Her defiant face, momentarily, became unguarded and unmasked, and in her eyes, there was a terrifying hope.
Normally she was defensive and sensitive as if her face were guarded and masked. But now in a brief moment when she was saying this, she didn’t wear that guarding mask any more and she revealed her true emotion. In her eyes, there was a kind of hope which was so intense and violent that it struck people as tarrying.