What if your Honkai Star Rail was like this?

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: What a Beautiful Misunderstanding... Right?

Thud.

Gepard’s hand went limp, and the Stellaron fell to the ground, flickering with an eerie light.

Stelle, quick on her feet, snatched it up. As she held the Stellaron in her hand, she felt an unprecedented sense of relief—the source of this map’s calamity was finally in his grasp.

Tap, tap, tap...

A series of footsteps approached from nearby. Serval rushed in, her face full of anxiety, shouting, ”I’m here! Where’s Gepard?”

Stelle waved to her. ”Over here, over here!”

Serval dashed forward, completely unaware that she’d stepped on someone’s hand. ”What the hell happened? What does this have to do with Gepard? Explain it to me!”

”You guys have been keeping me in the dark like I’m an idiot, but I’m a Silvermane Guard officer too!”

Stelle raised her hands awkwardly. ”Very, very, very sorry about that. Calm down, I’ll explain everything right now...”

So Stelle spent five minutes recounting the events of the past two days from start to finish.

”What?!”

After understanding the full story, Serval was furious. ”He’s gone too far! Where is he? I’m gonna give him a good beating!”

”Making that kind of decision on his own... Arrogant, conceited, unforgivable!”

Stelle took a step back, pointing at her feet. ”You’re stepping on him.”

”Huh?”

With Serval’s arrival, the group that had been piling on Gepard quietly stepped aside, pretending to be innocent. Someone even snuck in a kick to Gepard’s backside as they left, with enough force that it didn’t seem like an act.

”You guys... that’s too much!”

Gepard staggered to his feet, an ice spike still lodged in his rear. ”You can hit me all you want... but can’t you have some moral boundaries?!”

”I never even intended to harm you. Was it really necessary to go that hard?!”

Serval, her face stern, stepped forward, clenched her fist, and swung it straight at Gepard’s face—

Bang!

Gepard’s sturdy frame collapsed powerlessly, looking utterly frail.

Serval: ”Even if your intentions were good, putting Belobog in danger alone is reason enough to hit you!”

Tears welled in Gepard’s eyes. After a long silence, he finally blurted out, ”Who said I was putting Belobog in danger?”

Flashback to a few hours ago, during Gepard’s confrontation with Welt:

Welt: ”Mr. Gepard, I don’t quite understand. If you weren’t assassinated, why use that as an excuse to put me and my companions in danger?”

Gepard: ”I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention. It was the idea of a certain overly extreme elder... Never mind. Once my plan is complete, I’ll lift their wanted status and formally apologize to you.”

Welt: ”Your plan? What is it? To use the Stellaron’s power to change this planet? Forgive my bluntness, but that’s no different from suicide.”

Gepard: ”I’ve considered that already, which is why, after much thought, I decided against using it. As the Great Guardian, I can’t gamble with the people’s future.”

—”Wait a second!”

Stelle couldn’t help interrupting Gepard’s recollection, utterly confused. ”If that’s the case, why did Uncle Yang use a field to slow down time here? Wasn’t it to stall you and stop you from doing something foolish?”

”Let me finish!”

”Oh, oh, oh, sorry, sorry...”

The flashback continued.

Welt: ”Not use the Stellaron’s power? Then what’s your plan?”

Gepard: ”It’s not about not using it at all—just using it in stages, on a small scale. I plan to experiment on myself first.”

Gepard: ”Prior research showed the Stellaron’s power is highly unstable. I want to be its vessel, using myself as the test subject to try controlling its power. That way, the risk is minimized. If something goes wrong, I’m the only one who pays the price.”

Welt: ”I’m sorry for misunderstanding you earlier, but... I still don’t approve of your approach. I’m a family man myself and know the weight of loved ones. If you do this, Miss Serval will be heartbroken.”

Gepard: ”Sigh, no choice. As the Great Guardian, I have to fulfill my duties, or I’d be letting my people down.”

Welt: ”Fine. If you want to experiment, I’ll help you. In my field, even if the Stellaron goes out of control, I can suppress it.”

Gepard: ”Thank you.”

...

Welt nodded. ”He’s telling the truth. I can vouch for him.”

”No wonder you were the least aggressive just now...” Stelle muttered under his breath, stepping back. ”...Haha, so it was all a beautiful misunderstanding, right?”

Gepard snapped, ”Misunderstanding my ass! Who stabbed my butt with an ice spike?!”

Cocolia awkwardly turned her head, pretending not to hear.

”You guys restrained me, fine, but what’s with the dirty moves?! Two of you kept going for my liver—who was it?!”

Seele and Bronya quietly hid their hammer, mallet, and electric drill, casually shifting their gazes to Dan Heng.

Dan Heng: ”I didn’t do anything... Oh, right, Stelle told me to tickle you.”

Gepard’s mouth twitched, nearly lunging forward. ”Do you know how agonizing it was to be pinned down, unable to move, while you tickled me?!”

Dan Heng lowered his head, silent.

Clara crossed her arms, her tone softening slightly. ”If you’d explained earlier, this wouldn’t have happened...”

”Explained earlier? How was I supposed to explain?!” Gepard was furious. ”Did you give me a chance to explain? One second you’re eating popcorn, the next you’re charging at me with weapons!”

All eyes turned to Stelle.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Stelle immediately dropped to her knees before Gepard. ”Big Bro Gepard, I messed up! I was too hasty, worried you’d do something foolish... Hit me, Gepard!”

Gepard closed his eyes in pain, a sight that tugged at everyone’s heartstrings.

Serval, embarrassed, said, ”Uh... Gepard, I was too impulsive earlier. I’m sorry.”

The group that had laid into him chimed in together, ”Sorry, Gepard.”

”...” Gepard stayed silent, feeling that some of these apologies weren’t entirely sincere.

Gepard: 〒▽〒

...

Goethe Hotel.

”Sigh, no choice,” Dan Heng said with a sigh. ”Stelle, to punish your reckless behavior this time, we’re invoking ’family law.’”

”Family law?” A sense of foreboding rose in Stelle’s heart. She’d never heard of this.