What Do You Mean There Are Other Transmigrators In My Harem Fantasy?

“Miss Aster… Who are you?”

I blinked at her, “What kind of question is that?”

She gestured at the painting she had just completed, “This… Do you see this?”

“Err… Yes? It’s really beautiful.”

“Compared to the ones I did before?”

I paused for a moment, “Erm… I guess it’s better than the others? I’m not sure but I’m getting a more intense feeling from this one than I had with the others and I don’t know why.”

She stood up, “Exactly! Why is this the case?! Why is… Wait… If I think about this… This all makes sense doesn’t it… I even called you my muse… This… Yes… I know now…”

Err… She just suddenly started talking to herself all of a sudden while looking like she was deep in thought…

She looked at me, “Miss Aster… You said you were a writer, correct?”

I nodded, “That’s right… Is there something wrong?”

“No… I was just wondering… What do you do when you hit a wall?”

“You mean… Like a writer’s block or something?”

“Yes. That’s it. How do you deal with your writer’s block?”

I scratched my cheek, trying to recall back on the times when I would write a new book.

It’s been a while since the books that Emilia have been helping me publish were all past works of mine so I haven’t had to deal with a problem like ‘writer’s block’ for a very long time.

“Err… When I find myself stuck at a certain part of the story… I guess I just read other stories to get inspiration or something?”

“So you basically take reference from other sources…” She muttered before turning back to her canvas. “Do you know why this painting of mine had a different feeling as compared to the earlier ones I did of you?”

“I’m going to guess it’s because I’m watching you?”

“So you think so as well… I don’t understand why it is though…”

I tilted my head at her, “What do you mean? I thought it was just like the Hawthorne effect or something like that, you know? Where you do better because you are being observed.”

“The problem is that I have been watched while I paint before… And this has never happened. I initially thought that it was just because I got better but when you went away, my skills went back to ‘normal’ again. Yet when you’re here, I could paint better than before.”

Before I could answer, Delmare suddenly appeared beside me, “Umm… If you don’t mind, perhaps I could provide some insight?”

Ather turned her gaze to Delmare and even I could tell that she didn’t really want to listen but shrugged to indicate that she should go ahead.

“Umm… Allow me to introduce myself again… I’m Delmare, a Siren and one of Aster’s lovers.”

Wait, you girls have been on the same wagon for at least a day already and you’re telling me you haven’t introduced yourselves? Were you girls just ignoring each other throughout the entire journey yesterday?

Ather tilted her head a little at Delmare’s words, “A Siren? The ones that can control people with their songs?”

Delmare hesitated, “I suppose that’s true to a certain extent… But for me, my songs are my expression of love for Aster and the songs I compose are all dedicated to Aster. Before this, I sang about anything and everything that I felt like singing and, this might sound a little arrogant but, I believe the songs I made back then were also quite nice.”

I smiled at her, “There’s no need to be humble, Delmare, I really enjoy listening to your songs, even the ones you sang to me when we first met.”

She blushed a little, “Unnn… Aster, that’s not fair… I love you…”

She’s so cute~

Delmare quickly composed herself again, “Umm.. Anyway… As I was saying… I made songs before but after I have come to terms with my love for Aster, she has become the muse of my songs and I found myself singing better than before. I believe when you have something or someone that you would really like to dedicate the art you create to… You can create something more beautiful than before!”

“This still doesn’t explain how I’m able to paint even better than before,” Ather pointed out.

Eh? Was Delmare’s words not clear enough? Even I understood her meaning so why is Ather saying things like this? Look, even Delmare was surprised by what she said too.

Wait…

I pursed my lips at her, “Umm… Ather, forgive me for asking this directly but… Have you ever painted something for someone else before?”

She tilted her head at me, “Of course not? My paintings are all for myself. I create them for myself. Why would you think I would paint for someone else?”

“Eh? What about all those paintings you gave us? And this one that you just painted too?” Delmare asked.

Ather’s brows furrowed slightly, “I did not paint those for you. Those were defects that I wanted to get rid of. It’s only because you all were willing to take those off my hands so I didn’t mind you taking them. But this one… This one that I made… I’m not giving it to you.”

Ok, so… First of all, the fact that she doesn’t want to give her newest painting away must mean she achieved her goal, right?

Second of all… She really never thought of painting for someone else I guess…

I mean… Not that I’m saying that’s a bad thing… But I’m thinking that the thought of such a thing never even crossed her mind. She’s basically painting whatever she fancies and never thought about painting what other people fancy.

I don’t really want to disparage her since I don’t know what kind of artist she is back in our old World but I have seen plenty of people in the creative industry who never once internalise their own faults and blame others for their own shortcomings.

For example, someone might create something where they primarily created it to satisfy their own desires or even to push their own agendas.

That’s fine and all when you’re only trying to entertain yourself with your work but they were expecting their work to sell and for the public to accept it. Then they act like they are ‘owed’ the acceptance of others just because they created something.

And if you don’t like whatever they created, they will call you names, demean you, insult you, threaten and emotionally blackmail you into accepting their work.

Anyone who dared to criticise their work would be targeted by them where they try to discredit and cancel you. It then became less about the work and more about the person’s morality and ideals instead.

Yeah… So now I’m worried that she might be those kinds of artists…

I cleared my throat, “Ather… Could I ask what happens when people don’t like your art? Like… You know… Saying that you suck at it or something… I’m asking about both in this World and our previous World.”

“I don’t care. I didn’t draw for them so why should I care if they liked it or not?”

“Eh? Didn’t you mention something about being a failed artist or something?”

“To the eyes of society but not to myself. I know I wasn’t painting to get validation from strangers so I don’t care if those strangers were disparaging me as well. I am aware of my own skills and my own limitations and if I believe I have done a bad work then I just need to work on myself to correct it instead of wasting my time trying to get others to like it.”

Oh.

Ok, so she’s not that kind of artist. I guess that’s good to know.

Delmare gestured towards me, “Umm… Miss Ather… As I was saying, I believe that you were able to draw better because Aster was watching you do it… And because she is your muse, you subconsciously wanted to impress her so you managed to paint even better than you usually would.”

Yep, it sounds cheesy but I totally believe that was the reason why–

“That is nonsense,” Ather rejected the idea almost immediately. “I admit that Aster is my ideal model to paint but I highly doubt that her presence alone could create such a phenomenon.”

Delmare frowned at her, “I do not understand, Miss Ather… Why are you so against such an idea? Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Have you not heard what I said so far? I paint for myself, not for others. That is my goal here.”

When she said those words I suddenly realised something…

The reason why she’s being so reclusive right now may actually be due to the blessing that she got from Ralaie…

The boon itself not only lowered her social needs but also her desire to even engage with it? So maybe her desire for it has been squashed so much that she is unable to come to terms with that fact?

Geez… At this point I don’t even know if it’s worth fixing her for this…

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