Chapter 166 Thorough Investigation
Isabella deliberately stood very close to the microphone.
Her voice came through the microphone just like that.
Everyone below heard it, and instantly people started discussing.
"What? Did I hear that right? Isabella said someone switched her work?"
"Is that true or not?"
"This is exciting, even more exciting than the competition itself."
"There's going to be a good show!"
"..."
The judges were also stunned when they heard this.
This was the first time they had encountered such a thing.
Alaric looked at the girl in front of him, his expression darkening.
The moment he saw entry number 043, he was very dissatisfied.
Submitting such a messy draft was clearly intentional.
He had no good impression of this girl at all. She was challenging the authority of their Calligraphy Association.
Just as one of the judges was about to speak, Alaric directly picked up the microphone, his voice cold, "You say someone switched your work. Do you have evidence?"
"I don't have evidence, but the calligraphy work on there isn't what I wrote. The English I wrote doesn't look like that."
"Just because you say it isn't, it isn't?" Alaric took out the envelope and pointed at the label on it. "Your name is written on this. How could it not be what you wrote?"
Isabella glanced at it and said, "The entry inside the envelope was replaced by someone."
"What evidence do you have to prove the entry was replaced by someone?" Alaric shot back.
Seeing that Isabella couldn't answer, he sneered, "Young lady, I don't have time to waste here with you. You deliberately submitted such a messy draft, which is already an insult to calligraphy and a provocation to the competition! Now you're questioning the integrity of this competition. This is simply making trouble out of nothing! Please leave the stage immediately! We still need to comment on other contestants' works!"
Alaric's voice carried anger, clearly transmitted through the microphone to every corner below the stage.
Instantly, people below looked at Isabella like they were watching a joke.
"What is Isabella doing? She wouldn't really do this on purpose, would she?"
"The judges are angry, why doesn't she come down quickly? What's she still standing on stage for?"
"I'm embarrassed for her."
"Do you think she might not want to lose face, so she's deliberately saying that entry wasn't written by her?"
"I think that must be it!"
Isabella opened her mouth to say something, but Alaric looked directly at the audience below and warned everyone:
"Lumaria's calligraphy culture has a long history and wasn't easy to build. I hope every young participant is here because of their love for it. I absolutely will not allow anyone to deliberately disrupt the competition!"
"Also, I want to emphasize again that we strictly control the competition process. There absolutely won't be any problems. Anyone trying to make excuses and cause trouble, don't blame me for being rude!"
Every word made it clear that Isabella was deliberately causing trouble.
Instantly, there were sighs from the audience below.
Olivia bit her lip, her expression extremely unpleasant.
Maybe she shouldn't have come today.
Isabella really always knew how to make her lose even more face!
Her calligraphy was terrible enough, and now she was making a scene in front of so many people. Even the judges couldn't stand it anymore.
Olivia felt like the contemptuous looks from people around her were also falling on her, making her feel ashamed.
She picked up her bag, just wanting to leave this awful place.
Just as Olivia turned around, she heard a more seasoned voice from the judges' panel, carrying some dissatisfaction and gravity.
"Alaric, what are you doing?"
A dissatisfied question.
The voice belonged to Cillian. His expression was particularly unpleasant as he stared at Alaric, his tone full of anger.
"A student has raised that her entry was switched by someone! Such a serious matter, and you're just ignoring it! And you're even kicking her off the stage?"
"Are you really a member of our judging panel?"
Cillian was furious.
He had specifically requested Dean to change the competition format to public judging, precisely to bring the matter of Isabella's work being switched out into the open, so it could be publicly judged and dealt with.
Sure enough, everything went as he expected. Isabella discovered her work had been switched and raised the question.
But before he could say anything, Alaric was bullying Isabella right in front of him.
Isabella was already wronged enough. Not only was her work switched, but it was switched with something as terrible as shit. The fact that she wasn't crying was already good.
And then when Isabella finally gathered the courage to come on stage and raise the question, she was scolded by Alaric.
Isabella was really too pitiful.
Cillian looked at Isabella with eyes full of sympathy.
Don't worry, Isabella, I'll definitely get justice for you today!
Isabella unexpectedly met Cillian's gaze and found him looking at her with a loving expression, which made her freeze for a moment.
But fortunately, Cillian quickly moved his gaze away from her.
Cillian held the microphone, looking seriously at the audience below, speaking each word with authority: "Just now Isabella questioned that her entry was switched by someone! I announce that the judging process is suspended. We will immediately investigate this serious incident thoroughly!"
"..."
Alaric's body stiffened. It was very awkward.
In his view, Isabella was just a troublemaker. She said her entry was switched but couldn't provide evidence. It was just empty words.
He never expected that Cillian would make such a big deal out of this for Isabella, even directly stopping the judging session to investigate the matter.
People below also looked at each other, unable to react for a moment.
Wasn't it just said that Isabella was making trouble? How come now they're going to investigate thoroughly?
"Bianca, do you think Isabella is lying or not?" Even Abigail couldn't help being curious. She didn't expect watching a calligraphy competition would have these unexpected situations.
Bianca pressed her lips together and said nothing.
On the other side, Olivia withdrew her steps that were about to leave, looking at the stage in disbelief.
The person speaking was Cillian. She had just heard in the introduction that Cillian was the vice president of the Calligraphy Association, clearly a very authoritative figure, so his words carried weight.
Olivia couldn't help wondering, could it be that Isabella really wasn't lying, and her entry really was switched by someone?
But even though the most authoritative person had spoken, people below were still saying all kinds of things.
"How can Cillian be so naive at his age? Why does he believe everything Isabella says? Who would be sick enough to switch her writing? Does she think her calligraphy is priceless?"
"Isabella has a persecution complex. The competition procedures are so strict. Unless it's someone from the organizers, how could anyone tamper with it?"
"What if they find out later that no one switched her entry? Won't that be the end? So embarrassing!"
"We don't know what really happened yet! Isabella isn't stupid. Why would she make something up out of nothing?"
"..."