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.