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That was as good a reaction as Ben could get, or at the very least it was his leading assumption. Laughter had been his initial guess at a reaction but this time it looked like honesty paid off. How curious. He could use his father as a plug here as even he wouldn't deny his fondness for Ben's mother. No, he would remain steady and continue. For now, Ben would count his good fortune that he hadn't been immediately dismissed. Varis had yet to give an actual opinion on him and was probing for answers to questions he hadn't asked; a vampire who had questions hadn't closed the door.

Were he honest he wouldn't necessarily label his beliefs but he was acutely aware how each side seemed to reject him. Modernist leaning was as accurate as it could get, he supposed. Fortunately they did agree change was long overdue. Unfortunately his next line of questioning painted Ben in a poor light. He could not admit his ways were discreet nor could he not give a response. He would need to tread carefully; a thought that continuously plagued his mind even if he thought that the conversation was going relatively well. The only part he hadn't expected was essentially having an audience; neither Countess Marivaldi nor Count Astorio had any contribution, and Eris did not count. The latter probably had some snark reserved for this very moment. Very well.

[color=C0C0C0]"Most of my life has been enscripted to my father's tutelage and thus I was for a time wrapped up in rebellion—and there is nothing more rebellious to a traditionalist than finding their children wrapping themselves in modernism,"[/color] Ben said. [color=C0C0C0]"I will admit a large part of it was spite as for a time I believed that striking out on my own was the proper thing to do. While it was doomed for failure I did find it shaped my beliefs as your comment earlier has nailed my general profile: a traditionalist with modern leanings. I find merit in some modern policies but feel that they have a tendency to go too far; it isn't necessarily compromise that is needed, but instead a refocus on the issues."[/color]

[color=C0C0C0]"And of course there is also the years spent on breeding the family weimaraners and decades of crossbow and archery, but I won't bore you with those,"[/color] Ben concluded.