Rhiannon had a smile on her face since they got out of the restaurant.
Not because she was told that the restaurant was hers but because the dishes there were so delicious. If she were asked, she would always go there to eat.
“You have been smiling for a long time. Aren’t you tired of it?” Octavius asked as he glanced at her.
Most times, Rhiannon always had a cold expression thus Octavius thought she was just like him. None expressionless person but today, she had proved her wrong.
“Tired of smiling? Why should I get tired of it and it isn’t like I am doing any work?” Rhiannon asked in a confused tone.
“I rarely smile. Therefore, every time I did that, I would think that I would get tired if I smiled for more than a second or minute,” he explained when he saw her confusion.
Rhiannon glanced at him and shook her head as she didn’t know what to say or whether to ask why he rarely smiled.
“I have always been a jovial person. I love smiling and laughing, mostly when I am with my family and friends but after what happened, how can I keep smiling and trust just anyone? My personality changed that day but that doesn’t mean that I don’t know how to smile or laugh,” she said as she felt it was the right thing to do.
Octavius didn’t say anything but gave her a glance with Rhiannon saw and rolled her eyes.
‘Only God knows what is running in his mind.’ She murmured in a low tone.
“I guess that I always have a cold expression cause of where I grew up. My parents are loving to each other, to us and family but in the family, there are still some people who have always been jealous of my unique identity. They covet and try to harm me thus to prevent them from getting a chance to harm me, I opt to stay alone and have a cold expression. I learned it since I was a child. It wasn’t a hard thing as my parents always had a cold expression. My mother’s eldest brother and eldest sister are the same. I am closer to my maternal family than my paternal family thus I could copy their moves very well.” Octavius said causing Rhiannon to laugh out loudly in amusement.
She glanced at him, imagined how serious he was when looking at his aunt and uncle just to learn how to put a cold face when he was a child, and laughed hard.
Octavius was confused and couldn’t understand why she was laughing at him.
“Sorry. I just imagined your image learning to have a cold face,” she said with a chuckle making Octavius shake his head.
“I have a twin sister. When we were fifteen, we discovered that the girl I grew up with wasn’t my twin but an imposter. Her mother was my mother’s nemesis, for revenge, she swapped my sister with her daughter. When we went to the countryside to pick up my sister as that’s where the latter’s family had taken her, we found out that she was never given food to eat, never allowed to take a bath just because she had fair skin and they didn’t want people to see how beautiful she was and always had to do all the house chores. From then on, my cold expression became more real as I had seen and witnessed how cold and ruthless the world can be,” he added and Rhiannon sympathized with his sister.
“My sister is colder than I. Unlike me, she didn’t learn it from anyone but circumstances forced her to be like that. My eldest cousin is the most jovial person. She is the one who can make our family that is filled with cold people laugh and smile. She is the sunlight in our dark life,” he said with a smile when he remembered Angel.
“Don’t you have other cousins?” Rhiannon asked curiously as she didn’t want to be clueless about his family and they were already married.
“I have a lot. In my maternal family, the first branch, my Uncle Adrian and Aunt Arya has two children, A girl, and a boy. The second branch is my aunt Ariana’s family, she has two boys. Don't ask me about her husband as she refused to get married. She said that men are stressed. The third belongs to Uncle Lucas, who has two sons. The oldest is a day older than my sister and I. The fourth, Uncle Alex, also has two sons, fifth, Uncle Marcus, has also has two sons. Lastly, my youngest uncle, Uncle Ace married my mom’s best friend, Aunt Elsa, two sons and a daughter. My mother is the last born. I have combined as we are all one big family. In that family, there isn’t anything like a direct bloodline or heirs. We all have different companies in different industries. Uncle Adrian, Alex, Ace, and Aunt Ariana are mom’s siblings while Uncle Marcus and Lucas are mom's cousins.”
“In my dad’s family. There are five branches from Grandpa’s direct bloodline, three uncles, one aunt, then dad. We don’t count cousins as they have no say in the family or businesses although they work in our companies. My father is the youngest. Since he is the most successful, he inherited the company instead of his eldest uncle and because of that, there have always been disputes but not openly. Hope you understand what I am saying,” he said and glanced at Rhiannon who nodded her head.
“Good. Cause I am sure they will try harming you just to get to me or do something to sabotage our small family. The first branch has three sons, the second has two sons, the third has two sons, twins, the fourth has one son, Then after there is me and my sister. In total, I have 21 cousins. Apart from my maternal family and the third and fourth branches in my paternal, stay away from the rest when we go to the capital,” he said in a warning tone when delivering the last words.
Rhiannon nodded her head as she didn’t want to be got up in the middle but she knew that she couldn’t avoid it. She just convinced herself that she would do as he said but when someone provoked her, she would definitely retaliate.
“There is no need to always stay with a cold face when you are with your family and friends. Those who you trust I mean,” she said and added the last sentence when she saw him raising his eyebrow at her when he heard her words.
“Like me. I can smile however I want, do all childish kinds of stuff, and behave like a spoilt brat when I am at home or with someone I feel contented and trust but when I am outside, I will stay cold, release an approachable aura to make those who want to get close to me stop their crazy ideas. You should try and see,” she said with a smile on her face and Octavius nodded his head agreeing with her words but whether he would do anything she said was still a mystery.
He felt that he had to agree so as not to make her angry as he didn’t want to apologize again.
“I am sure by now, my family knows that I am married.”