[ It's definitely not the question she'd been expecting. There are more personal questions he could ask, but he feels like that's opening up a can of worms. Somehow, she ended up at the Menagerie and now she's here. That's about all he wants to know about her past.

(He might also be a little nervous that asking will mean she asks even more back to him and there's so much he doesn't want to talk about). ]

Someone insulting another's hat seems to start a revolution there.

[ Poor Ravka, in a perpetual state of turmoil. ]

How about if the spying is to knock the merchers down a peg?