The arms stiffened for a moment, then tightened around Shen Wangshu's body.

The blonde girl was nearly strangled to death to meet her father, who had already died in battle.

She could barely breathe, and felt the burning heat right next to her neck, so she struggled frantically.

However, her struggles were like ants trying to shake a tree, completely unable to make those arms sway in the slightest.

"Big Brother?" Kerry's usually calm voice cracked.

He was such a tall, handsome young man standing next to her; Alice didn't look like a younger brother at all.

And why hug so tightly?

When did their brotherly bond become so strong that they would hold each other like glue?

What are you doing?

"!" Effie arrived very quickly, and when she saw the delicate little sister being hugged, she was furious and stepped forward to lift the person who was hugging Shen Wangshu up.

She appeared to be nothing more than a slender, tall woman, yet with a single effort, she lifted the person in front of her, eliciting a gasp of admiration from Luo Li behind Shen Wangshu. Shen Wangshu felt herself being constricted even more tightly, her feet lifting off the ground, suspended in mid-air by the constriction. This position was extremely uncomfortable; she coughed and opened her eyes.

What came into view was a pair of pitch-black eyes, and within those eyes swirled a light that Shen Wangshu found very familiar.

She stared at those eyes, stunned.

"It hurts." She twitched at the corner of her mouth as she looked at the person in front of her who was holding her up in the air with Effie, but refused to let go of her no matter what. She couldn't help but whisper.

The man's eyes trembled, and he silently released his grip.

"You bastard!" Effie cursed under her breath as he finally let go. She bent down and hugged Shen Wangshu, gently asking, "How do you feel? Are you scared? My Alice, don't be afraid, your sister will always be by your side."

Her beautiful face, usually imbued with a fierce and assertive air, now displayed the gentlest expression. Looking at this expression alone, no one would believe that this was a renowned, iron-willed soldier in the Federal military. Hearing the gentle coaxing, Shen Wangshu couldn't help but shift her gaze from the man to the woman in the uniform of a high-ranking general before her.

During the most turbulent time for the Field family, she, a woman, stepped onto the battlefield without hesitation, fighting harder than any man to uphold the family's honor and her sister's happiness. For a woman to climb the ranks in the military, where men were the absolute main force, the sacrifices she made were far greater than Shen Wangshu could have imagined.

Shen Wangshu couldn't help but touch her now hardened face and softly called out, "Sister." She felt her eyes sting again, and warm tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt these must be Alice's tears, because Shen Wangshu herself wasn't a girl who only knew how to cry.

But why is it that when I see Aifei, the bitterness and sadness, the longing and intimacy in my heart are so clear? Perhaps it's because what she said reminded Shen Wangshu of how, when this woman with such a doting expression sent her flustered younger sister out of the Federation, her face still showed gentle coaxing.

"My Alice, don't be afraid, your sister will always protect you."

In order to protect her sister, she was implicated, abandoned by the Federation, and died in prison.

Alice couldn't even collect her remains.

Shen Wangshu's fingers traced Aifei's face, and she felt that this face truly made her heart ache.

She was clearly the best soldier, with the brightest future and glory. If she could just give up the dishonorable reputation of Alice for abandoning her comrades and being a coward, she could clear her name.

But she refused to give up.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have let you go to the academy." Seeing Shen Wangshu close her eyes and cry, nestling in her arms with even more affection than before, Aifei's face showed unmistakable doting.

She scooped Shen Wangshu up in her arms, watching the blonde girl gasp and snuggle into her embrace. She easily carried her little sister horizontally, first checking her for injuries, then turning to the remaining students on the warship, her expression stern as she nodded and said, "This encounter has proven that you are all the Federation's finest warriors."

.

Her expression was calm, but as a general who attracted the most attention, her words made everyone straighten their posture.

"Miss Alice is indeed an excellent warrior. She requested to stay on the warship and refused to retreat." The middle-aged teacher was overjoyed to learn that they had been rescued, but when he saw Effie's concern for her younger sister, sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.

He was worried that Effie would think he was a villain who wanted to harm her only sister and get her killed, so he hurriedly stepped forward, saluted, and said with even more praise, "Only in the face of life and death can one see a person's true character. Alice is indeed worthy of being from a prestigious family and has lived up to the glory of her ancestors!" If he weren't naturally taciturn, the middle-aged teacher would certainly have spared no expense in praising her.

If not now, when?

Shen Wangshu couldn't help but purse her lips and smile.

Her refusal to back down in this battle is a glory of her noble lineage.

But in her previous life, Alice was also persuaded to leave with everyone and return to the Federation, only to be met with the disgrace of her noble family and the shameless, cowardly villains who used their noble status to steal the lives of others.

What exactly is glory?

Perhaps retreating in the face of battle is cowardice, but then, just as now, only a minority remained on the warship; the majority left. Alice simply boarded the ship with everyone else, so why was she the only one being criticized?

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