Lyssa summoned the courage to raise her head. She looked up slightly, trying to gauge his reaction, but her eyes immediately collided with his piercing gaze. Startled by the intensity in his eyes, Lyssa quickly looked away and bowed her head once more.
"Rise," Matthias said, extending a large hand toward her.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty. I shall stand on my own. My hands are quite filthy with soil," Lyssa replied as she began to push herself up.
However, as she stood straight, the atmosphere grew thick with awkwardness. The luxurious gown she had torn now only covered her to her knees. A pair of pale, slender legs were now clearly exposed before the King.
Matthias went still for a moment. His eyes drifted, almost involuntarily, toward Lyssa's exposed skin. Despite the few smudges of brown earth marring her white complexion, the sight offered a sense of wild, unrefined beauty that Matthias had never witnessed in any noblewoman.
