The way back to you

Chapter 1

Rain painted the windows of the royal car in blurred gold and silver as Bangkok moved outside in restless light. Inside, silence sat comfortably. Princess Anongnapa stared down at the tablet resting on her lap without absorbing a single word on the screen. Across from her, Lady Prang organized folders with the kind of precision that came from surviving royal schedules for over fifteen years.

"The board of Siam Screen Studios is deeply honored by tonight's meeting, Your Highness."

Orn hummed faintly. Not interested.

"At least pretend to look conscious," her older sister said.

Princess Sirinapha didn't even glance up from her phone. Somehow, even after an entire day of public appearances, she still looked impossibly composed. Sirin had inherited elegance naturally. Orn had sharpened herself into it.

"I am conscious," Orn replied.

"Debatable."

Lady Prang sighed under her breath. Outside, camera flashes already flickered through the rain. Sirin finally looked over, amusement tugging faintly at her mouth.

"Father specifically requested this partnership."

"I know."

"The entertainment division has one of the strongest youth audiences in the country."

"Yes, Phi."

"And if you sound any more thrilled, they may cancel the project themselves."

Orn leaned back against the leather seat.

"A national music initiative," she muttered. "How devastatingly exciting."

The initiative was not actually the part that bothered Orn. She had spent the previous six months building a separate youth arts programme through the royal foundation, one that funded regional musicians, school ensembles, and young composers outside Bangkok. The programme mattered to her. It was one of the few things on her calendar she had asked to keep after becoming more visible in public life.

Tonight's partnership was supposed to give those students a national platform. Which was precisely why Orn intended to take it seriously, no matter how little she enjoyed the people presenting it.

"You're in a terrible mood."

"I was awake at six in the morning shaking hands with diplomats."

"You glared at three of them."

"They deserved it."

"That's usually true," Sirin admitted.

The car slowed outside the towering glass building of Siam Screen Studios. Security moved instantly. Umbrellas opened. Cameras exploded in white flashes as the royal doors opened.

The princesses stepped out together beneath the Bangkok rain. Beautiful. Graceful. Manufactured.Orn had spent her entire life being watched. Sometimes she wondered if the public would still adore her if they knew how exhausted she really was.

*

The thirty-second-floor conference room smelled like expensive coffee and corporate fear. Executives stood the second the princesses entered.

"Your Highnesses."

Orn offered a polite nod before taking her seat near the center of the table while Sirin settled beside her, already reviewing proposal documents with calm efficiency. Presentation screens glowed softly around the room. Audience projections. Marketing campaigns. Cultural preservation initiatives. One executive looked moments away from cardiac arrest.