Chapter Text
Chapter One : The Necklace Beneath the Water
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“The past is a tide. One touch of its waters, and you may never find your way back.”
“Don’t be late again, Nattawat!”
His father’s voice echoed from the porch as Fourth tightened his tie in the mirror. Sunlight poured through the window of their modest home, catching the glint of a delicate pearl necklace that hung around his neck—thin and old, like memory itself.
“I’m never late, Dad. I just arrive fashionably chaotic.”
He winked, grabbed his phone, and dashed out, his school bag bouncing behind him. His father, a kind-eyed history professor, shook his head with a knowing sigh. “That necklace doesn’t belong in a locker room.”
Fourth paused, holding the pearls gently between his fingers. “It belonged to Mom. That means it belongs everywhere.”
His father smiled softly. “Just don’t lose it. There’s more in that necklace than you know.”
If only either of them understood how true that was.
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It was an ordinary day at Chulalongkorn High, or as Fourth liked to call it—“The Royal Court of Chaos.” He whirled through the halls like he was born with a crown of mischief, smirking at upperclassmen, making dramatic entrances into classrooms, and charming teachers out of surprise quizzes.
By lunch, he was already half-drenched from a failed water bottle prank on his best friend. And by post-football practice, the sun was kissing the horizon, dyeing the school’s Olympic pool in hues of pink and blood-orange.
"One more round, then we can grab pad krapao!" Mark called, tossing a towel over his shoulder.
Fourth nodded, sweaty and glowing from the day’s chaos. He tugged at his collar—and that was when it happened.
Snap.
A barely audible sound. But unmistakable.
He looked down.
The necklace was gone.
"No, no, no," he muttered, heart hammering. His fingers scraped at his shirt as if it might magically appear—but it didn’t. Then, he saw it.
A tiny shimmer, descending slowly through the crystalline water of the pool.
Without thinking, Fourth kicked off his shoes and dove.
The water swallowed him whole.
Silence pressed in around him, heavy as memory. The pearl glowed like a star, just out of reach, spinning gently in the filtered light.
His lungs began to burn.
The pearl dropped deeper, into darkness.
He stretched out his hand—
And time shattered.
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A scream clawed at his throat, though no sound escaped. The water turned gold. Or maybe light burst from inside him. The world twisted, pulled, cracked, and turned inside out.
The pool dissolved.
And for a moment, he was nowhere.
Gasp.
He broke the surface, coughing violently, the scent of lotus and jasmine replacing chlorine and sweat.
The world was... wrong.
The light was softer, as though painted by a hand centuries older. Dragonflies skimmed the surface of a wide lotus pond, and ornate stone pavilions loomed nearby. Crickets sang in the breeze. The air was laced with incense and wet petals.
And in front of him, standing at the edge of the pond in wide-eyed disbelief, was a girl no older than him. Dressed in embroidered silk, her face was framed with delicate jewelry and confusion.
“You… just rose from the lotus pond,” she whispered. “By all the gods…”
Fourth blinked at her. “I—what? Who…?”
He tried to stand but his limbs didn’t obey. His clothes were soaked and strangely alien now—too modern, too foreign in this world of elegance and ancient beauty.
The girl stepped back, heart visibly racing. “You’re not one of the servants. You’re dressed like a... spirit.”
He coughed again, looking around. This was not Bangkok. This was not his century.
A name floated to him—Chanikarn. He’d heard it in his father’s lectures. A powerful noble family from the Ayutthaya era. A family that disappeared under strange circumstances.
The girl stepped closer, now concerned. “You’re bleeding…”
Blood dripped from a cut at his temple, a remnant of the pool’s sharp edge—one last gift from the 21st century.
“Where… am I?” he rasped.
She knelt beside him, gaze cautious yet curious. “You are in Chanikarn Manor. In the year of the dragon. The palace is two rivers away. You should not be here.”
Fourth blinked slowly, breath shallow. “Is this… a cosplay shoot?”
The girl frowned. “What is… cosplay?”
He passed out.
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