Ngl I'm not getting most of yall rn. There are literally 3 different categories of reactions after people read the new chapter (ch.63):
1. Nine is obsessive, he is trying to control Melissa, he is iffy, he thinks Melissa is weak, Nine is weak Melissa should get rid of him, he is becoming more and more like the 4 og fls
2. Melissa is annoying and condescending, Melissa is fucking mean, she is so dense
3. The understanding bunch who try to see where both the sides are coming
Don't get me wrong no one is obliged to have the same opinion as me but frankly speaking; I just don't get where the 1st 2 reactions are coming from.
1: How is Nine even close to the mls of the novel. JUST HOW? Yeah, he is worried but so what. Nine literally serves Melissa, he is her friend and he is *oh-so-obviously* very much in love with Melissa. It's not he has no place to be worried for Melissa.
- Servant (butler): As a servant other than serving all her commands he is obligated to protect her (yes she is strong and she doesn't need him to be there to protect her and keep her out of danger still falls under one of his duties)
- Friend: As a friend, he has the right to be worried about her; I dunno about anyone else but I don't think I'd let a friend of mine drink poison (yes ik he/she will not die) and more so? serving them poison? really?
- Someone who loves her: As of now Nine's love for Melissa is obviously unrequited; so it doesn't really matter to Melissa much since she is completely unaware of his feelings; but that doesn't mean this doesn't affect Nine, feelings can't be changed overnight, just like how someone can't serve their friend poison people can't feed poison to the people they truly love either (EVEN IF THEY KNOW THE OTHER PARTY WILL SURVIVE BECAUSE THIS WAS ALL PLANNED)
All his life Nine lived as the black sheep of his family. He was cast away by his own kind only because he refused to hurt humans. His brother abused him and his clan degraded him as much as they like. In the end, he lost his tongue and fangs which absolutely disgraced him as a werewolf.
Melissa found him when he was at his lowest, extended her hand to a 'broken' Nine, and pulled him out of the darkness. She gave him hope and restored his honor as a werewolf by restoring his fangs and tongue with the help of yuri's magic). Just like that Melissa became his world. In a world where no one wanted Nine, she gave him his worth. He fell for her because she was strong, not because she 'needs' to be protected. He loves her because 'she' protected 'him.
Never once did Nine ever say Melissa is weak. NEVER. In fact, he is only worried about her because she's so strong that she keeps on doing reckless things. Just because someone is strong doesn't mean people close to them won't worry, things just don't work like that. People who are strong are just as human as others, that's Nine's whole point. What he's trying to convey is just because she is strong doesn't mean she can throw her wellbeing away. Not that she's a glass doll, and only a small touch will make her shatter.
Poison is a very lethal substance. You'd argue that Yuri being the genius mage she is can carefully procure an antidote, but keep in mind one small mistake can mess up a lot of things. Let's say everything goes well, and Melissa is safe, but do yall realize how much psychological damage it can do to Nine?
Whether Melissa is completely fine after ingesting the poison or not will still very likely affect Nine's mentality in a detrimental way. I've seen many instances where characters are put into a similar situation, in the end, no matter what the outcome is the nagging feeling of them putting their loved ones in danger plagues them in the long run.
I don't know how people are noticing how emotionally frail Nine can be after 63 chapters. It's been pretty clear that he is like this for quite a while now. Considering his traumatic childhood his soft personality is very much justified. Nine is someone who has a very loving nature, he'd rather sacrifice himself rather than harming or killing others. This is also the very reason why he was singled out of his clan and abused. His kind and soft-heartedness also cost him his fangs and tongue, and he was thrown away like he didn't matter, but even in the midst of all that he never lost himself. He remained kind and still refused to hurt others.
Keeping his nature in mind how could you even expect him not to lash out when Melissa told him to serve her the poison. He never hurt anyone his whole entire life and you expect him to be okay with giving her the poison? Mind you, this was also the same Melissa who stopped Nine when he lost control for the first time because she knew well enough that if he dirties his hands with blood, he's the one who is gonna be in pain tho he made it very clear that if it was for Melissa he'd walk to the depth of hell. Only for her.
Also, considering how Melissa almost lost her life to Migen if not for Yuri's magic not too long ago, it's kinda obvious why Nine is so paranoid. In those few seconds when Nine witnessed Melissa's body fall after getting bitten, his entire world crumbled. It broke him so much so that he awakened his dormant powers and almost lost his mind since he charged with the intention to kill Migen.
And how exactly is he obsessive? Obsession is what Peacock did to Yuri, he locked her up and kept her to himself., but Nine? When? All he did was not want her to get hurt. How does that even fall under obsession. He never wanted to lock her up, rather he literally sees Melissa as his sun. He is the happiest when she smiles the brightest. She is his light in the dark world, something he fears losing again. If something were to happen to Melissa he'd probably fall back to the abyss Melinstantly.
Melissa is not only Nine's only beacon of hope but also his savior, master, friend, and one-sided love. She's the most important person to him, someone he cherishes a lot. So I don't get how worrying over her makes him 'obsessive, a worrywart, controlling, etc.'
2: Melissa is a very independent woman. She knows she is strong and uses her strength to protect the people who work for her. She knows how to grow her strength, and she's very aware of herself. She knows how to hold her ground, keep her head high and walk with pride.
Those are the characteristics that make her such a great fl since she's someone who doesn't need a man to protect her. This makes her a very unique character.
Melissa isn't a mind reader, sure she has outdone a lot of people by now but it still doesn't change the fact that she's only human. She draws a line between herself and Nine, and constantly dismisses his feelings because she doesn't know that Nine has fallen for her.
She is thankful for his loyalty and considers him as a valuable asset to her (not that she thinks of him as an object tho). Since she's unaware of his feelings it's only normal
that she questions his concerns.
From Melissa's pov she thinks that Nine deems her as a 'weak human who must be protected because he is an awakened werewolf. In her mind, since humans are inherently weaker than werewolf he must think of her as weak especially because he had awakened. She didn't know the reason he felt so helpless was that he doesn't want to see her in pain like that anymore.
It's not her fault that she was momentarily taken back when he said he felt helpless since to her it sounded like he was calling her weak, but in reality, it is Nine's own weakness that he fails helpless about. His helplessness is his guilt that he isn't enough to protect the one he loves.
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Conclusion: From how I see it none of both are wrong from their standpoint. Nine can't give in to Melissa's plan that can hurt her while Melissa doesn't see why Nine is so worked up.
Nine has gone through enough trauma from his childhood, and this could only make things worse. He is used to losing things, if he loses Melissa he might actually lose himself. People, who think he's being oversensitive...just how do yall forget all the things he has had to go through up until now?
And as for the ones who question why he left in the first place if he didn't want Melissa to be reckless. Yall have to remember that there's always a line dividing them, the line is their difference in class. He knows their differences, hence he doesn't cross the line.
The most he could do is the question of why she keeps throwing herself away and refuse to serve her the poison, and that exactly what he does. He could refuse her because it wasn't an 'order' from her as his master, thus he wasn't obliged to act as she said. Similarly, he just can't control her/stop her from carrying out her plans because he is in no position to. He just can't so he does what he can at least.
Nine isn't stopping her from saving Yuri, he is asking her to find an alternative, a way where she doesn't have to harm herself in the process.
Even Kartena (who herself is a strong female character in the manhwa) pointed it out that Nine isn't worried that Melissa is weak, he is worried because she is reckless because she is strong.
Maybe the reason behind Melissa not even giving the concept of 'love' a second thought is because no one truly loved the real Melissa, so she doesn't notice it.
And finally coming to the argument about tea, the whole thing that he would rather drink poison than have her drink is to show how much he loves her. Don't get me wrong but Melissa doesn't love her, at least not yet. He loves her so much that he'd rather die than getting hurt, that's it. As mentioned he can't bear to see Melissa in pain so he'd rather be in pain in her stead.
[+ I also wanted to add this point since a lot of people have been pointing it out that I missed it: As we all know Melissa is currently is inside a novel (called 'The man I love'), however people who were originally from the novel (like Nine) don't know that. To some extent, Melissa's decisions are more or less affected because she is aware of the plot of the book, and so is her confidence. However, to people who are unaware of the novel, her actions can seem very reckless and dangerous. Hence, it's only normal that others get worried.]
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I told myself I wouldn't write such a big essay since my exams are just around the corner buT hEcK- I couldn't handle everything going on in the comments section, I had to get it all out of my system.
Again, this isn't meant to offend anyone, no one is obliged to share the same opinion as mine.
I don't know if anyone will read something as big as this but oh well ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭
Yup, that is pretty much it! You summarized the situation perfectly.
I'd just add that part of Melissa's confidence comes from the fact that she's inside a novel she has read before. She's not someone who seeks death and she may like Yuri very much but I don't think she's willing to die for her? So I feel like she does this kind of reckless stuff because she knows things will turn out okay. Nine has no idea about it and honestly I'm kinda suprised that Yuri and Yona are okay with following this plan of hers. I can't see how anyone would trust someone that much to be okay with a friend poisoning themselves by choice.
THANK YOU I was upset since people were starting to either harp on Nines or Melissa but neither are at fault to me. I'd be both parties if I was in a situation like that, it's just how they are, they're otherwise much more reasonable people. The only thing that ticked me off SLIGHTLY was when Nines said he would be troubled, which was a bit odd to me but could literally be his only way of saying how concerned he was.
Also, it's a story
A fictional story
It ain't that deep
(Thank you for this essay though, much appreciated, 10/10 would give an A)
Bro I agree with you sm. Also wanna add that since Melissa already read the novel, she knows the extent of yuri's power. That's why she is so confident on drinking the poison. But nine DOESN'T know that. So ofc he's gonna be scared. Honestly this manga has the most realistic FL and ML. I love their dynamics. And people who hate on nine for being "obsessive" or people who hate on Melissa for being "too arrogant" or hOw DaRe sHe hUrT mY cUTe niNE makes me so mad even tho I understand that their opinion is gonna be diff than mine
I was wondering if Kayden and Curtin were related or not :0
Me too :D
I think they might be brothers or else but still related