I mean based on their intelligent behaviour it wouldn't be surprising to find out that they feel emotions like love towards their offspring (even if not necessa

I mean based on their intelligent behaviour it wouldn't be surprising to find out that they feel emotions like love towards their offspring (even if not necessarily in the exact same way as us) and they know how one feels at the loss of a loved one. So by extension, if they want to cause the greatest hurt to the opponent, hurting their loved ones would be quite effective.