In a younger age, or just a slightly less relevant topic, the Count would have closed the topic with an unhelpful, challenging "What do you think?" or as he favored most, simply stared them down until they fumblingly sought another topic.

It certainly could be a luxury here. He'd already demanded Byerly's files. All of them. From history to education to the psych profiles he agreed to and the ones that were built without tricky little things like permission. It wasn't that it even remotely came up clean - no one in that field did - but it fell within the admittedly elastic boundaries of "acceptable."

So, when he answered, there was nothing forced... but certainly nothing subtle or veiled about it either. He was too old for that shit.

"I am. Both of them certainly qualified."