Reborn in The Princess Diaries: My Multiverse Empire
Chapter 5 – The Beginning of a Dream
Days slowly turned into weeks.
For most students in Anshul's class, life continued in the usual cycle—school, homework, exams, and occasional outings with friends.
But for Anshul, every day now had a purpose.
Ever since he discovered that this world was the same world as The Princess Diaries, his perspective had completely changed.
He wasn't just living his life anymore.
He was preparing for the future.
And preparation required discipline.
Every morning before school, he spent at least an hour practicing programming.
At night, after finishing homework, he continued developing his project—StudyFlow.
The small application was slowly becoming more functional.
At first it was just a basic task tracker.
But now it had several useful features.
Students could add subjects, schedule study sessions, and receive reminders for upcoming exams.
Anshul even added a simple system that tracked how many hours a student studied each day.
It wasn't perfect.
But it worked.
One evening, he leaned back in his chair and stared at the screen with satisfaction.
"Not bad."
For a project created by a high school student, it was actually quite impressive.
But Anshul wasn't satisfied yet.
He opened another browser tab and began researching something new.
Startup competitions for students.
If he wanted his project to stand out, he needed recognition.
Awards.
Certificates.
Something universities could notice.
The internet was full of opportunities.
Student innovation competitions.
Programming contests.
Startup incubators.
Most people ignored them.
But Anshul saw them as stepping stones.
While browsing through the list, one competition caught his attention.
National Student Innovation Challenge.
The contest accepted technology-based projects created by students.
The winners received recognition from several international institutions.
Anshul's eyes lit up slightly.
"This could work."
If he submitted StudyFlow and performed well in the competition, it would significantly strengthen his academic profile.
Which meant better chances of studying abroad.
Which meant getting closer to San Francisco.
And getting closer to Mia Thermopolis.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Everything was slowly connecting.
But just as he was reading the contest rules, a knock came from the door.
"Anshul?"
It was his mother.
"Come downstairs for a minute."
He closed the laptop and went down.
The living room was filled with the warm glow of evening lights.
His father sat on the sofa, reading legal documents.
His grandparents were watching television.
His mother gestured for him to sit.
"There's something we want to talk about."
Anshul sat down.
"What is it?"
His father adjusted his glasses and looked at him.
"We've noticed you've been studying a lot lately."
Anshul hesitated slightly.
"That's… bad?"
His grandmother laughed.
"No, it's good."
"But," his father continued, "we're curious. Is there a reason for this sudden motivation?"
Anshul paused for a moment.
He obviously couldn't tell them the truth.
He couldn't explain that he had memories of another life.
Or that he knew the future of this world.
So he chose the closest thing to the truth.
"I want to study abroad."
The room became quiet.
His mother blinked in surprise.
"Abroad?"
His father leaned forward slightly.
"Where?"
Anshul answered calmly.
"America."
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
Studying abroad was not impossible.
But it was a huge decision.
Finally, his father nodded slowly.
"That explains the sudden hard work."
His mother looked thoughtful.
"Do you have a specific university in mind?"
Anshul shook his head.
"Not yet. But somewhere in California."
His father leaned back on the sofa.
"Well," he said calmly, "if you're serious about it, we won't stop you."
Anshul blinked in surprise.
"You won't?"
His father smiled slightly.
"Your future should be your choice."
"But remember," he added, "studying abroad is expensive and competitive."
"You'll have to work very hard."
Anshul nodded firmly.
"I know."
Inside his heart, he felt a quiet sense of gratitude.
His family had always been supportive.
And now they had unknowingly taken the first step toward helping him reach his goal.
Later that night, Anshul returned to his room.
He reopened his laptop and looked again at the StudyFlow project.
Then he opened another tab.
Mia Thermopolis.
The same school profile appeared once again.
Anshul stared at the picture for a few seconds.
In the story he remembered, Mia often felt invisible.
Unimportant.
As if nobody truly saw her.
Anshul closed the browser slowly.
"Maybe I'll be the first person who does."
Then he returned to coding.
Because every line of code was one step closer to the future he had chosen.