Queen cups on every other frame but every single one is empty — actual swarm prep or just decorating?

Devon, fourth year, strongest colony I've ever run. Inspection today: little queen cups along the bottom bars and comb edges on practically every other frame — I counted 14 — but every one of them is empty. No egg, no larva, no royal jelly, dry as a bone. Fourth year in and I still get the adrenaline spike every time I see cups. My understanding is that empty play cups are just... furniture? Bees keeping their options open? And the real signal is an egg or larva IN a cup, plus backfilling of the brood nest and the queen slimming down. Am I right that this is a shrug, or does 14 cups mean they're further along than I think? Flow is still on here, they have two supers of space, and I saw eggs today so the queen's laying. Tempted to just keep my weekly checks and not touch anything.