Chapter 994 - 994: Expanding Her Performance
“For my love, my heart, I give you my everything~” Delmare sang, her voice slowly trailing off as she ended the song.
I let out a sigh of content as I let myself wake up from the pleasant and melodic voice of Delmare.
“That was beautiful, Delmare. But you’re still more beautiful~” I complimented.
Delmare’s cheeks flushed and she hid her cheeks with her palms while looking away, “Tha… Thank you, Aster… Umm… Also… Thank you for listening to me sing…”
I giggled, “Ehehe~ Thank you for singing for me~ I always enjoy your singing sessions~”
“Unn… I’ll sing for you whenever you want me to, Aster~”
Why is she so cute?
I leaned forward and gave the Siren that was sitting on my lap a kiss on her forehead before pulling back.
She blushed even deeper and moved to hide her face with her hands, “Muuu… You are so unfair, Aster…”
I giggled, “Oh? How am I unfair?”
“Mngghh… Please…”
“Please what?”
“Please… Please kiss me…”
Ahhhh~ She’s sooo cute~
I lifted her chin up with my finger and leaned forward to give her a kiss on the lips, prompting my Siren lover to kiss me back, her arms wrapping around the back of my neck and completely forgetting about her earlier embarrassment.
We enjoyed the taste of each other’s lips before I separated from her, Delmare slowly opening her eyes to look at me before her embarrassment returned and she pulled back, completely flustered and going back to hiding her face.
She’s so cute.
She tried to distract me by changing the topic, “Umm… Umm… I want to ask you, Aster… Is it really alright for you to use your own name on the book that you published?”
I blinked at her, “What do you mean?”
“I mean… Umm… Wouldn’t people figure out it’s you?”
I shrugged, “Honestly… I think it might take them maybe another publication before they start to notice. I made sure that Emilia had made them print my name on the book in a relatively small font so it isn’t that noticeable. I estimate that they would only start paying attention to the name after maybe another publication or so.”
Delmare peeked at me through her fingers, “Umm… I don’t think that’s the case, Aster… I already have classmates asking me about it…”
“E… Eh?”
She nodded, fully revealing her face this time, “They immediately noticed your name and inquired if you were actually the author since… You know… You’re quite well known here.”
…
Ahhhh!! I overlooked the fact that I already am quite known when I started publishing the book!! My assumption only worked if I started out as a nobody and no one knew my name!!
For sure they would have realised that the name sounded familiar since they already knew me all around the school!! I forgot!!!
“What… What did you tell them?” I asked.
“Umm… I already know that you don’t want to be revealed so I simply said that I do not know… But I think they all believe that it’s you and you’re simply keeping it a secret from everyone else as well…”
“Hmm… But the students I passed by don’t seem to have even realised that the author’s name is the same as mine or even asked me about it…”
“Ah, that’s because they were instructed not to disturb– Err… I mean… Umm… I guess it might just be luck?”
It felt like Delmare wanted to say something else before she changed at the last moment just now?
Before I could ask her though, she tugged on my arm and asked, “Ahh! I have another song, Aster! Do you want to hear as well?”
Well, obviously I would love to hear another song from her~
Right as she was about to sing though, I noticed that there was movement in the bushes and I hugged her close to me to protect her while looking in the direction of the movement.
Right now we were in a secluded area of the school gardens and I was preventing Delmare’s voice from reaching other students with my Aeromancy so anyone around here should still be students of the Academy.
But you can’t be too sure, you know?
“Ah… Ah? As… Aster?” She gasped.
“There’s someone there…” I whispered.
Delmare paused before giggling, “Ah, they must be from the choir group. They have been trying to recruit me for quite a while now and I have been rejecting them. They are quite persistent.”
I looked at her, “They sneak around like this to find you?”
“Mmm… They already know I practice my singing around here… And I don’t use my magic when I’m practicing so it doesn’t affect others… So they come here to listen in when I’m not singing for you. Guess they must not have realised that you’re here yet.”
“Do you want to join them though? I’m sure with them, you would be able to sing for a large audience?”
“Mmm… But I want to sing for you, Aster…”
I mean… I’m really flattered by this but she did say that one of her dreams back then was to be able to sing for everyone before she found out about the fact that she was a Siren and what the effects of her voice had on people…
She may claim that she only wants to sing for me but I believe it’s because she realises that I could prevent myself from being affected by her singing so she switched her focus onto me instead.
If she had a way to prevent her magic from affecting others, I’m sure that she wouldn’t mind performing for others too.
Then, as if right on cue, the sound of leaves being pushed away could be heard and then a girl stepped out from the bushes, her body freezing up the moment she saw me.
I raised an eyebrow at her, “Can I help you?”
“A… Ah… You’re here, Aster?”
“Yes. What are you doing here?”
She seemed to hesitate at first and moved a step back as though she wanted to run away before she stopped herself and took another step forward.
“Aster! Please! Would you allow Delmare to join our choir group?! We desperately need members and I think she would be perfect!”
I tilted my head at her, “Didn’t Delmare reject you guys already?”
She nodded quickly, “Yes! She has told us that if she were to perform seriously, normal people like us would definitely go crazy over her! But that’s alright! We have heard her practice songs out here before where she doesn’t sing seriously! That is already good enough for us!”
Delmare turned to her, “You’re asking me to perform but also not to perform at my best… I don’t want to do that…”
The girl turned to my Siren, “It’s alright, Delmare! You don’t need to treat it as a performance! See that as another practice session instead!”
Delmare frowned, “You’re asking for random nobodies to hear my pieces before Aster does. That is unacceptable for me.”
“Oh! You don’t need to sing your own songs either, Delmare! We have our own music that you can use instead! See them as vocal practice! Please!”
Ok, now I feel a little concerned…
“Why are you so desperate about this though?” I asked.
The girl wrung her hands in front of her, “I… Umm… Ugh… My grandmother… She’s someone I really respect and from what I heard from my parents… She used to be quite a famous singer that performed in a theatre before she met my grandfather and retired… We are already planning to do an end of year performance and my family would also be attending… But I’m afraid that our performance might not be enough to satisfy her… If Delmare were one of us… I’m sure she would be happy…”
Ah… Well, at least she wasn’t doing it for selfish reasons I suppose?
I turned to Delmare and it seemed like even she was a little moved by her.
The girl gave Delmare another look, “How about just for that day? You don’t need to perform with your performance voice! Just see it as… Umm… Err… Audience testing! Yes! That’s it! Just use the audience’s reaction to your practice voice so that you can adjust it for Aster when you actually perform for her!”
Delmare let out a sigh, “The only person’s reaction I care about is Aster’s though… But what do you think, Aster?”
I patted her on the head, “Mmm… I think you can see it another way? If you are already able to captivate the others even more with your singing without using your magic, that means you would be even better if you use your magic?”
Delmare paused and her face suddenly brightened up, “You’re right! I can use this to practice my singing voice… So that I can improve my base to be able to sing even better for you, Aster! You are a genius!!”
Err… I don’t even think it’s to that point but… I guess she’s happy about it?
Hmm… Could this be the start of her performance arc?