Chapter 33

This is a story from Carolina's perspective.

Please imagine the content.

Carolina Cantora was standing there with a confident smile on her face.

Having married Joachim last month, Carolina was invited to General List's birthday party as a member of the Cantora baronial family.

Her prominently swollen belly was proof that her long-awaited first child would soon be born. For Carolina, who came from a minor baronial family, little more than a commoner, the prospect of bearing a child with noble blood filled her with an overwhelming sense of superiority.

What would Laila say when she saw this?

Carolina had been looking forward to this evening for days, knowing that Laila would be attending with the "Ghost Mage."

"Carolina, you look happy."

When Joachim, standing next to her, said this, Carolina blanched slightly but quickly composed herself and nodded with a smile.

"Yes, of course. After all... I'll get to see Laila."

"Ah, I see. I never thought that Laila would be engaged to the 'Ghost Mage,' but I hope she's doing well."

Joachim said this nonchalantly. He didn't seem to particularly like or dislike Laila, so he was rather indifferent about her.

But Carolina couldn't afford to be so indifferent.

Laila, the daughter of the Quirka trading company and the same age as Carolina, had met her at the academy's entrance ceremony eight years ago.

Laila, with her dark blonde hair and purple eyes, was a very plain girl. Though her background was similar to Carolina's, who had been pampered by her parents with blonde hair and green eyes, they had nothing in common.

But Laila was excellent and quickly gained the trust of her classmates and teachers. She seemed inexperienced with men, so her friends were all female students, but she was well-liked by upperclassmen for her clear speech and willingness to help. When asked for a favor, she would readily agree, and she was secretly admired by everyone.

Despite being plain.

Carolina thought this but realized that being friends with Laila was convenient. Laila would help with homework and readily accept any chores.

So Carolina began to spend more time with Laila.

She planned to use her as much as possible and then cut ties after graduation. After all, the Quirka family wouldn't find a decent marriage partner, so there would be no benefit in maintaining the relationship after graduation.

But when Carolina and her peers turned fifteen and graduation was approaching, the engagement between Laila and Joachim was announced.

It was a purely political marriage, with the Quirka family gaining a title and the Cantora baronial family gaining wealth. Still, as a "close friend," Carolina congratulated Laila and met Joachim through her introduction, only to feel a strong sense of defeat.

While Laila, who was less attractive than herself, was marrying the second son of a baronial family, Carolina had yet to find a husband. She had been pleading with her parents, but they hadn't given her a favorable response.

If that was the case—she would just have to take him.

To win over Laila and bear a child with a title, she wouldn't hesitate to use any means.

Indeed, Carolina didn't hesitate.

She approached Joachim, was introduced to his older brother, and—

When she told Joachim she was pregnant, he was very happy. His brother and father were also delighted and even said that if his brother's wife didn't have a child, they would adopt Carolina's child as his brother's heir.

That was the future Carolina had hoped for.

She would get to see Laila's disappointed face, and eventually—

But three months ago, when Joachim broke off the engagement, Laila was unexpectedly calm. Moreover, she bowed to everyone as she left, and later Carolina and her family were blamed for "having a lovers' quarrel at the Baltzsek family's evening party."

This was extremely frustrating. But to make matters worse, Laila had apparently been chosen by the "Ghost Mage."

The "Ghost Mage" was a member of the Baltzsek family but only an adopted son. Moreover, due to his illness, his appearance was so withered that he looked like a ghost, and Carolina couldn't even bear to look at him.

To accept a proposal from such a ghost.

Poor, poor Laila.

While Carolina was about to have a healthy child, Laila would be forced to be the bride of a ghost and spend her life with that hideous man.

Even more surprisingly, Laila had responded to the invitation to Carolina's wedding, written by her father. Her father had written, "My daughter wishes to be by Julius's side," but those words felt like a desperate attempt by the Quirka family, and Carolina laughed dryly.

Now, tonight, she would meet that poor Laila again after a long time.

For some reason, a strange rumor was circulating in some social circles that the "Ghost Mage" was no longer a ghost. But that couldn't be true. If you took the "ghost" out of the "Ghost Mage," you'd just be left with a mage.

...Or so she thought.

"Oh, is that Laila...? Is that handsome man really the 'Ghost Mage'?"

Where Joachim was staring intently, a woman was sitting on a sofa against the wall of the venue, and a man was offering her a glass of drink.

The woman was Laila.

The deep blue dress she wore might have been well-made, but to Carolina, it was far too plain. The designer must have had no sense of style.

But—when she saw the man who handed Laila the glass and looked at her with affection, Carolina felt a crack in her world.

He had lustrous blonde hair and hazel eyes. The tall man in a wine-red tuxedo was a handsome young man who outshone the other noble men. He was slightly slender but not unhealthy, and his long legs made him very attractive.

His face was completely different.

But the color of his hair and his height were the same as the "Ghost Mage" Carolina had seen before.

"...Oh, look. The gentleman over there is Julius Baltzsek."

"Really? He was so thin not long ago."

"It seems he recovered his health thanks to the devoted care of his fiancée sitting next to him. Look, how lovingly he gazes at her."

"Oh... If he had become such a wonderful person, I wish I had spoken to him."

"Even if you had, I'm not sure we could have done the same. It's frustrating, but they do make a good couple."

The noble young ladies near Carolina were saying such things.

A good couple?

How could a plain merchant's daughter like Laila be a good match for such a beautiful young nobleman?

"Hmm... When did he stop being a ghost? And Laila, when you look at her like this, she's actually quite—"

Joachim's voice faded out halfway.

Why.

Why could Laila smile so happily?

With just a good mind as her only virtue, why did she receive the love of such a wonderful young nobleman?

The Baltzsek family may not be nobility, and Julius is an adopted son, but if she marries him, she will become a member of a prestigious mage family. In that case, she would stand much higher than Carolina, the wife of a baronial family's second son, and the possibility of her child being an excellent mage would be much higher—