Phoenix Rising: From Heartache to Heroism

Compared to the tangled love-hate relationship between the male and female lead, the storyline of Zelena's supporting character, Isabella Fairchild, was much simpler.

Isabella was the daughter of Branholm's Chancellor. She had always harbored feelings for Charles. As soon as Charles returned from Valoria, she immediately offered herself to marry him and become his empress. Despite Charles's lack of affection for her, Isabella was content with her role.

Charles ultimately sacrificed his life for the empire he sought to build.

If Charles and Charlotte had been from the same country, they might have loved each other and spent their lives together as a couple, even if they were mere commoners.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

Their encounter was marked by inevitable separation from the moment they met.

The drama's portrayal of their romantic relationship was reserved and subtle, as Wade only briefly mentioned it in the script.

The only scene with romantic undertones featured them watching fireworks from the city tower.

They had enjoyed each other's company and shared a jug of wine.

However, Charlotte did not take the jug with her when she left.

Charles had picked it up and set it down several times, but he ultimately left it at the tower as well.

That action symbolized their decision to follow separate paths in life, each seeking to achieve more significant goals.

Nicholas Whitfield, the second male lead, was a knowledgeable and refined strategist who served as a close confidant to Charlotte.

Even though he harbored feelings for her, he never dared to overstep his bounds.

As Charlotte's close confidant, he focused entirely on doing what was best for her. The only time he acted out of personal interest was when he leaked some fake news, which later fueled the rivalry between Charlotte and Charles. Charlotte was aware of his actions, but she understood that they were part of his role. Consequently, she tolerated his actions, recognizing the necessity of having someone to constantly remind her of her duties and responsibilities.

They started filming shortly after arriving on set, with the early scenes focusing mainly on the characters played by Violeta and Nolan.

Violeta looked stunning in her historical drama costume, exuding the regal elegance befitting a princess.

Nolan, on the other hand, was also esteemed for his striking looks in historical drama costumes.

When Charles and Charlotte first met each other, Valoria was blanketed in its first snow. She stood in the pavilion, her gaze fixed on the ineffectual prince below.

His thin clothing offered little protection against the cold, and a snowflake landed on his shoulder as their eyes met.

Her cold voice descended upon him along with the snow. "They called you 'the hostage prince', wouldn't 'the abandoned prince' be a more fitting title?"

Violeta rarely needed to stop for retakes during filming, as she usually nailed it in a single take.

After completing the main scenes, she also filmed some behind-the-scenes footage for backup.

When Zelena wasn't in the scene, she worked diligently on memorizing her lines. Despite her efforts, she needed to redo her scenes much more often than Violeta. Whenever Violeta was on set with Nolan, Zelena would intrude to ensure they didn't have any private moments together.

Sometimes, the filming extended

into the evening for night scenes The temperature swings between day and night made it challenging for Violeta to adjust, leading her to sneeze on set.

Although that would not affect the filming, Nolan noticed this and arranged for hot tea to be brought in.

Originally, the tea was meant for Violeta alone. However, concerned about potential gossip and unsure whether Violeta would drink it, he decided to buy it for the whole crew.

After the filming concluded, he even had his assistant pass some cold medicine to Aster.

Zelena was extremely jealous when she learned about Nolan's actions.

She summoned her assistant, Celeste, and handed her a bottle of sleeping pills with the label removed.

Celeste said in a startled tone, "Zelena, poisoning someone could get us jailed. We shouldn't do this."

Zelena replied, "Poisoning? What are you talking about? It's just sleeping pills."

Celeste calmed down at her words but soon added, "But Violeta wouldn't take the sleeping pills without a good reason."

Zelena explained, "You're not going

to give it to Violeta. Her assistant, Aster, is the one you should target! She looks so clueless, so she probably won't know what the pills are for. Since you have a good rapport with some of the crew, just take this over and say it's for"

velivet

preventing a cold. The crew is likely to pass the pills to Aster. If Violeta ends up taking it, she'll get drowsy, which will delay the filming progress."

When Zelena's performance fell short of the director's standards, she would be asked to do another take.

On the surface, she seemed diligent and always agreed to redo the scenes.

However, after numerous retakes, the competitive Zelena couldn't help but compare herself to Violeta, who rarely needed to redo a scene more than three times.

Feeling inferior to Violeta, Zelena sought to sabotage her. She schemed to make Violeta perform poorly so they would have to reshoot together.

Celeste remarked worriedly, "But this could impact the filming progress."

Zelena responded nonchalantly, "If it does affect the filming progress, it's Violeta's fault, not ours. Are you going to do it or not?"

Celeste was conflicted but eventually agreed to her request.