That time around, Rafaela was more prepared for the sudden sleeve of questions; it did also help that they were all related to paladins. That would make it a lot easier for Rafaela to answer then. She cleared her throat, hands still neatly folded, and ankles crossed underneath the many layers of yellow silk. “Paladins are not really common, Hortence and I are the only ones here, but we are not secret either,” she said with a soft frown, because she really did not like that. If it was up to her, then she would keep the paladins a secret, so people would stop bothering her about it. Honestly, it should be getting old by now, but it apparently does not take very much to amuse nobles.<br/><br/>Honestly, she did not really mind people overhearing what they were talking about, because only very few people would even understand what they were talking about, and even fewer would care. Paladin was not really someone you respected in any way or shape, or at least not when they were not killing demons and keeping the city safe. Rafaela did not know how bad Hortence had it, but she had felt it on her own body, and it seemed like, if she could not amuse the nobles by being a guard to their stupid parties, then she should just stick to her role as captain, which they were not happy about either. It was infuriating, but Rafaela knew that there was nothing to be done.<br/><br/>At the mention of her<span style="font-style: italic"> friend</span>, Rafaela looked over her shoulder, but saw nothing there. She frowned softly, because she had visited Hortence right before visiting Akira, so she knew that she was still safely bound to her bed, and should not be able to get out for a while. She also knew that no one would be stupid enough to accidentally let her go, because all of the guards here knew Hortence, some quite intimately, so that sounded highly unlikely. “Friend is perhaps a generous term,” she stated in a dry voice, as she looks back at Akira with a soft smile. “Also, she should not be able to get out. She was safely tied down last time I checked on her.”