Chapter 372 Ambiguity
Victoria listened to her explanation and pondered for a moment.
Then she slowly spoke, "You do make some valid points."
As soon as she said this, the entire room fell into a state of confusion once again.
The compliment seemed half-hearted and hinted at a deeper meaning.
This critique took on a completely different tone when it came to Clara.
The entire competition venue was filled with an eerie and awkward atmosphere.
The host tried to interject, but seeing Tilly glance at him from the judges' table, he kept quiet. He was Tilly's person and naturally understood her meaning.
Tilly was signaling him not to interrupt.
Clara clasped her hands tightly behind her back.
She continued to wait for Victoria's next words.
"The formula lacks the key element that brings it to life," Victoria remarked softly, her eyes lowering slightly. "The issue lies not in the formula itself, but in its incompleteness; it fails to capture the essence needed for a truly captivating fragrance."
Hearing this, Clara's brows furrowed slightly, and she immediately became alert.
The three members of the Kennedy family in the audience were still in a state of confusion.
Victoria continued, "I admit you have talent, but your talent is misplaced." Her eyes narrowed, and a cold glint appeared in her gaze. "You can imitate, but you shouldn't copy it outright without any modifications."
Victoria's words once again stunned everyone. The implication was clear: if Clara had plagiarized, she should have done it flawlessly, without leaving any evidence for others to catch.
"Impossible, how could Clara plagiarize? Master Deer, you must be mistaken!" While everyone was still reeling from the explosive news, Elodie in the audience shouted towards the judges' table.
Victoria didn't need to turn around; she knew who it was just by the voice.
She ignored Elodie.
Clara was in turmoil; she didn't understand why Master Deer would say such things to her today, or perhaps she knew something.
But how could that be? How could Master Deer possibly know?
Someone must have said something to her.
Suddenly, Clara remembered encountering Victoria outside the entrance. Could it be that Victoria had said something to Master Deer?
But how could Victoria have met Master Deer?
So, where did things go wrong?
Everyone present, including the online viewers, was waiting for Clara's explanation, but she remained silent.
At this moment, a female audience member couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "Number 5, say something! Are you feeling guilty?"
With this shout, Clara finally snapped back to reality.
She looked pitifully in Victoria's direction, deciding to take a gamble. Victoria must be testing her.
She said, "Master Deer, I don't understand why you would say this today. I accept your criticism and suggestions. But regarding the formula, I can assure you that I wrote it myself, just not today."
Clara bit her lip and paused.
Everyone listened intently, wondering if there was a twist.
Victoria raised an eyebrow subtly, waiting for Clara to continue her story.
"I wrote this formula when I was fifteen," she said confidently. "When you announced the theme today, I happened to think of this formula I had written before, and it just so happened to fit today's theme, so I used it."
With this explanation, everyone felt it made sense.
Clara's explanation not only addressed that she had written it when she was young, so it was normal for the formula to be incomplete, but also subtly conveyed that she was a genius from a young age, capable of writing perfume formulas at a young age, thus explaining all the doubts.
Hearing this, the tension on Elodie's face disappeared, replaced by pride. "Yes, Clara was writing formulas by herself at twelve. She even has a book manuscript."
Clara listened to Elodie's words, a flash of disdain crossing her eyes. She hadn't planned to mention the book manuscript; she was only going to say she had a single page of the manuscript. Now, thanks to Elodie, it was out in the open.
On the contrary, Victoria's lips curled slightly under her veil. It seemed Elodie wasn't entirely useless.
She had been wondering how to get Clara to reveal the existence of that manuscript.
Given Victoria's understanding of Clara, she might not fully disclose the existence of the manuscript.
At this moment, Victoria spoke appropriately, "Is that so? Since Mrs. Kennedy says so, then Ms. Kennedy, please show us. After all, words alone are not enough; the information I received says otherwise."
Her last sentence was very ambiguous.
No one understood what she meant.
Victoria's way of addressing Elodie and Clara had also changed.
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