that word remained stuck in her throat.

Her vision spun.

‘What the hell is happening? Why is the male lead treating the female lead like this?’

But she couldn’t think clearly. Her mind wouldn’t work.

Her psychiatrist’s warning resurfaced in her mind.

“If you stop taking your medication, your concentration and memory may decline. Your brain won’t function properly.”

‘Is it the depression? Did I relapse from quitting the meds too suddenly?’

Her head swam from all the shaking. She couldn’t focus.

“I only feel secure because my fiancée is the priestess… and now you’re suddenly claiming lethargy? Seriously?!”

His voice turned cold as he sneered.

“You’ve had it too easy. That’s what this is. You’re just spoiled.”

Grabbing her wrist, he dragged her off the bed and muttered darkly.

“W-Why…? Where are we going?”

Ilena feebly resisted, but he tightened his grip with a flash of his crimson eyes.

“What you need right now is stimulation. …This is for your own good. Just like always. You know that, Ilena.”

‘What… is this?’

The situation was bewildering.

Ilena was supposed to be the female lead of this flowery romance. He was supposed to be the gentle male lead.

But the crown prince kept dragging her deeper—toward the far reaches of the palace.

As they descended a dark staircase, the air grew colder, sending shivers down her spine.

Finally, he shoved open a heavy iron door and pushed her inside.

“…What is this place?”