He tutted in sharp agreement. Human orphans were kings in comparison to the elves in the city; there was no comparison, if what he'd heard about the Alienage was true, but as a native-born 'have-not', he'd spent many years feeling nothing short of contempt of the 'have's'. He could sympathize, and did so quickly.
"You're not so new here. You must understand by now." He was sporadically in Val Royeaux these days, but had still managed to see her on multiple occasions. She'd been in the city... what a year now? Months, at the least. "It's tolerated because it's invisible. Shh. 'I haven't seen it. Don't tell me.'" He put a finger to his lips as he shushed her.
After she reasoned out loud, he sympathetically mirrored her furrowed expression. "How do you know about it?" Her source could be likely exploited.