"The first reason, as you know, was to save you," Liluth began to explain. "Your death greatly affected many of our family. Lorelie, Tephe, but Becky was naturally the most affected, who blamed herself for failing to protect you.
She was never the same after your death and although she could easily have had the scar removed, she decided to keep it as a reminder of her failure towards you."
"Oh gods," Tessa replied as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Calm yourself, sister, Becky is fine, remember, in fact, I'm sure she's having fun right now with the Pink Vinnaka," Liluth replied with a smirk.
"You even know about that thing?" Tessa asked with a sigh.
"Hehe," Liluth giggled before continuing, "The second reason is that our family needs the Terran race to rise back to prominence again."
"Why?"
"First, because as the Terran race becomes more powerful and prominent in the universe, so will you, its princess and through you, our husband Adam.
"Second is Royal Entertainment, or as it's about to become known, Spector Entertainment. Spector Entertainment is the foundation on which our family's business empire is to be built. And as Spector Entertainments HQ is on Terrana Five, we naturally need the Terran Empire to prosper.
We are already seeing the beginnings of your races' rise back to prominence in how the Phoenix race is working to form closer ties with it, and now, through me, my Solarian race will also form closer ties, which in turn leads to more races wanting to form closer ties with your race."
"Why?" Tessa suddenly asked.
"Why what?" Liluth asked, though she could guess what Tessa meant and as if to prove her right, Tessa asked.
"Why did you never speak out to stop my race from suffering all the persecution it has if what you really desire is for us Terrans to grow to prominence?" Tessa asked with a sharp, angry look in her eyes.
With a guilty expression, Liluth said, "A tree that is cut down can sometimes regrow stronger than it was before."
"What?" Tessa asked.
"The Terran Empire was ruled by a weak man whose own family conspired against him to bring him down, while members of the secret organisation who attacked both Terrana Five and Trillion hold some of the Empire's most powerful and influential positions or power, and they have even infiltrated the highest ranks of the TISF."
Tessa stared wide-eyed at Liluth as she heard the harsh words from the beautiful blonde princess.
"I am sorry to put it to you so curtly, but you did ask, and even if you didn't ask, I was going to tell you, since if we are to remove this corruption from the Terran Empire, you need to know this," Liluth began to explain.
"Even if I had spoken out to prevent the persecution your race received, it wouldn't have stopped what ultimately happened; it would have only slowed it down.
The Empire would still have been ruled by a weak man whose own son and wife schemed to remove him, while his other wives all had affairs behind his back that he knew nothing about.
The secret organisation would still have eventually moved against the Imperial Family to obtain the blood of the first emperor, though admittedly, they wouldn't have attacked Trillion's neutron reactor.
Your mother and brother would have survived the assassination attempt like they did this time; however, they would still be surrounded by traitors who would eventually decide that neither of them was a suitable leader for their goals, and so they too would die soon after to another assassination attempt, as they will this time if we do nothing.
In the end, my actions of not speaking out served the purpose of making the secret organisation act sooner rather than later. By doing this, I have not only helped build the foundation on which both the Terran race and our family business empire can stand and prosper, but also given your mother and brother a chance to survive."
"What do you mean by surrounded by traitors and a chance to survive?" Tessa asked.
"As I said, many influential people in the Terran Empire and the TISF are actually agents of the secret organisation who will soon decide that your mother and brother do not serve their interests once they start making decisions and passing laws they don't like," After Liluth finished speaking she took the datadrive she had taken from the box earlier and plugged it into her console before sending the sole file on it to Tessa.
Tessa saw the file name of 'Terran Traitors' and, after opening it, saw two folders, one named 'Current Traitors' and the other named 'Future Traitors'.
Tessa opened the folder for current traitors and saw a long list of names, many of which she recognised, and a couple that even served on the Imperial Down appeared before her eyes.
"This is the complete list of traitors within the Terran Empire, both right now and those that will appear over the next couple of decades. While not all of them are part of the secret organisation, most of them are. Those that aren't, however, have still done something in the past, or will do something in the future that negatively affects the empire.
I give this to you, sister, not only for our family's growth, but also as a personal apology and peace offering with you, since I know my actions have hurt many Terrans.
I won't ask for your forgiveness because, in my eyes, what I did was for my own and also our family's happiness and I believe it was the right thing to do. I long ago made the choice to put my family's happiness ahead of everything, even my own race."
"You put your own happiness ahead of your race and responsibilities as a princess."
"I did."
"Only a short while ago, my mother was telling me how, as an imperial princess, I should put the needs of the empire before my own, and yet here you are now, telling me the exact opposite."
Liluth smiled before saying, "I, too, have heard that lecture from my own parents and in the end, I decided to ignore it and follow my heart.
Don't get me wrong, I will always try to do what is best for my race, but if the choice even comes where I have to pick between Adam and my race or family, my heart is already set on Adam.
Only you can decide which path to follow and regardless of what you choose, I will support you, as long as it doesn't harm my love or my family."
"I guess this is something I will have to think about," Tessa replied.
"It is and you won't be the only one who has to make such a decision in the future. For now, take this list and pass it on to your mother so that the Oriris family can go over the evidence included with each name on the list and act accordingly.
We will speak again in a few days and I truly do look forward to meeting you in person when you arrive here. Oh and sister, please remember not to tell anyone what we discussed here, even Becky, as it is not time for her or anyone else to know," Liluth said with a smile before ending the holocall.
"My heart or my people, Adam or my race," Tessa said with a sigh as she slumped in her chair before adding, "How did she make the choice sound so easy?"
Tessa sat there for several minutes before the door suddenly opened and Becky, who was clearly fresh out of the shower, rushed in carrying the Pink Vinnaka before waving it in Tessa's face while saying, "Tess, you have to try this thing, it's sooooooo good."
"Get that thing out of my face, it's still sticky with your bodily fluids, gross," Tessa said as she leaned as far away from the pink sticky object while trying to shoo it away with her hands.
"Oh my bad, I forgot to clean it in my excitement," Becky said as she took the Pink Vinnaka away from Tessa before noticing Tessa's stressed face and asking.
"Is everything ok? I heard you got a call from Princess Solar, did it go ok?"
As Becky asked her question, Tessa couldn't help but remember the image she had seen showing Becky with the nasty scar on her face and remember what Liluth had told her about how Becky had killed her assassin, but that her death had changed her.
Tessa got up quickly and embraced Becky, catching the girl by surprise, who asked with obvious concern, "What? What's this? You ok, Tess?"
"I'm fine," Tessa replied before adding, "I just wanted to thank you and say I appreciate everything you do for me."
"Errr sure," Becky replied as she hugged her cousin back.
The special moment lasted an entire three seconds before Becky ruined it by squeezing Tessa's ass.