The decision came to Luna suddenly, like a flash of lightning cutting through a stormy sky.
"I have to leave," she whispered to herself in her chamber, pacing back and forth.
The Emperor's soft confession.The System's constant pressure to choose a husband.The unbearable weight of being "Princess Indradevi."
It was too much.
"I don't belong here," she muttered. "I'm not a queen. I'm a college dropout with Wi-Fi addiction."
She couldn't stay another day.
That night, after the palace lights dimmed and the guards changed shifts, Luna gathered her things quietly. She dressed in a simple servant's outfit, tying her hair up and hiding her face under a hooded cloth.
Nanny, Jenny, and Jesse — her loyal maids — watched with trembling hands as she stuffed her precious few belongings into a cloth bag.
"Your Royal Highness..." Nanny whispered, her voice shaking. "Are you sure about this?"
Luna tightened the knot on her bag. "I'm not meant to live a princess's life. I have to find my way back. I have to go home."
The maids, eyes brimming with tears, bowed deeply.
"We will pray for your safe journey," Jesse said, her voice cracking.
Without another word, Luna slipped out of the chamber, moving silently down the hidden servant corridors she had memorized over weeks of palace boredom.
Every step was a risk.If she were caught, she knew the punishment could be severe — for her, and worse, for her maids.
But Luna didn't hesitate.
She passed the palace walls.Crossed the moonlit gardens.Dodged two sleepy guards at the back gate.And finally, finally, found herself outside the palace grounds, standing under the vast, endless stars.
Her heart raced, but she didn't stop.
She followed the old path — the one that led toward the forest shrine where it had all begun.
The shrine where the first portal had opened.
It took hours.Her feet ached, her legs burned, and her mind kept flashing images of the Emperor's eyes, of Nuong's soft voice, of Sukhothai's silent face at the banquet.
She pushed them all away.
"I can't think about them," she whispered. "I have to think about me."
When she finally reached the ancient shrine, the stone was cold beneath her palms. She pulled out the old, broken laptop from her bag — the same device that had glitched her into this world.
It was almost dead, flickering faintly. But the System still buzzed weakly on the cracked screen.
"I don't care," Luna hissed through gritted teeth.
She tapped wildly at the keyboard, searching, begging, commanding.Anything to trigger the portal.
The air began to hum.
The shrine stones glowed faintly, just as they had the first time.
The ground shook beneath her.
Luna clutched her bag tightly.
"Home," she whispered, eyes burning. "I'm going home."
A blinding white light engulfed her.
And then — everything disappeared.
When Luna opened her eyes, she was lying flat on her messy bedroom floor, tangled in the bedsheets she hadn't touched in what felt like a lifetime.
The laptop sparked weakly beside her.The hum of the city buzzed outside her window.The smell of instant ramen floated from somewhere down the hallway.
She was back.
She had done it.
She was free.
In the Modern World
Luna stretched out across her messy bed, a bowl of spicy instant noodles balanced precariously on her chest.
"Ahhh... this is life," she sighed, mouth full of broth-soaked noodles.
Outside, the sounds of traffic filled the evening air. Inside, the soft glow of her half-broken laptop played her favorite drama series. The familiar clutter of textbooks, makeup bags, and tangled chargers littered the room like ancient relics of her former life.
"I'm back, baby," she said with a grin, reaching for her phone to scroll through endless TikToks and memes.
She lounged in oversized T-shirts, slurped boba tea every afternoon, and stayed up past midnight binge-watching every dumb show she had missed.
Freedom.
Real, glorious freedom.
She didn't have to worry about kingdoms, marriages, temples, or confusing men with tragic smiles.
She could be selfish again.
For a little while… she was truly happy.
Meanwhile, In the Angkorian World
Inside the great halls of Angkor Thom, shadows lengthened.
Emperor Jayavarman VII stood at the center of the court, his robe disheveled, his crown heavy on his brow. His voice rang out, firm and unrelenting:
"Search every temple, every market, every corner of the kingdom.
Find her."
His ministers bowed low, fear gripping their hearts.
Princess Indradevi—his Sister-in-law, the Empire's precious star—had vanished without a trace.
At first, he thought she had simply gone for a quiet walk.
She always needed her space.
But when the sun set and she didn't return, the dread settled deep in his chest.
He remembered the old stories.
He remembered how frail she had once been.
He remembered the tears in her sister's eyes when they feared they would lose her long ago.
"Her sickness must have returned," he whispered to himself, pacing the empty corridors she once filled with laughter.
Servants ran themselves ragged, combing every village, every temple, every riverbank.
The Emperor refused to eat.
Refused to rest.
Refused to believe she was truly gone.
Back to the Modern World
Luna giggled at a cat meme, wiping noodle broth from her mouth with the back of her hand.
She had no idea.
No idea that across the centuries, a king rode out at dawn, again and again, his cloak torn by wind and dust, refusing to give up the search.
No idea that her disappearance had left a hole not just in one man's heart—but in the heart of an empire.
She curled deeper into her warm blankets, sighing in contentment.
"This is the life," she said.
But even as she closed her eyes, somewhere deep in her dreams...
A voice echoed.
"Indradevi...
Where are you?"