Their gazes locked.
Lucas didn't look away right away. For a few seconds, the world around them seemed to stop moving. The wind still blew, the grass still whispered, but the distance between them felt too close to be ordinary.
Silvara didn't look fierce. Not guarded. Not ready to strike with her sharp words.
She was just… quiet.
And that alone was enough to make Lucas feel strange.
Without realizing it, his thoughts drifted back to the first day they met. Back then, Silvara had been harsh, cold, and suffocating. Every look from her felt like a judgment—measuring whether he deserved to live or not. A true knight: rough, unyielding, leaving no room for familiarity.
But the woman lying beside him now was different.
Her hair was scattered messily across the grass. Her gaze wasn't piercing—just observant. Just a woman enjoying the sunset atop a hill.
Aside from being a knight… she's just an ordinary woman, Lucas thought.
The realization came slowly, but it carried weight.
