What if your Honkai Star Rail was like this?

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Cocolia: I Don’t Agree!

Cocolia sighed. ”Bronya, you don’t understand... Given Belobog’s current situation, only by breaking it down and rebuilding can things change. Some things, you and I can only learn to accept.”

Bronya’s expression remained unchanged. ”Is that so? Then let me tell you something. I have someone I like.”

Cocolia: ”Don’t even think about it!”

Bronya: ”Oh? Didn’t you just say, ’Some things, you and I can only learn to accept’?”

Cocolia: ”Is that the same thing?”

Nearby, Stelle, who was munching on the drama, quietly muttered, ”Wow, didn’t expect Cocolia to be a bit of a hypocrite.”

March 7th nodded. ”Yeah, Bronya looks like she’s in her twenties. It’s understandable if she has someone she likes, right?”

Cocolia: ”I will not allow you to be with another girl. It’s irresponsible to both of you!”

March 7th: ”...Okay, I kinda get where Lady Cocolia’s coming from now.”

”Tch... I thought I could use this chance to get her to back off,” Bronya thought to herself, feeling a bit regretful.

Cocolia took a deep breath. ”...Anyway, stay out of this for now. I promise you, as long as these three don’t interfere with me, I won’t lay a hand on them.”

Bronya didn’t hold back. ”Fine, but if you leave today, I’m never going back to the Overworld. You know I always keep my word.”

”...Can’t you support me just this once?” Cocolia said after a long silence, her voice tinged with obvious exhaustion.

”Mother, I’ll always support your decisions, but only if they’re truly your own,” Bronya sighed. ”You always say it’s ’for Belobog,’ but this time, I hope you can make a choice for yourself, for me, for the people we love.”

”Even if the choice leads to destruction, at least we’ll face it together, hand in hand.”

”...”

”...I’m not changing my mind,” Cocolia said coldly.

As expected, the boss couldn’t be swayed by words alone. Was it time to fight? Stelle sighed, already preparing for battle.

”I’m not agreeing to you being with another girl, no matter how eloquently you put it.”

”...”

Bronya scratched her head. ”So stubborn... Fine, I won’t push it. Getting you to change your mind even once is already a big deal.”

Cocolia took out the Stellaron she had pocketed earlier and tossed it to Stelle. ”Consider yourselves lucky. If Bronya weren’t here today, I wouldn’t be this easy to talk to.”

Stelle clumsily caught the Stellaron. The moment her skin touched it, a seductive voice surged into her mind: ”Do you desire power? I shall grant you a promise, bringing you a new world...”

Stelle asked, ”Can you grant my wish?”

Dan Heng and March 7th noticed his strange behavior. ”Stelle, who are you talking to?”

Stellaron: ”...I can.”

Stelle raised a hand to signal she was fine, then said, ”I want to be the Aeon of Destruction.”

Stellaron: ”...Idiot.”

Stelle: ???!!!

What the heck?! If you can’t do it, just say so—why insult me?

”Don’t get too excited,” Cocolia warned. ”Even though you’ve got half the Stellaron, that doesn’t mean you have the power to change the Great Guardian’s mind. For the sake of your senior’s safety, I suggest you hurry back to the Overworld.”

”As for the rest, I’ll explain on the way.”

”Alright, let’s move quickly,” Dan Heng said.

”Wait.” Stelle suddenly raised her hand. ”Before we go, there’s one more thing.”

...

In the dungeon, Clara was lying bored on a stone bed when she heard footsteps approaching. The cell door was opened from the outside, and there stood her newly recruited gray-haired subordinate.

No, not just the gray-haired subordinate—there was also Svarog, the Gearwolf...

”Clara, your subordinate’s here to get you out!”

...

”Won’t it be too conspicuous for so many of us to head back together?”

On the way back, Dan Heng suddenly asked.

Their group consisted of seven people, eight including Svarog.

The rest of the drone soldiers and Wildfire members had gone back to restore order in the Underworld. Seele didn’t come along, saying, ”With Natasha and Oleg, it’s enough. Bronya can be impulsive sometimes, so I have to stay as her solid support.”

However, when she said this, Cocolia’s expression was visibly sour. Clearly, she wasn’t ready to take on the role of ”mother-in-law.”

Clara’s exact words were, ”The Underworld’s so boring day after day. Since you, my subordinate Stelle, have achieved such a great feat, I, as your boss, should show my appreciation and keep you safe.”

Svarog’s words were, ”Command executed: Leave Clara.”

With a group of eight, it was no wonder even someone as composed as Dan Heng couldn’t help but comment.

”A negotiation team would have this many people, so it shouldn’t be too conspicuous,” Cocolia said, glancing at the nearly three-meter-tall Svarog. Of course, she meant for ordinary people.

”Everyone, let me introduce myself. I’m Seele, Bronya’s... friend, and the leader of Wildfire,” Seele said in a gentle, refined tone. ”On behalf of the Underworld’s residents, I’d like to thank you. It was your bravery that turned the tide in the Underworld’s dark situation.”

Seele truly had the air of a leader, her words comforting to hear—except for Cocolia.

Though Bronya hadn’t explicitly said it, Cocolia, as a mother, could clearly see the subtle glances between the two (through Cocolia’s biased lens). How could she not notice?

To be honest, after hearing Bronya’s ”I have someone I like,” Cocolia was genuinely anxious, to the point of switching sides on the spot.

As a worried mother, she was already imagining their conversation—

Below is Cocolia’s imagined dialogue:

”Oh? How old is Miss Seele this year? What do you do? Have you bought a house? What brand is your car? Where does your family work? And...”

Seele: ”Well... to be honest, I’m over thirty. I’m planning to buy a house, planning to buy a car, my family are all miners in the mining district... I can save about 50,000 Winter City Shields a year.”

Cocolia raised an eyebrow. ”With that kind of status, you think you can be with my Bronya? Let me tell you, my Bronya is a top student at an Overworld university. Our family has over a million Winter City Shields in savings, at least two houses and cars, and she has a stable government job. What makes you think you’re worthy of my daughter?”

Bronya: ”Stop it, Mom. She’s different. Come on, Seele, give me some gold coins.”

...

Thinking of the worst-case scenario, Cocolia couldn’t help but clench her fists.