Anastasia follows Gouyen and Michu to the Temple in the East of the Imperial Palace.

Where the hips and ridges of the roof meet, the bridge rises high into the air like the flames of the New Year bonfires. This temple is the most prestigious of all the temples in the palace.

In fact all temples that face the East are. They face the new day before any other temples.

Gouyen unhooks her arms around Michu, and prepares herself before entering the sacred temple.

Gouyen and Michu easily walk right to the Eastern Head Priest, also an Imperial Priest, since the monks open a path for them.

They are uneasy since no one has respected them in such a way before. Usually, their presences aren't even known or cared for attention by the monks.

But for the monks who have lived in peace in the Imperial Capital City and have not seen any deceased souls, they are shakened to their knees as Anastasia follows behind Gouyen and Michu.

“Please stop right there,” the Eastern Head Priest places a hand before the young ladies.

Gouyen and Michu drop to their knees, paying their respect for the Imperial Priest, “Father. I have orders from Prince Jhaan.”

He nods his bald head and says, “It seems that the ghost has unknowingly followed you here. You both may return to your duties and I will deal with the rest.”

“Let’s go,” Michu tugs at Gouyen’s elbow.

Unfortunately, Anastasia isn’t going to stay without Gouyen and Michu, so as soon as they stand to leave, Anastasia is already ahead of them.

“Wait, I think the ghost would like for you both to stay,” The Imperial Priest gestures for the young ladies to follow him into a quiet place in the temple.

He sits on his mat before a Buddist altar. He pours four cup of tea and offers three to the three young ladies.

Michu tries to separate Gouyen from the ghost after seeing that one of the cups is offered to an empty space next to Gouyen. Of course she is scared of ghosts too, but she wants to come off as strong in front of Gouyen.

“How did you get in?” The Imperial Priest stares at Anastasia with disappointment.

Anastasia lifts the cup a little bit, spills the tea onto the hardwood floor, and goes to hide behind Gouyen.

The Imperial Priest sighs while Michu startles with chills down her spine.

“What is the ghost saying?” Gouyen asks with a charming smile.

He shakes his head, “She’s not talking. It is not our duty to create bad karma, so I’ll give you both a charm to protect yourself from her. We’ll wait until she is willing to speak and tell us how she got in. We do not want this to ever happen again.”

“Father,” Michu shakes her head. “The ghost can’t stay with us. What if she hurts the other servants because she can’t hurt us.”

“Will you hurt others, child?” The Priest asks the ghost who nods. “She said she wouldn't hurt anyone.”

“Then why won’t she tell us how she got in? I don’t trust her,” Michu purses her lips.

The Priest looks at Anastasia as if he wants her to answer Michu’s question.

Anastasia floods her arms and answers, “I’m only here until the Emperor’s death. I will only leave afterwards. And while I am here, I promise to not hurt anyone.”

For a moment, the Priest’s heart stops. He had always known that this day would come because of all the things he had covered for the Emperor yet it still caught him off guard.

The doors open and the boy monks that have been eavesdropping fall flat on their stomach. They too could not believe their ears.

“What are you boys doing? Are you here to disrespect me before our guests?” The Priest slaps his knee, waiting for the boys to leave.

“No, Father,” one of the boys answers.

“Then I want you to leave and close the doors behind you. Tell no one of what you heard and wait for my further instruction.”

A boy steps up close to Anastasia and begins chanting, “If you come with evil intentions, we will give you a fight.”

Then the other boys follow with the chant, “Ten of us will strike you with thunder, hundred of us will shatter your hearts, thousand of us will destroy and obliterate, ten thousand of us will hand you the wrath of Heaven.”

At this point Michu and Gouyen are a little startled not by Anastasia but by the boy monks. They hug one another tightly.

Anastasia stands there unimpressed as the boys chant, but as soon as they finish, she begins giggling.

Scared, the boys hurdle into a group and chant again.

“Stop now, children!” The Priest gives the hardwood floor a good pound to silent the uproar.

The little monks frown and stand off to a corner while the Priest firmly asks Anastasia, “Would you keep your promise and hurt no one?”

Anastasia smiles to one side while glaring at the young monks and shrugs a shoulder, “I guess I might as well since they're so scared of me already… But I would like to warn you all not to hurt me as I cannot promise your safety.”

“What do you mean, child?”

“Take it however you like, Father. Did you think I came here alone?” Anastasia gives them another hint, but she quiets herself after this as she knows her mother would be angry at her.

“Father, do you expect us to allow the ghost to stay with us?” Michu takes the Priest out of his delusion.

The Priest counts the beads in his hand and turns around to pray to the Buddha. Then he turns to you ladies, “You two shall be under Prince Jhaan’s protection until the ghost returns to her place in the afterlife. You two may stay in the courtyard for the time being until I arrange the necessary.”

“Are you going to hurt her?” Gouyen narrows her bows with a cute sadness on her face.

“No. Nothing like that, child. Please be at ease,” the Priest tries to comfort Gouyen and at the same time tries to not agitate Anastasia.

As soon as Gouyen, Michu, and Anastasia left for the courtyard in the Eastern Temple, the Priest forbids his young followers to speak of what they heard or saw.

He gives four young monks the duty of escorting the young ladies to Prince Jhaan’s estate and guarding them in the meantime. And to another four, he tells them to accuse Gouyen and Michu from laundry services for the time being.

And while they are on their way to Prince Jhaan’s estate, Gouyen asks the little monks, “How does she look like?”

“Short. Stompy. Big teeth that overhang from the fat lips. Very ugly unlike you, beautiful lady,” the boys chuckles and laughs.

Anastasia rolls her eyes.

“Sounds like you guys are being mean to her. I would like you to apologize to her,” Gouyen stops and raises her brows at the boys. “You're learning to become monks, you should know better than making fun of people’s appearances.”

The little monks squint their faces together and averts their eyes when apologizing to Anastasia.

“By the way, what's her name?” Gouyen asks with a smile.

Michu quickly pulls at Gouyen’s elbow, “Why are you asking that? If we speak the ghost’s name, she'll have more power.”

“Don't worry, I don't want you to know my name anyway,” Anastasia rolls her eyes and blows a long raspberry. Then she points to their left, “Who's that guy?”

As soon as they turn to see who it is and give Anastasia an answer, they kneel to the ground, refusing to see Prince Ciwegai’s face, the second heir to the throne.