#chapter 1.

On a dark and dreary night, the air thick with dew from a storm that is on its way, seventeen individuals arrive at an old mansion on the outskirts of the city. The building is surrounded by a thick of forest, only one road leading up to its front gate. Invitations are shown to the doorman, everyone arriving under the pretense of a party to celebrate the new year. The front doors creak open to reveal a grand hallway with a master staircase at the end. Down walks the host of the party.

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Our host, @grailedtamamo will be the first to post and welcome everyone to the estate. 

After that, the introductory chapter will separate into four separate threads for mingling until dinner is served. 001 - @grailedknight , @grailedheroine , @grailedking , @grailedchain 002 - @grailedtraitor , @grailedbeauty , @graileduaineduine , @grailedmagus 003 - @grailedushioni , @grailedpastisserie , @grailedoutlaw , @grailedsovereign 004 -  @grailedgenerala , @grailedtamamo , @grailedvanirian , @grailedjustice

To be told that you and seventeen others are the only ones left with free will, that you’re all alone in this world with either the option to kill or be killed. It’d be hard for anyone to stomach. Akinori was not excluded. Although Akinori seemed calm, his stomach was twisting in knots. 

Though soon, a smile laced his lips, and it seemed that all troubled thoughts had left his mind. Any tense bone in his body had slackened. He seemed oddly relaxed for what had just been announced, even as the time ticked away in his watch. 

“Just don’t try to think about it as much,” Akinori thought to himself. His thoughts were the one place he didn’t use his usual manner of speaking. 

Instead of sticking around and hearing what everyone would have to say, Akinori started to walk back to the dormitories. “And so, with steady steps, the boy had walked back to his dorm room after a long tiring day...” Despite nobody being there, he continued to narrate every action. At the start of his leave, during it, and even as he made it to the lobby.

@ufwu

nathaniel finds himself on these little escapades more and more nowadays. the running excuse is that he simply wants to see the city more, explore it on his own terms, but deep down he knows it's something less admirable. he feels simultaneously lost and trapped, and wandering around aimlessly like a child was the only way he could convince himself that he still had control over his life. he sincerely doubts it's convincing anyone else, though.

plans for his marriage are moving ever forward, and the closer and closer it gets to fruition, the more frequently he finds himself outside castle walls. even though they had visitors today, he managed to sneak out under the pretense of needing fresh air. he's sure his mother will be enough of a host to entertain them, anyway. sitting around talking about politics and the economy was tedious enough during work hours--if he had an excuse to skip out on repeating formalities and conversations with their guests, he was going to take it.

he's promised himself to wean off having these thoughts, though. the more he keeps thinking about it, the more tortured he feels when in reality he really isn't. why would he be? being engaged to a beautiful, skilled lady from a noble house would be enviable to anyone else. as far as the general public is concerned, they're a picture perfect couple, even if they weren't marrying for love (but what noble does, nowadays). many men would put their lives on the line to be in his position, and yet...

he stops in his tracks as he spots a familiar face in an unfamiliar location. they were in his little corner in the far reaches of the castle gardens where only gardeners stop by occasionally. no servant ever passes by, let alone guests of honor, but his expression softens when he sees the troubled look on her face.