The late afternoon sun beat down on the training fields like a forge hammer, turning the air into a shimmering haze of dust and heat.
Servants had already bustled me into the armoury-adjacent dressing chamber, their deft fingers yanking corset laces tight around my ribs until I could barely draw breath—ivory silk cinched to accentuate my softened omega curves, boning digging into my sides like a lover's vengeful grip.
"Shouldn't I wear training uniform?"
"Your Highness, we don't know anything about that. We are ordered by the empress to always make you wear the finest of the omega clothes."
They wove my silver hair into an elaborate upturned bun, strands gleaming like polished moonlight, then embedded clusters of starlight lilies—pale petals edged in frost-blue, their subtle perfume cloying my senses with forced femininity.
