The Untamed: Game of Hearts
Chapter 261: Back to Normal

Chapter 261: Back to Normal

Back at the Moon Clan compound, the commotion of disorganization was slowly finally dying down. Their men were getting some form of orders now, and the clean-up of the war’s bloody aftermath was well underway, even if some of them didn’t really like what just happened.

"What a mess..." Mia sighed, standing beside Levi as they oversaw the proceedings. "I guess this is what happens at every violent revolution, huh."

"At least it’s over now," Levi let off a tired shrug. "There are some countries with revolutions still ongoing. Now that’s probably more bloody than what happened here."

"Still, we should honor the dead, no?" she quickly replied. "Even if this isn’t... as you say, as bloody as a full-blown civil war, the dead still have the right to die with dignity."

It was only proper. Even now, graves were being dug up in the Compound’s graveyard. Some of them might not be recognizable enough to have their identities verified, but at least they’ll have a monument for those that cared about them to remember them by.

"How’s the Boss?" Levi chimed up, the somber noise of work being done around them eventually getting to him.

"Still sulking, unfortunately," Mia breathed out another sigh, her shoulders sagging as she leaned against the nearest wall. "We gave her full control over what to do with Marcus’s body, and she at least managed to be lucid enough to arrange for the funeral proceedings. She’s having a hard time responding to us though."

Levi let out yet another sigh. It has been hard for them to even coax their Boss to get away from the former King’s corpse. If not for the combined effort of him, Mia, and Lyne, she’d probably still be possessively hovering over Marcus’s dead body like a territorial animal. The corpse was out of the garden, of course, having been personally overseen by Raine’s chosen people to start the arrangements. The entire ordeal had kind of put a strain on their group’s relationship, and it was understandable that their Boss would have some misgivings in letting them handle her father’s body.

"She’ll come around eventually," Levi reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he spoke. "The Boss knows that this had to be done. Sooner or later, Marcus will have to step down from the throne."

"It didn’t have to be like this though," Mia mumbled out. "We could’ve just detained him or something. Not... kill him."

The option of sparing Marcus was well within the cards, but the risk of capturing him alive than dead was simply far too great for them to really put effort into it. Leaving the former King alive meant that he could still contest Nathan’s eventual rule, and he’d still have enough sway within the clan to launch another coup should he be given enough time and leeway to move. And knowing their Boss, he might just get those things if he played it right.

"It’s not like we had a choice," Levi bowed his head. "At least he died protecting what he loved..."

A somber silence settled between the two, the sound of work filtering around them as they watched their men clean up the area. Eventually, the work petered out, and the pair stood at attention. They still had work to do, after all.

"Care to do the honors?" Mia asked.

Levi sighed, "Fine then."

With a nod, he then turned to the crowd. "Alright. With everything finished, we can finally go home."

The crowd mumbled at the announcement. They had some sort of idea of what was happening, but they didn’t have any words on how to explain it. Seeing this, Levi continued.

"With King Nathan declaring himself as our new king, the Mirage Council has launched an investigation throughout the compound," he explained. "As such, we’re going to cooperate with them by reducing personnel present on the premises to only the barebones needed to run the place."

The crowd nodded. At least they seemed to understand what was happening.

"As such, thank you all for helping," Levi ended with a grateful smile. "Once all of this is over, I hope to all see you again."

And with that, the crowd dispersed, and the pair let off the umpteenth tired sigh of the evening. Even with all of that done, there was still more work to be done.

"On to the next thing?" Levi asked.

"Yep," Mia nodded. "No rest for the wicked..."

***

"Well..."

"Well..."

In an unassuming room within the compound, Boris and Lyne found themselves staring down at one another. The awkwardness in the room was palpable, and the pair were looking for any reason to somehow get a conversation going between them.

"So, uhh... How are you?"

"Well enough," Lyne tersely replied. "How about you?"

"Same..."

Another bout of silence settled between the two. It was like this for the past few minutes now, and there seemed to be no end in sight of it.

"Say, uhh... How’s Raine?"

Lyne flinched at the question, but she answered anyway. "She’s well enough as is. Doing her best to cope and all that."

Lyne fought the tears from welling up in her eyes. She knew exactly what her friend and Boss was going through, and she found it really hard not to commiserate in her pain. Instead, she forced herself to work, doing her best to make sure that everything quickly went back to normal and give themselves a sense of normalcy after such a turbulent time.

Of course, it was then that she found herself running into Boris of all people.

"That’s... fine, I suppose," Boris mumbled out. "I hope she’s all of this well."

"Same..."

Once more, a terse silence developed between the two of them. The awkwardness between them was simply too much; unspoken words getting caught in their own throats as their eyes even refused to meet.

Eventually, something had to give in. With the oppressing silence getting too much, one of them finally spoke.