Panotti of the Opera (2)

"Where were you?" Syris' loyal bodyguard and friend asked. "Classes are almost over."

The siren prince smiled at his shark merman friend. "Visiting Zinnia," he said.

Bruce was surprised. "Did you break something again? Who was it? I'll beat them up for you!"

"No, nothing of that sort!" Syris hurried to stop his hot-headed friend. After putting up with so much bullying from home and during the first month at the Academy, Bruce was very protective of him even though they were both alphas. Syris often felt inferior to his warrior friend even though he was of noble birth. Sometimes, he envied the rash merman for being able to stand for what he believed in.

To prevent the shark merman from going berserk on the wrong people, Syris quickly explained about the elf with large ears he tried to help earlier. "He ran away so quickly that I couldn't return his glasses. However, I didn't feel good about returning his glasses after they got damaged by the other omegas bullying him so I took it to Zinnia to get them repaired before I returned them to him."

Bruce sighed. His friend might be a prince but he was too kind to everyone regardless of status. If only those stupid omegas could look past his prince's inability to sing, they would come to know what a great alpha he was. Too bad those superficial omegas only look at prestige so it was their loss. They didn't deserve someone as great at Syris in Bruce's opinion. The princess that mocked Syris and cancelled their engagement was also not worthy of him. Bruce strongly believed that there would be at least one good person in this Academy befitting of his prince. But until then, the shark merman will ward off the pests.

"I'll pass it to him on your behalf."

Syris shook his head. "I think it's better for me to do it, you'll scare him away with that perpetual scowl on your face."

Bruce hated to admit it but he knew that he had a scary mug. If the boy was really as timid as how Syris described him to be, it was probably a better idea to let Syris do it instead. The siren prince was a gentle person, a complete contrast of what Bruce was. Besides, someone that weak couldn't possibly do any harm or bear any ill intentions towards his prince.

"Alright, I'll ask around to find out which class he's in."

The siren prince smiled. "No need, Zinnia recognised who the glasses belonged too. I have his details with me. I was also mistaken. He's not a large-eared elf. Have you ever heard of a Panotti?"

Bruce raised a brow. "What's that? It doesn't sound delicious."

Syris shook his head fondly. Sometimes he wondered how his friend was capable of scoring good marks for his examinations with that kind of mentality. There were many kinds of alphas but Syris thought that Bruce was truly one of a kind. Contrary to his looks and personality, the shark merman was actually a master of both the pen and the sword.

"It's some kind of fae who has ridiculously large ears and a keen sense of hearing. Nobody knows much about him and rumours are going around that he looks very ugly. I feel a little bad for him when I overheard some omegas talking bad about him. Nobody should ever be unwanted in this world."

Bruce thought about it. "Is he really that ugly though?"

The siren prince thought about it and a small smile played at his lips. While Floopy wasn't the most attractive thing that anyone's ever laid eyes on, Syris had to admit that the beta had his charms. He might have tiny eyes and overly large ears with buck teeth and freckles. However, his fur that covered most of his body was very fluffy looking and Syris almost couldn't withhold the urge to run his webbed fingers through them. Floopy might not be handsome but he was definitely capable of becoming the ambassador of cute in Syris' opinion. Too bad, nobody would believe him even if he said it aloud. Not even Floopy himself and the siren prince felt a little sad for the beta boy.

"You should judge for yourself instead of listening to rumours," is all Syris told his friend as they headed to the cafeteria for lunch. He didn't know if they would be able to find the unusual beta boy but Syris wasn't worried. After all, Zinnia told him that Floopy liked to hang out in the greenhouse at the back of the school during lunch breaks.

Bruce didn't know how to put it into words. His friend looked rather happy at the thought of seeing that unusual beta boy and the shark merman wondered if this was the starting of a strange romance between two different misfits. He didn't know Floopy personally but he heard a few things about him after asking around. Syris wasn't interested in finding out more from the grapevine so he excused himself quickly after lunch. Bruce stayed behind to listen to more rumours while Syris was gone.

"Oh, there's also an interesting one going around that you might want to verify for your prince," Ruo Han said.

Bruce leaned in closer and the human cultivator whispered that there was a rumour of a talented musician in the school who is known to teach insects and animals how to sing his newly composed songs in the forbidden forest at night. Those songs were usually a hit with the school's drama club and whenever a new musical was released, everyone would snatch to become the main lead actor because anyone who sang his songs was guaranteed fame.

"I don't know if he can help your prince learn how to sing but I think it's worth a shot."

Bruce thanked the cultivator and decided to keep this secret to himself for now. If his prince knew about it, there would be no stopping him from breaking school rules to trespass the forest at night to find the elusive genius composer. For now, what Syris needed was confidence and not false hope.