"You can believe as you wish, but if you ever question what the price of being in my position in the Empire is, do not forget I truthfully told you." And yet, he still, firmly believed the Empire was good and could be a force for good.

Just not under Palpatine.

"I have an ally within the Empire. A grand admiral. He believes in the face of a greater threat it becomes imperative to shelve any other conflict. Over time I've come to see the wisdom of his tactics and I've adopted it here. We have a much greater threat than any differences we may have at home. You are also important to my family, which makes you important to me. I offered Obi-Wan a chance to stay out of our conflict a long time ago. He didn't take it then, but he seems to be now."