Reborn as the Psycho Villainess Who Ate Her Slave Beasts' Contracts

"You think they’d assassinate the Emperor?"

"I think someone desperate enough to poison me is desperate enough to kill an unconscious man." Elara pulled out the three destroyed surveillance devices and set them on the desk. "These were placed in my office months ago. Professional work. Expensive. Whoever commissioned them has been planning long-term. They’re not going to abandon that investment just because circumstances changed."

Demerti looked at the mechanical insects with visible distaste. "You found all of them?"

"In this room, yes. There are probably more throughout the palace." Elara gathered them back up. "But that’s not the immediate concern. The immediate concern is creating conditions that force our enemy to reveal themselves."

"By making them think the Emperor is about to wake."

"Yes."

"And if they try to kill him?"

"Then we catch them." Elara’s expression was cold. "I’ve already positioned people. Ken and a select team of Beast Knights are on rotation in the Emperor’s chambers. The official guards have been... reassigned."

"Reassigned where?"

"Far away from anything important." Elara’s tone suggested this hadn’t been a gentle reassignment. "The point is: if someone tries to assassinate the Emperor, they’ll find Beast Knights instead of the corruptible guards they’ve probably already bribed."

Demerti nodded slowly. "A trap."

"A trap," Elara confirmed. "Now help me bait it."