Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition - Chapter 264: Story : The Hidden Stronghold

For saving his girlfriend, Feng Shan was convicted of excessive self-defense and served a seven-year sentence.After his release from prison, he unexpectedly inherits an overseas estate, becoming a landlord in the Alaskan Arctic Circle.By day, he hunts, eats meat, and drinks a little wine; at night, he watches the aurora, grows vegetables in the world of ice and snow, and for fun, shows off some Witchcraft to the natives to blow their minds.Creating his own paradise within the Arctic Circle.

In a world that only hears shouts, his silence is a weapon.Orphaned and mute, Mateo Álvarez communicates through the beautiful game.After a tragic accident steals his voice, it grants him something else: an extraordinary ability to see the flow of play before it happens, a gift he calls The System.On the pitch, he is a prodigy, a conductor of silent symphonies, reading the game with a genius that leaves scouts and legends in awe.His talent earns him a destiny at FC Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy.Under the wing of mentors like Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi, Mateo flourishes, his dream of one day representing Spain on the world stage feeling closer than ever. He becomes their golden boy, a symbol of pure footballing intellect, and the heart of a new generation.But when the club’s soul is traded for corporate interests, Mateo’s greatest strength is recast as a liability. To the new board, a star who cannot speak is a star who cannot sell. Betrayed by the institution he called home, the boy who dreamed in goals is cast out at sixteen, his future shattered.Now, Mateo must journey beyond the only home he’s ever known. Armed only with his preternatural gift and a resilience forged in silence, he must find a new team willing to listen not to his voice, but to his vision.His quest is no longer just for club glory, but to prove a devastating truth to those who discarded him: that the most powerful language in football isn’t spoken at all.The Silent Symphony is an unforgettable underdog story about the corruption of dreams, the beauty of resilience, and the unspoken bonds that define us. It's a journey across the fierce landscapes of European football to reclaim a stolen destiny, one perfect pass at a time.

I’m in a secret, bad romance with a love dependent student—「Having a secret meeting with a student one is in charge of at school… Isn’t it exciting?」The special relationship with Kirihara that no one can know about began when I took up my post at Mori Kawara High School as a teacher.At school, she’s the serious student council president who has earned a lot of trust from other teachers, but when it’s just the two of us, she becomes mischievous, clingy, and jealous.On weekends, I cook meals at her place, play games together, and pamper her as if we were lovers.Unable to reject her because she knows my weakness, and despite knowing it’s wrong, we continue to pile up secrets little by little every day…「Sensei, my feelings of liking you have grown very strong.」As Kirihara openly confronts me with her feelings, the emotions I’ve been holding back grow even stronger.Even though it would all be over if it were exposed, that sense of immorality ironically only accelerates things further—

Aries Aime Heathcliffe. A princess from the small kingdom of Rikhill was loved by all. With her beauty that was enchantingly demure and a wise mind, she had caught a lot of attention and captured the hearts of many. One of them was the dashing crown prince of the Maganti Empire.

Overcome by the desire to have her and his interest in the land of the small kingdom, the crown prince of the said empire would stop at nothing. The knights from the Maganti Empire marched across the masses and seized the four-hundred-year-old kingdom of Rikhill.

The kingdom of Rikhill fell into ruin overnight. The crown prince left no members of the royal family alive aside from his war trophy, Aries. After suffering in his hands, Aries found the perfect chance to escape.

That was when he took her to the world summit. A gathering of each sovereign from each kingdom and empire for peace talks.

There, she met the emperor of Haimirich, Eustass Silvestri Abel Bloodworth. Overwhelm by desperation, Aries begged him to take her in. It was too late when she realized that the man she asked for help was far more cruel, twisted, and downright diabolical than the crown prince for taking her as his… pet!

EXCERPT:

With a pair of crimson eyes hovering over her, Aries held her breath. When the corner of his lips curled up devilishly, she couldn’t react fast as he swiftly flipped their position. She only realized it when she was saddling him, gazing down at Abel, wide-eyed.

“No one is above me in this empire and even out — not even the law, but look at you,” he intoned with a devilish smirk. “Staring down on me… so daunting.”

Aries bit her lip, planting her palm on her inked chest. “Your Majesty…”

“Do you now understand the power you hold, darling?” Abel carefully wrapped his fingers around her wrist, chuffed by her reaction. “Only you, Aries, may go above me and the only person in this world who can look down on me. No one else.”

He raised an arm and ran his fingers through the side of her hair, settling his palm on the back of her head before he pulled her down until her face was a palm length away from him.

“You better use this at your own disposal,” he whispered, tilting his head as he lifted it up to claim what’s his. HER.

Meet Eustass Silvestri Abel Bloodworth, the sadistic tyrant, who reigned an empire with an iron fist. With his pet, Aries’ increasing presence in his boring, dark life, he was set to kill her. But alas, every time he thought of taking her life, he finds himself changing his mind.

The more he kept her by his side, the more it got harder to dispose of her. And the more he yearned for something deeper and darker... it was driving him insane.

With a secret he was keeping from her, what would Abel do if Aries found out about the rotting truth behind the empire and the emperor? Would he kill her? Or kiss her? Perhaps cage her?

And if she found out that Abel wasn’t just a normal human, would she try to escape? Or would she accept that he wasn’t just a demon incarnate?

In a complicated world that tainted them black, was love even possible to bloom between a pet and her master? Watch as these two play the dangerous and insane game of love and lust.

Who would be the master and the pet? Who was the prey? Read to find out more.