Chapter 99: Protective Instinct
Maximus handed Alexandra the plate of food and she accepted it with a smile. She’s been smiling at him and eating as she must. She has recovered completely and is filled with mana. The commingling process won’t do her any good and he’s stopped doing that.
That, and her blank eyes.
He shouldn’t be feeling this way, but whenever he looks at her eyes, he feels like he is staring inside the void. He doesn’t even get the urge to touch her, much less kiss her. She is the woman he loves to bits and even when she was skeletal, he had this immense urge to submerge himself inside her, but now, he just feels distant.
He could understand that she is sick and he cannot treat her like this. It would hurt her if she knows that he is avoiding her. He still loves her, but he cannot help but feel the need to keep away from her; as if someone is stopping him, whispering to him. He swore he heard someone say ’Don’t smile for her’. And oddly, he wanted to listen to this whisper.
«Ah... I might be going crazy!»
He looked around. Julius was sneaking another bowl of Flavia’s favorite stew to her. Flavia was red to her ears seeing that two bowls filled to the brim and an extra loaf of bread. With a pleased smile, Julius sat beside his wife and started eating his supper.
Maximus smiled. Julius has been this way all his life. He would be Flavia’s husband first before he is anything else.
"Today would be his twenty-fifth birthday," Flavia let out a sigh.
Julius stood up and sat close to her and wrapped his hand around her shoulder. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. They say time heals every wound and your grief would lessen with every passing lunar cycle, but for them, the pain never reduces.
The loss of one’s child is not just a grieving process. It is a journey of survival. They held their baby only for a short time and they are still grieving for the lovely life that only had a short time on this earth.
"I can only wait for the day I would see him again," Flavia leaned on Julius’ shoulder.
"Take me with you then," he murmured. The only reason he is holding his life is for his wife. The day his wife leaves him, would be the day he would follow her.