"She won't. She thinks she's safe. Thinks Lian succeeded or failed in isolation. She doesn't know we have a confession yet." Elara walked toward the door. "We use that ignorance. Let her believe she's gotten away with it. Then we close the trap completely."
Ken followed her to the door. "The Emperor... if he actually does wake during all this..."
"Then we adapt," Elara said simply. "But for now, he's useful exactly where he is—unconscious and providing perfect bait for traitors who think he's vulnerable."
She paused at the threshold, looking back at the bed where the Emperor lay breathing steadily, unaware that his own secret lover had just tried to murder him while framing his daughter.
"He made this mess," Elara said quietly. "Keeping secrets. Playing favorites. Treating people like disposable toys. It's fitting that his games became the weapon used against him."
"Your Highness," Demerti said carefully. "You sound almost... satisfied."
