Chapter 360: Peanut Allergy

After Dennis agreed, Ella turned to Victoria, as if just noticing her presence. "Victoria, you gotta teach me more, too."

Victoria replied, "Your acting's already amazing. What more do you need from me?"

In the show "Radiant Rebel," the male and female leads start as enemies and eventually fall in love. However, due to their responsibilities, they never end up together.

Victoria played the lead character, Seraphina, a righteous heroine who valued freedom and justice and couldn't stand seeing the weak being bullied. Dennis portrayed the male lead, Prince Douglas Campbell of the kingdom, who had responsibilities he couldn't abandon.

Seraphina wouldn't give up her free-spirited life for him, so they were destined to part ways. They met while investigating a corruption case; Seraphina initially thought Douglas was the mastermind, but as they uncovered the truth together, feelings developed between them.

Ella played the second female lead, a foreign princess who fell for Douglas at first sight and wanted him as her husband. However, Douglas repeatedly rejected her. Eventually, the princess was disfigured in an accident while saving Douglas. Feeling guilty, Douglas agreed to marry her in name only, making it clear they wouldn't have a real marital relationship. The proud princess returned to her country and never married.

Victoria's makeup and costume for her role were simple and clean, while Ella's were elaborate and luxurious, featuring the most intricate makeup in the cast. Yet, when both appeared together, the director and writer's attention was more drawn to Victoria. Leon nodded and said, "My leading lady should be like this, standing out even in simple attire."

Ella took a deep breath to suppress her anger. Leon's words seemed to praise Victoria but actually belittled her, Ella! He was implying that even in luxurious clothes, she couldn't compare to Victoria.

But as the second lead, it's normal not to outshine the main character. Some productions even deliberately give the second lead worse makeup to highlight the lead's beauty. Compared to that, this production's makeup for her was top-notch, even more elaborate than what she had as the lead in "Meeting the Divine."

During filming, Victoria and Dennis often nailed their scenes in one take, with crew members frequently gathering to watch their performances. Ella's acting was not as strong but had improved significantly, with fewer interruptions. She was diligent and serious, memorizing her lines well and often observing others' performances to learn.

One night, while filming a night scene, Ella had to reshoot a scene eight times due to emotional issues before the director reluctantly approved. She apologized to the crew with teary eyes, "I'm sorry for causing delays. Tonight's snacks are on me. Let me know what you want, and I'll have my assistant get it."

"You're too kind. It's normal to reshoot a scene several times."

"Yeah, we appreciate the snacks!"

Everyone cheerfully discussed their snack preferences and sent their requests to Ella's assistant. There was still a major scene to be filmed with the leads, involving many characters and a lot of work left for the night.

Ella, with no scenes to shoot at the moment, called her assistant into her trailer and whispered, "Hey, later on, prep two boxes of salad. One with peanut sauce, one without."

The assistant looked puzzled. Ella explained, "Victoria's allergic to peanut sauce, so make sure one is peanut-free." The assistant was surprised by Ella's concern, given her usual attitude towards Victoria. Ella's smile turned sinister, "But make sure the peanut-free one has a tiny bit of peanut powder, just enough that it can't be seen or smelled, got it?"

The assistant hesitated, "But we're responsible for the salads. If Victoria has an allergic reaction, it'll be on us. Plus, she's the lead. Her allergy will delay filming."

Ella retorted, "If Victoria causes delays, it's her fault, not mine. I specifically ordered peanut-free salad, but maybe the staff didn't clean their gloves properly. I'm being considerate; how can I be blamed?" She was jealous of Victoria's one-take performances and wanted to cause delays so everyone would blame Victoria.

Though Ella paid for the snacks, the crew distributed them. When the crew handed the salad to Victoria, she didn't suspect anything, seeing the "peanut-free" label. Victoria was discussing the next scene with Dennis when Seraphina raised the salad box, "Victoria, someone bought us snacks. Have some!"

Dennis' assistant also brought snacks, so they took a break to eat together. Victoria took a bite of the salad and smiled, "I must be really hungry; this salad tastes amazing."

Dennis, eyeing Victoria contentedly chewing, suddenly reached over with his fork, "Let me try a bite." He took a bite and his expression changed dramatically, knocking the salad box to the ground, "Don't eat it, there's peanut in it!" They had been filming together for over a month, and he remembered Victoria mentioning her peanut allergy. His sensitive tongue detected the peanut fragments, even though they were minimal.

Victoria had just swallowed a bite and was about to take another when she dropped her fork at Dennis' words. Seraphina picked up the box, "It says peanut-free. Dennis, are you sure?" Victoria, feeling her lips itch, pressed her mouth, "It does feel a bit itchy." Red spots began appearing on her neck.

Seraphina gasped, "Victoria, you're having an allergic reaction! There are peanuts!"

Dennis held Victoria's hand to stop her from scratching and said seriously, "There's allergy medicine in the car, go get it."

Seraphina ran to get the medicine. After taking it, Victoria felt the itching subside, but the red rash on her neck wouldn't disappear quickly.

The commotion drew everyone's attention. The crew rushed over, "What happened? Will it affect the next scene?"

Seraphina complained, "Victoria ate the salad you gave her and had an allergic reaction. Her neck's rash won't go away, how can we film the next scene?"

The crew was shocked, "I didn't know. The salad was bought by Ella's assistant."