Charles's face darkened at her response. Her judgment wasn't wrong, yet he was still deeply displeased that he'd only learned about it through Antony.
"Listen," he said, pushing those feelings aside and refocusing on the matter at hand. "I just found out, after speaking with the panel members, that the voting was manipulated and the results were not decided based on objective judgment.
"It should have been you who won last night. They only voted for Liisi Grant because they wanted to use her artist status to boost the show, while to them, you were just a trainee with no reputation yet.
"I'll explain everything to you properly later, but right now, the campus is surrounded by the press and your fans.
"The panel suggested that you make your debut earlier than intended. And I'll be honest with you, we made this decision mainly to redirect public attention from the results and to protect the festival's and KE's reputation."
