One of the convenient perks of transmigrating into Hanamarie Stiria's body was that she was an early riser.

  As a maid, I had a long list of responsibilities and tasks to address before sunrise, and it was no joke to say that Hana ordinarily woke up at 5AM every day. When I lived on Earth, this type of sleep schedule would have been utterly brutal, rgely due to the fact that Zhang Guiyu was a night owl. However, a few hours after I hit the sack in the servant's quarters (somewhere around 2-3 AM), I was pleasantly surprised to find myself waking up naturally before the crack of dawn.

  I didn't even need an arm clock.

  Of course, I was rather tired, but at least I didn't oversleep.

  Hana was extremely disciplined and diligent.

  I would almost describe her as hyperfunctional, which was almost the por opposite of the other 'me', who was lethargic, overly anxious, and excessively mencholic to a fault. Honestly, I was just amazed that my brain didn't somehow implode from a catastrophic fusion of our diametric personalities, and I probably spent the first hour of the morning in awe at the fact that I had actually climbed out of bed voluntarily.

  I even made my bed and spent a fair amount of time applying what little cosmetics I owned.

  It was actually kind of jarring to see how different the two of us were.

  However, if the current 'me' is a combination of both Guiyu's and Hana's best qualities, I honestly have to admit that God must have been extremely generous. He easily could have stacked our fws instead of our strengths, in which case I probably would have shriveled up into bck hole already. I never imagined that becoming an NPC would have such unexpected side effects, but ultimately I could see that I was incredibly fortunate.

  I was lucky to be given another chance at life.

  For once, I wanted to live my current reality to its fullest.

  + + +

  Quietly, I let myself into Kang Jiesu's room sometime around the crack of dawn.

  As the dy-in-waiting for the Emerald Suite, my job was to take care of all the housekeeping and personal affairs for my lord. Many of the chores could be left for the middle of the day, but there was a full routine of various affairs that were designated for the morning. For instance, it was my responsibility to pick out a new set of clothes for Kang and collect yesterday's dirty undry. I also had to warm the bath, change the toilet water, and tidy up the floor.

  In the Kingdom of Galuterica, the nobility generally expected to wake up to a neat room.

  This meant that a small yet significant fraction of the cleaning needed to be done in the early hours of the morning while the nobility were still asleep. Only trusted retainers were allowed in the their master's bed chamber in the middle of night, which specifically meant that these sensitive chores were the responsibility of personal attendants, handmaidens, and dies-in-waiting like myself. Ordinary household staff and regur maids were only allowed to enter an aristocrat's bedroom in the middle of the day.

  Incidentally, it was considered a blunder for an attendant to accidentally wake up their sleeping master, which often put handmaidens like myself in a difficult situation. It was actually a problematic and troubling catch-22. The only solution was to clean as quietly as possible and tiptoe around the bedroom, but you were in trouble if you made too much noise and woke up the sleeping dragon.

  You were especially unlucky if your master was a light sleeper.

  That said, most personal attendants eventually develop a knack for silencing their footsteps. Furthermore, aristocrats in the Kingdom of Galuterica are generally accustomed to hearing background noises in the early morning, so most nobles don't wake up when servants enter their room. The closest Earth analogy that I can give is that long-time city dwellers won't wake up to the noise of honking cars or ambunce sirens outside of the bedroom window, even though objectively speaking the sounds are quite loud. Given enough time, any person will adapt to their environment.

  Kang Jiesu, however, obviously wasn't accustomed to this local custom.

  He jolted awake as soon as I opened the door.

  I had no idea how many hours of sleep he had gotten. Simirly, I had no way of knowing if he had actually 'gone for a midnight stroll' after I went to bed, but I had already decided that his personal adventures were none of my business. I was happy to turn a blind eye as long as I didn't see it.

  That said, I could easily guess that my cssmate could probably benefit from more sleep.

  I bowed respectfully when Kang Jiesue shot a questionable look at me.

  "Please continue to rest, my lord." (I said calmly in Galuterican)

  If this had been Hanamarie, I would have been terrified at Kang's initial reaction. Disturbing your master's sleep was quite a severe offense, and it was sufficient grounds to warrant punishment. However, I knew Kang well enough to know that he wouldn't react negatively, and he also wasn't the type of person to raise a commotion over a small compint.

  I simply carried on with my job.

  I pretended not to notice while my cssmate stared at me as I collected his undry and folded his clothes.

  His gaze was actually very intense, but he did not say anything and he sat motionlessly under the bedsheets. It was quite intimidating, but I held my back straight and pretended to be unaffected. In this situation, I relied extensively on my stoic NPC persona. If I imagined myself like an emotionless pre-programmed robot, I could ignore the fact that he was gring sers at my back.

  Why was he so agitated, you might wonder?

  Well, the answer to that was actually very straightforward.

  I had taken away his pants.

  Obviously, yesterday's clothes belonged with the dirty undry.

  For now, Kang Jiesu will just have to sit obediently until I fetch a fresh change of clothes.

  ?