Thailand, the year 2199

    As the world entered the twenty-second century, technology leapt forward when humanity discovered an endless source of energy. Scientific advancements in various fields have reached their zenith. However, natural resources, once abundant, were dwindling. Fertile lands, clean water, and the diversity of life were vanishing at a rate too rapid to replenish.

    In the early decades of this advanced century, humans successfully established colonies on Mars and set futuristic goals to relocate humanity to a new solar system, as the sun was expected to extinguish sooner, in another thirty thousand years.

    Thinking about the future became urgent, but what if humans could go back and correct the mistakes of the past? Perhaps then, all crises could be resolved, and we could preserve our homeland instead of abandoning it in search of a new one. Thus, the World Organization began to secretly study the past, and those in charge of this project in Thailand are Nara's father and brother.

    The research facility was located deep within a military base, marked ‘No Entry.’ Armed soldiers stood guard in front of the door 24 hours a day, not knowing what they were guarding. As the rain fell heavily, slowly easing. The atmosphere was gloomy, with flashes of lightning in the thick clouds. The soldiers, dressed in stern uniforms, sighed from boredom. They were skilled warriors who had trained rigorously, their weapons were high-tech, yet their duty was merely to guard the door.

    "What are the big shots hiding up to? Just yesterday, I saw a bunch of them here. I bet the value of the research inside must be immense.”

    "Keep quiet. Just follow the orders.”

    "Yes, sir," the young officer responded dully. His frustration soon vanished as a delicately built woman stepped out of a military vehicle that just pulled up. "Miss Nungning is here."

    Dressed elegantly in the style of royal women from the Ayutthaya era of Siam, her hair was in a high bun, adorned with a garland, and she wore a Sinh fabric embroidered with silver and gold in intricate designs, paired with a diagonally draped sabai in lotus color. After World War III, which was fought over water resources, and due to the UN's centralized unification policy, the cultural arts of nations eroded almost completely. Only traces of past glories were displayed in museums. Surrounded by advanced technology, her attire was strikingly unique, evoking a longing for the past, filled with a mysterious enchantment.

    “You can still change your mind, Nungning.”

    "No, Father. I have made up my mind. I will take on this duty myself,"

    Nara said calmly as she walked on the waterlogged floor. Her steps were light and graceful, like a goddess walking on water. The young officers watched the delicate beauty walk by, with pounding hearts. She wore a single small gemstone bracelet on her wrist, which looked incredibly exquisite and noble. Nara's beautiful and melancholic face evoked feelings of affection, care, and pity all at once.

    Her large eyes briefly looked up at the hazy polluted sky before deciding to follow her father.

    "ID card and iris scan, please," one of the three soldiers said. Once everything was in order, he saluted, "Welcome, Professor Songklot. Good day, Miss Nungning."

    "Hello. From now on, please take care of my father for me."

    With just a slight smile from Nara, the three officers felt that this dim world suddenly seemed much more livable. However, after she walked through the door into the underground corridor, her gentle smile disappeared. She scratched herself restlessly, unaccustomed to the intricately embroidered Sinh fabric.

    "Ah, this is itchy! Ugh, brother, scratch my back, please?"

    "Be careful with that, Nungning. The method for weaving this fabric had been lost for a long time. We've only recently revived the production of traditional textiles, replicating patterns from ancient fabrics in museums. This Sinh is a priceless treasure."

    "Yes, brother."

    Tankhun, Nara's brother, was already waiting at the front of the second door. Seeing him, Nara instantly reverted to her usual poised and graceful demeanor, swaying her hips despite almost ripping off the Sinh earlier. Nara walked and stopped intermittently, checking her teeth in a mirror on the wall, busy baring her teeth.

    "This black tooth dye feels weird, brother. I'm not confident when I speak."

    "In those days, royal women had to powder their faces, dye their teeth black, grow long nails, and wear red lipstick. That's how they defined beauty. Your face is already pale, and your lips are red; you don't need to apply makeup. Your nails are long, but your teeth must also be dyed black."

    "Will I ever be able to wash it off then?"

    "Don't fuss. It'll come off if you just brush it."

    "Huh? So, I can’t brush my teeth for a week?" Nara complained as she sat down abruptly, which made her brother flicker on her forehead.

    "If you want to brush your teeth, just brush them. You can just dye them black again. Everything you need is already in your four-dimensional bag," Tankhun explained. Nara then flung her arms up before dramatically waving them down, making an OK gesture with a broad, black-toothed grin.

    "Alright then."

    "Will this work? You're supposed to go there as a nobleman's daughter, not a monkey."

    "I know, I know. Keep repeating it like this, and I'll turn into a monkey for sure. From now on, I am the daughter of an administrative department officer, Phraya Wichit, about to present myself as a maid to the consort."

    Tankhun pointed to the blood-red gemstone on her wrist. "When you get there, infiltrate as quickly as possible."

    "Don't worry, brother. I have you, a skilled mentor. You love me too much to let anything happen to me. I've already passed all three training stages. I won't fail."

    Nara clung to her brother's arm, pleading. The method of infiltration involved using that red gemstone to manipulate the memories of the relatives of that Phraya, allowing her to blend in as his daughter. Once the mission was completed, the memories should be erased entirely. The risk of this task was the need for swift and precise memory erasure; failure would mean game over.

    Tankhun was entirely against the idea of his inexperienced sister taking on such a time-travel mission, but Nara had been insistently determined to do it herself. Tankhun then intensively coached his sister over a short period for this mission, constantly reminding her that many observers had been sent to the past, and about half of them were lost in the streams of time, never to return. The fates of these unfortunate ones were either death to keep the secret or struggling to survive in that era without being accused of madness.

    "This project is very high-risk. Honestly, Father and I are not at all comfortable with letting you go."

    "Even if it wasn’t me, someone else would still have to go. If something goes wrong, I'll just wait calmly there until the Universal Time Police come to bring me back. I'm going to study ancient fashion, and when I return, I'll create designs that will amaze the world. Besides, the higher the risk, the higher the pay. I'm going to use the money to start my own clothing brand. It's like hitting a whole flock of birds with one stone, don't you see?"

    Nara's red lips curved into a bright smile, seeing only profit in her calculation. She was just going to time travel for a week as a maid of a high-ranking consort in the palace and would return as a wealthy, respected figure. Just the thought seemed worth the risk. Nara covered her mouth and laughed heartily, making both her father and brother sigh deeply.

    Nara was a beautiful and charming young woman, with skin as white as snow and red lips that were adept at speaking and negotiating, but her stubbornness and frugality to the point of risking her life were just like her mother's!

    "Hello, Professor Songklot. Hello, Nungning. Today is a very important day for all of us in this research project. Are you excited?"

    "A little, but I'm confident it will be successful," Nara responded, holding her hands in a wai gesture to greet her father's colleagues, who reciprocated perfunctorily.

    "Good. You're truly Professor Songklot's daughter, unshaken by any obstacle. However, this duty is dangerous, and it would be better handled by someone experienced and well-trained rather than a novice. But then, the head of this project is your father, after all. Professor Songklot must have chosen people based on their capabilities,"

    said Professor Kaewkalya, a distinguished scholar over fifty years old, with a cunning glint hidden subtly in her eyes. Nara knew that before the project began, both her father and Professor Kaewkalya had vied for the head of the project role, but in the end, her father was selected. Moreover, Nara had competed against Professor Kaewkalya’s pupil and won, so it was no wonder that she faced snide remarks every time they met.

    "My daughter passed all three tests with excellent scores. If Professor Kaewkalya isn’t confident in my daughter's abilities, please speak clearly and give a detailed reason. I'm ready to explain right now."

    "I was just teasing your daughter. There’s no need to be upset."

    “Inappropriate talk can be overlooked once or twice, but if it’s repeated often, people might start believing it’s true. If I let this slide easily again, it would seem as though I accept it. Professor Kaewkalya, you are a person of considerable age and qualification; you should understand this.”

    Professor Kaewkalya smiled in response, but inwardly, she seethed with anger because he deliberately provoked her. “Today, your daughter must begin her journey. Since the committee has approved, I have no objections. They say it's good, I say it's good too. I just think that if my pupil had been given the task instead of your daughter, we would have had the data back a long time ago,”

    the elderly woman said arrogantly.

    "The European Confederation's experiment just failed because the person they sent was mistaken as a witch in the Middle Ages and ended up being burned at the stake. Even though you're just going back to the Ayutthaya period, you still need to be careful. If anything goes wrong, your father will be held responsible. This project is not trivial; don’t disappoint everyone. I don’t want to see a sweet girl like you carrying such a heavy burden."

    The elderly woman pressured Professor Songklot, who frowned in worry, but Nara smiled sweetly, undeterred.

    "Thank you for the warning, Professor. I'll be careful. I hope that when I come back, I will see Professor Kaew trusted to lead an important project too. Oh... and about your student, he's terribly incompetent; even during the tests, he tried to cheat off me and got caught... Sigh, it's hard not to think that the behavior of a student could affect Professor Kaewkalya's reputation."

    “Hey you!”

    “I think you should perhaps consider training someone new.”

    Professor Kaewkalya scowled, flustered by the scandal of her student cheating in a test. Others might question whether the professor's past work involved copying others as well. If such rumors harmed her reputation, not only the project leader position, even a request to join research might be denied. "Stop wasting time talking, I wish you luck in fulfilling your duty for your father."

    "Thank you, Professor Kaew."

    Nara wai gracefully with a playful smile and a glint of mischief in her eyes, revealing her blackened teeth. Professor Kaewkalya glared at her before turning away. Nara and her father then shared a covert laugh as the convoluted path and elevator brought them to the heart of the underground research center. Professor Songklot led his daughter to a table where her travel equipment was laid out.

    “What is this?”

    "Emergency rations—concentrated food capsules made from meat and vegetables. Just one pill can fill you up, I’ve packed enough for two weeks."

    "Ew, pill food? When I'm there, I'll collect data on food and try some delicious local dishes," Nara replied, removing the capsule only for her father to quickly put it back.

    "What if you can’t eat their food?"

    "That won’t be difficult, Dad. If I can eat it, I’ll eat; if not, I’ll throw it away and find something else. Don’t worry about my eating; I won’t fail. If you’re worried about stomach issues, they’ve vaccinated me so much before coming here that I won’t get sick easily."

    "Okay, just be careful with everything. This is a four-dimensional bag that you can pull whatever you need from; the system will calculate which item you need."

    "And what’s this?"

    "Birth control pills, take them as a precaution, and these are ultra-thin condoms, better safe than sorry."

    "Dad!!" Nara gaped, her face turning red. "I’m still a virgin, I'm not going there to find a husband."

    "You’re a beautiful young woman, if a young man starts flirting and things heat up, it’s better not to get caught off guard. I'm not encouraging you in this matter, but I’m teaching you to be safe. Think about it, anything could happen. Keep them just to ease my mind," her father earnestly explained, hoping his daughter would make this trip worthwhile.

    "Okay, Dad, I know you mean well, but wouldn’t it be better to pack a stun gun instead of condoms?"

    "I'm just concerned. Young people have hot blood. Global Federation rules strictly prohibit carrying weapons. If it really comes down to it, the cloaking system in your wrist bracelet will help you," The professor pointed to the green gem.

    "Okay," she muttered, reluctantly watching her father stuff the condoms into the four-dimensional bag.

    "Remember, the cloaking system can only be used three times; anymore and it might affect the energy levels you need for the return journey. Just three times," he was saying when Nara tried twisting the green gem, and her body instantly vanished. When she twisted it back, her form reappeared unchanged, but the energy level of the bracelet had drastically dropped.

    “That’s so cool, Dad!”

    “Nungning! I just told you it can only be used three times. Save it for emergencies.”

    “What happens if I use it more than three times?”

    “It will explode,” Tankhun replied calmly, but his sister glared at him.

    “It will explode for what?!”

    “Because it’s cool.”

    If he says so. Nara rolled her eyes, resigned to her brother’s lack of common sense. Tankhun didn’t forget to pack his sister's favorite rotten teddy bear, stuffing it into the four-dimensional bag, knowing she liked to sleep cuddling it.

    “We are going back to the era of King Narai the Great. He had a royal decree that encouraged engaging in trade and diplomacy with foreigners to preserve the nation's independence from foreign oppression and gain benefits in science and economics brought by other nations. Additionally, he fostered poets and literary works, making it the most flourishing era for the arts. Your duty is to gather data about the trade and international politics of that period. Do not distort history.”

    Professor Songklot instructed his daughter, emphasizing repeatedly that she was to go as an observer, without interfering with the past until all necessary data had been collected.

    “Remember, we are just going to collect information, observe the lifestyle of people from that time. Don’t do anything bizarre. Once you've gathered the data, return immediately. Understand?”

    “I understand, Dad.”

    Nara rolled her eyes playfully. After all, she had the chance to tour ancient Ayutthaya, she wanted to enjoy at least a day before returning. She had just graduated with a degree in history less than a month ago, but her interest leaned more towards fashion design. The clothing styles of the twenty-second century were regressing due to special clothing material that adjusted size according to the wearer’s body, was lightweight, and maintained constant temperature. If one desired a particular outfit for any occasion, they merely had to press a button, and the attire would adjust automatically. Eventually, wearing clothes became mundane and repetitive based on preset programs. So, with this unique opportunity, Nara intended to study the fashion of earlier times and adapt it for contemporary use. Her work would surely shake up the global design community.

    As the research team was busy working, Tankhun did a final check on the dimension system’s accuracy before stepping over to talk to his father and hug his sister. Professor Kaewkalya, who was stationed at the control panel of the advanced equipment, watched the trio with envy. If it were not for this family intervening, she would have been the one to gain fame and wealth...

    If only they were not here... If Nara never returned... Those thorns in her side would be ousted from the project. The elderly woman smirked malevolently and quickly typed in new coordinates on the destination panel.

    “Alright, the system is ready to operate. Nungning... good luck and see you again.”

    “See you, brother. I’ll take lots of pictures of the ladies for you,”

    Tankhun patted his sister's shoulder before sending her to stand on a complex ring among hundreds. As the system activated, these rings began to spin faster and faster until they erupted in a blinding flash, generating intense heat and energy to open a dimensional portal. Inside, currents of history surged violently like a raging river. Nara waved goodbye to her father and brother, then pulled at her Sinh and leapt into the time dimension, heading towards the land of ancient Ayutthaya during King Narai's reign.

    Unbeknownst to her, she had been sent to the wrong place.