Chapter 168 This Calligraphy Was Actually Written by Isabella
Cillian's gaze fell on Alaric, his voice tight with anger as he said, "Alaric, why does your new calligraphy work look like it was written by the same person as Isabella's?"
Alaric met Cillian's eyes and froze.
In the calligraphy world, lacking integrity is more shameful than lacking skill!
Seeing him speechless, Cillian turned to the audience again: "Today was supposed to be about judging the works, but instead something like this happened! A contestant says her work was switched!"
"This is never a small matter, because it concerns the fairness of the entire competition, and even more so, the reputation of our Calligraphy Association!"
"I'm sure everyone's curious about who switched Isabella's work and how they managed to tamper with it behind the scenes!"
"So here, I'm going to show everyone something!"
Cillian's words, spoken clearly through the microphone, reached everyone present.
The audience stared wide-eyed at the stage, curious about what Cillian was going to show them.
Alaric already had a bad feeling.
At Cillian's instruction, a calligraphy work was quickly brought up.
However, it was a piece that had already been mounted and framed.
Cillian had the staff point the camera at this work.
The image immediately appeared before everyone.
The audience fell into complete silence.
Everyone looked as if they'd seen something incredible, their expressions varied.
After a few seconds of quiet, the crowd instantly erupted.
"This is also Sonnet 18!"
"What, am I seeing things? Why do I feel like this calligraphy looks the same as what Isabella just wrote?"
"How is this possible? How can there be two completely similar calligraphy works?"
It was as if written by the same person - the two works were about 95% similar in everything from the font to the brushwork style, the size of the characters, and the layout. The only difference was that one was just written by Isabella and not yet mounted, while the other was already framed with markings on it.
Everyone was stunned.
"How can this be? Where did this calligraphy come from?"
"It has Alaric's mark on it!"
"What? This is so strange! Alaric's calligraphy is exactly the same as Isabella's!"
"Nonsense, how could this be written by Alaric? There can't be two identical feathers in the world, and two people can't possibly write the same calligraphy. These two works were obviously written by the same person!"
Cillian looked at the excited crowd and raised his chin slightly, "As you can all see, this work has Alaric's mark on it! Alaric says this calligraphy was written by him."
"But I'd like to ask Alaric, why is your calligraphy so identical to Isabella's? The same poem is one thing, but even the handwriting is the same. Is this a coincidence, or is your work actually the switched competition entry?"
"As everyone knows, only the same person can write such similar calligraphy, so can I understand that your work was actually written by Isabella?"
Alaric's face looked terrible.
Didn't Bianca say this calligraphy was bought by someone else as a gift for her?
Could it be... that Bianca took Isabella's calligraphy work?
Cillian couldn't hold back anymore. He pointed at Alaric's nose and scolded, "As a member of the Calligraphy Association, not only did you fail to set an example, you stole a contestant's work and claimed it as your own. Alaric, your behavior has crossed the line for the entire Calligraphy Association. You've disgraced calligraphy and don't deserve to stay in the association!"
Alaric was someone he had high hopes for when he was young.
But how did Alaric end up like this?
Stealing a high school student's competition entry and claiming it as his own.
Does he have no shame?
Cillian passed judgment on the spot.
Alaric's mind went blank.
The audience, who had been speculating, all understood after hearing Cillian's words.
"What! So he's the one behind this!"
"What kind of person is this? How can he be a judge?"
"This is ridiculous. Not only did he switch Isabella's calligraphy, he took it and put his own mark on it, claiming he wrote it! So shameless!"
"Trash!"
"Who would have thought it was a judge manipulating things behind the scenes! Can't he write anything himself? He even has to steal other people's work!"
"So unprincipled, could his previous famous works all be stolen too?"
"..."
Alaric frowned and tried hard to refute, "No, I didn't steal it!"
"I finished this calligraphy a month ago and even lent it out for someone to copy. Isabella probably got hold of my work and deliberately imitated my handwriting for the competition. This kind of thing isn't impossible."
"Copy your writing?" Cillian laughed in anger. If not for all these people watching, he almost wanted to kick Alaric in the face and ask if he wanted to keep it!
"Who do you think you are! I'm asking you to copy this writing on the spot and you can't even do it, yet you have the nerve to say Isabella copied your handwriting! Do you really think your calligraphy is that good?"
At these words, the other judges' expressions changed.
Although Cillian had always been strict, this was the first time he had torn someone down to nothing in front of so many people.
And that person was Alaric, considered a leader in the calligraphy world.
Being criticized in front of so many people, Alaric's face turned red, but he still insisted on his version: "I'll say it again, this calligraphy was written by me. I finished it a month ago."
Seeing him still arguing, Cillian was furious. He slammed the table and stood up, "Fine, you say you wrote it, then I'll let you see clearly who really wrote this work and when!"
"Isabella took a photo and sent it to me the moment she finished writing this piece!"
Cillian pulled out his phone, opened his chat history with Isabella, and instructed, "Staff, put the photo up!"
The staff quickly projected the photo onto the screen.
Not only was there a photo, but also the chat records between Cillian and Isabella, clearly showing the time as 4 PM three days before the competition.
"Even the same person can't write completely identical calligraphy. The work in the photo and your mounted work - even the 'date' after 'And summer's lease hath all too short a date' - have the same handwriting!"
Afraid he still wouldn't give up, Cillian continued: "If you still want to argue that Isabella copied your work, then write it now in front of me, just like Isabella did. If you can write calligraphy like this, I'll leave the Calligraphy Association!"
Anyone could see that the calligraphy in the photo and the one Alaric had mounted were not just similar - they were the same piece of calligraphy!