It's an "rtic" as in article.
Your image shows that clearly. Gap at the bottom of the "i" is curved and grows with the curve of the "c"
You can see the pixelated gap between the line and dot in the "i". 99% certain it is an "i" and not lowercase "L"
What are you talking about? There's nothing misleading about the picture. It shows clearly a "rti" followed nearly certainly by "c" or possibly "e" but definitely not an "h".
There's zero confusion over where the pen starts and page ends.
Or pa[rtic]ipant.
I see exactly what is there and unobstructed by the pen. And that is [rtic] or [rtie].
The pen is a non-factor. It sounds like it's really tripping you up but not me or many other anons. I'm not looking at any reflections.