Chapter 1

The day after I left the special forces, the wealthy Thorne family "recognized" me as their long-lost daughter.

My cloying stepsister, Seraphina Thorne, cut me off. Her gaze traveled slowly from my head to my toes, taking in every inch of my desert-toughened skin.

She wrinkled her nose, her voice a soft, almost pitying murmur.

"Sister, your tactical physique isn't quite the standard for beauty here.. From today on, I'll join you at the gym."

"A slender figure is essential for pretty gowns. Otherwise, how will you ever find a husband?"

I raised an eyebrow.

Were the fitness standards in high society this insane? My 18% body fat, which I maintained as a special forces operative, was considered "fat"?

Seraphina remained oblivious, cheerfully handing me a "sweat-it-out" weight loss class schedule.

A thirty-kilogram weighted cross-country run, five hundred push-ups, an hour of combat training, three hours of high-intensity workouts daily.

I couldn't help but snort.

Wasn't this just the absolute minimum for recovery training?

...