"This is great," Liluth said with a happy smile before adding, "You have no idea what it's like to have to stay quiet and not be able to talk about the man you love for over thirty years.
Still, I guess I have it better than Empress Revi, who has been waiting for Adam for two thousand years.
What's that Earth saying? Absence makes the heart grow fonder, was it? Heh, guess it's true."
"Thirty years? Empress Revi? Two thousand years? Absence? Fonder?" Tessa muttered aloud a her brain tried to make sense of what she had just heard.
"Oops, I wasn't supposed to mention Empress Revi yet. Forget I said that," Liluth said before sticking out her tongue.
"How am I supposed to forget something like that?" Tessa asked with a sigh before continuing, "Not only have I just learned that the Solarian Princess, who is famous for her beauty and never showing any romantic interest in anyone, is in fact in love with Adam, and has been for over thirty years.
But also that Phoenix Empress Revi, who is famous for having protected her virtue for twelve lifetimes as she claims to be waiting for that special someone, already knows who that special someone is, and it's also Adam."
"Right," Liluth said with a smile while adding happily, "our future husband is doing rather well for himself, isn't he? He not only has three members of royalty who love him, but also three divas."
"Husband?" Tessa asked with a blush.
"Hehe, What? You didn't think I was calling you sister to be polite, did you?" Liluth asked with a giggle before winking at Tessa and saying, "In the future, the two of us will be sharing the same bed as Adam as we work together to satisfy him; that's why I addressed you as sister."
"What!" Tessa replied with a cute little high-pitched voice as her face flushed bright red.
"Considering the reaction you're showing right now, it's hard to believe the sex hungry beast you're aparently going to become after you give your virginity to Adam and the Succuba part of you awakens," Liluth said with interest.
"Oh gods," Tessa said as she covered her face in embarrassment before asking in a small voice, "Are you sure you're not confusing me with Becky?"
"Hehe, Oh the things I could tell you about that girl," Liluth said after giggling before her eyes sparkled with mischief, and she added, "I think I will let you wait and find out for yourself though."
"Why on Terrana are you even making these outlandish claims?" Tessa asked after calming down and looking at Liluth with eyes that showed that she wasn't amused.
"Outlandish?" Liluth replied with a raised eyebrow before continuing, "Everything I have told you is the truth, though much of it is yet to happen. For example, you shouldn't even be alive right now."
"What?" Tessa asked as her eyes narrowed with concern.
"Calm down, I'm not threatening you, we are future sisters after all," Liluth said while making a calming motion before she played with her console and had a holographic image appear before Tessa, before saying.
"Take a look at this."
Tessa leaned forward and studied the picture as she saw many familiar faces.
A large group of people, consisting of one man and multiple women, sat within what looked like a mess hall of some kind; however, the faces of most of the women were obscured.
"I have obscured some of them because it's not yet time for you to know who they are," Liluth stated, causing Tessa to glance at her before returning to study the picture.
At the centre of the picture was Adam and Lorelie, who sat opposite each other at one of the tables playing some kind of board game.
Leaning on Adam's back and watching the game with a smile on her face while draping her arms around his neck was Liluth, while standing beside Lorelie and pointing at the board game as if giving advice was Becky.
Tessa also saw Tephe laughing happily with a strange woman of a race Tessa had never seen before, who had black skin with orange eyes and patterns on her head and neck, while Rowena and Aphrodite appeared to be drinking together at a different table.
Many of the women were sitting around the mess hall in groups of two or three, and although she couldn't see most of their faces, she could tell, judging by their relaxed body language, that they seemed right at home.
Among the women's faces, Tessa could see, she recognised a few, such as the actress Kasumi, who was sitting with Rowena and Aphrodite. While there was also a Solarian female she didn't recognise, who sat in a very rigid manner with a neutral expression opposite Tephe and the other woman.
"Notice anything?" Liluth asked.
"I'm not in the picture," Tessa replied with a sinking feeling.
"Correct, now look closely at Becky," Liluth instructed.
Tessa did as instructed and had her console zoom in on Becky, where she noticed a horrible scar that ran down one side of her beautiful face.
"What a terrible scar," Tessa said as she felt heartache for her cousin.
"Isn't it?" Liluth said in agreement before saying, "She got that while killing the traitor who assassinated you on the Imperial Down or should I say, would have if not for the Phoenix ambassador saving you."
"What?" Tessa asked in surprise and confusion.
"This picture is from the previous timeline," Liluth began.
"Previous timeline?" Tessa asked in a confused tone.
"The timeline when the phoenix race didn't exist because they had been eradicated by the Herpolisk race."
"What!" Tessa asked in surprise.
"Allow me to explain. In that timeline, Adam and Tephe returned to the past to the Siege of Phoenix Nest as per Tephe's White Dragon birth prophecy from that timeline.
Instead of the Black Knight flying into orbit and helping the Phoenix fleet defeat the Herpolisk fleet, as history tells us happened today. Adam stayed on the planet and helped the then Princess Revi's squad fight the Herpolisk ground forces and retake the capital because he had promised Senator Pevaphio that he would protect Tephe.
Because of this one change, they lost Siege of Fenix Nest.
The Herpolisk fleet, which far outnumbered the Phoenix fleet, overwhelmed them, thus allowing the Herpolisk fleet to deploy their ground forces in drop pods without worry.
This led to the Herpolisk ground forces overwhelming the Phoenix ground forces, and almost all of the Phoenix race were killed and had their hearts collected.
What would have happened after that is that Revi and her squad, which Adam and Tephe fought beside, managed to survive as well as rescue a number of the unhatched Phoenix eggs.
Adam would then bring them all back to the present time, where Revi led her race in rebuilding and repopulating itself.
You will notice that Revi is also not in that picture. This is not because she died like you, but because she couldn't leave her race while they had so much work to do so that they could once more thrive as a race.
She did, however, give herself and her heart to Adam, becoming one of his women, although they only saw each other on rare occasions.
So, because the Phoenix race was a mere fraction of itself, they were incapable of sending a delegation to the Terran homeworld like they did when your ship escorted them.
Because of this, there was no meal to welcome the ambassador, and the assassin caught you alone in one of the ship's corridors, shooting you in the back and killing you.
By altering the events that happened during the Siege of Fenix Nest into what we know now, not only was the Phoenix race saved, but so was your life.
If you wish to thank someone for saving you, then you should thank Tephe. It was she who persuaded Adam… with a little help to engage the Herpolisk fleet in space and it was she who told them Princess Revi how she had made friends with you, Becky and many other Terrans, which led to Revi's decision to build closer ties with the Terran race after they returned from the past."
Silence fell between the two as Liluth let Tessa process what she had just been told and neither of them spoke for several minutes until finally Tessa said, "Not to sound ungrateful, but if everything you have said is indeed true, I can't help but ask why. Why would they go so far as to change history just to save me?"
Liluth smiled before saying, "While saving you is indeed a major reason why we changed history, it is not the only reason."
"Oh?" Tessa asked, her curiosity piqued.
"I won't tell you every reason now since it is too soon for you to know; however, I can tell you two of the reasons," Liluth replied before explaining the reasons.