"Since... you seemed... worried, I thought I should mention, this is a nicer situation than I would have likely wound up in if Berete hadn't picked me out, by a long way. I don't know if you're mostly upset on my behalf or because something about me is inconvenient, but I'm going to - try not to be inconvenient."

(She sounds so cringing even when she's actively trying not to be. She wonders how much papers in her pocket would have helped with that, if she'd have gone through awkward months of deferring to everyone she met if she'd been manumitted as expected. She supposes it wouldn't be an awful habit for a junior post office employee to have, and anyway that doesn't matter anymore.)