Dinner At Fountains.

How do you kill a man? Woman? Besides the point. When one asks this question, there are many answers, but usually it boils down to the why. The why determines the how.

So, how does one kill a Beaumont? Like ants I say. The hive cannot be spared.

The Beaumont.

When one spoke of this family, it was not of the gossips of the three Majinesses Beaumont, nor the utter uselessness of which were their sons. It was of their only daughter, Annabeth, popularly known as Lady Beaumont, and how she caused the death of her entire family tree.

The Beaumont as a family were quite famous.

At first, it was because of the previous Marquess Beaumont's decision to marry his underwhelming first son to the first daughter of Baron Ilsa.

The Ilsas had a bountiful ancestral land and three elite daughters. They excelled beyond the known female arts and were rumored to have kept the poor Ilsa barony from complete fall.

The previous Marquess Beaumont and Baron Ilsa came to a deal. The Beaumont could use the Ilsa's strategic ancestral land as long as an Ilsa remained Marchioness Beaumont.

Now, it was not that she birthed twin boys nor how much glory she brought the Beaumont name as an exquisite socialite, that made Ethel, the first Marchioness Beaumont quite famous.

No.

It was in fact, how she died.

It was said that she came down with a contagious flu and died days after birthing her sons, and her younger sister, Lily, was married in the very next day to replace her, ending the flu that only took one life.

As though their infamy was not enough, the second Marchioness Beaumont came down with another mysterious flu that took her life a few nights before her son's first birthday, destroying her pitiful last sister Katherine's marriage to a mid level banker, making her weep all the way to her brother in law, Marquis Beaumont's bridal chamber to be his third wife.

Word is, it was that same strain of flu.

The Beaumont name gained more fame as their last daughter Annebeth grew. It was quite known that the young lady Beaumont, Annebeth, grew to be quite smitten with a Lord Torgenn after she came across him at a ball one night.

It became quite the new normal to see the lady Beaumont's many coincidental encounters with the Lord. At the time, there was even a famous section at Lady Fontaine's luncheons to marvel, ever so consistently, with slight treats, Lady Beaumont's many coincidences.

It was so unbecoming of a young lady, she became the talk of the capital, soon dubbed, madly in love. But her madness peaked when she built an academy to train young girls in Etiquette of all things.

There are many rumors as to how she started her academy, but only one reason as to why, which is Lady Torgenn.

As much as many talked about the lady Beaumont's fervent pursuits of Lord Torgenn that gained her a certain level of infamy, her failure in acquiring the gentleman of her desires was viewed upon equally infamously.

It was quite the quiet uproar when Lord Torgen wedded back a foreigner of no distinguishable origin as his wife. Before Lady Beaumont could lick her wounds, the new Lady Torgenn had subdued ancient clans, revealing herself to be a Thraine lineage.

Thraine; a secret clan that even the King feared. It was without question that Lady Torgenn was too powerful for little Marquis' daughter to fight. And trust me, she tried.

But a new leg of the Beaumont fame descended when Lady Beaumont, who had been in seclusion since the appearance of Lady Torgenn, made a visit to Queen Lilith.

Very little is known about what was discussed, nor what was offered, but it was said that Lady Beaumont re-entered society like nothing ever happened. They say it was a long two months of silence as she dined and shopped quietly like every girl her age. This silence only lasted till the day of the New Year's Ball at the palace where Lady Beaumont announced the opening of her Ladies Academy.

The first few seconds of her prideful words were met with quite the snickering, as everyone knew girls were educated at home. It was not unusual for a lady to work. No, but it was instead unusual for her to want to work. But girls were educated to the level of men if her family wanted it. Opening an academy where she, the most scandalous lady of society will educate young noble girls on etiquette was beyond amusing.

But the mothers or women had their few seconds to raise their brows as they covered the scornful curves of their lips with glasses of wine before the queen spoke. Queen Lilith made it law that all noble girls of a certain age study at Lady Beaumont's new academy for a few years.

It would be a disservice to the energy in those grand halls that day to say that the eyes that laid upon Lady Beaumont's jade skin hidden in satin were sharp enough to split the unending seas so they could step in and dig her grave.

But Lady Beaumont's new position came with a certain level of power. It was not long before mothers saw how prospects and yes, in the way of marriage, could be determined by how nice nice the tea served Lady Beaumont at once little housewarming was.

Yes, the power came; As royal families, noble houses across the kingdom's borders, sent their daughter to Lady Beaumont's hands to be raised.

An amazing feat, yes. But you see, a headmistress of a lady's academy was no Thraine. Thraine clane and extension, the Torgenn name was fear by a thousand kingdoms. Even ancient clans dared not provoke the new Lady Torgenn.

That is why it came to everyone as a shock when Lady Torgenn passed on quite suddenly, murdered they say, leaving behind her five year old daughter, Lucy, who grew to become a greater demon than her mother could have ever dreamed to become. That till this day, when one dared to speak her name, it was as Lucy Wickshire.

The sudden death of Lady Torgenn may have rekindled Lady Beaumont's fighting spirit, but the devil of a child she left behind made the Torgenn Dukedom a territory more feared than the unending seas, stifling the proud headmistress before she could even raise her head again.

As such, it was not surprising that when the 12 year old Lucy Wickshire stepped onto the grounds of Lady Beaumont's academy to learn under her as required by law, the entire kingdom's tea rooms, gardens, and ballrooms, with their snacks and binoculars, were expecting a showdown, and a showdown they got.

It is agreed that the fiasco, of which were the Maclear's family scandal at the time, was quite the distraction, but rumors from within the academy spoke of the higher level of attention that could be mistaken as care, that Lady Beaumont showered upon Lucy Wickshire.

But rumors were just rumors, as we can all agree drama should be spectated by one'self.

In that light, all attention was on the first event of the year held at the academy, the garden party. And trust me when I say, the spectating of Lady Beaumont's embarrassment that day was quite satisfying for many. One sentence was all it took to crack Lady Beaumont's reputation.

The rumors that sprouted from that garden party alone would force any woman to hang herself. So, lady Beaumont's next move was reasonable but shocking nevertheless.

Till this moment, no matter what tricks Lady Beaumont had up her sleeves, she had never moved on Lady Wickshire.afterall, No matter how one disliked the little girl, she was still a woman of considerable power.

But the shameless Lady Beaumont was already quite a difficult position, when her power was cleaved away quite a chunk when her backing, Queen Lilith, was caught sandwiched between two men and famously stripped, hunted, raped and killed on stage in an arena under the cheers of the entire capital. Details of this entire fiasco recorded, documented in my book, Lucy Wickshire, available on Amazon for those who wish o this knowledge.

Without her backing, Queen Lilith her, Lady Beaumont's leisure days were reportedly difficult.

It was said that she had once been rejected from a dinner one weeknight for not having an invitation no one knew anyone had.

It was said that she was rejected at the palace gates when she attempted to visit the New Queen to be.

It was said that a ceiling caved in the academy, injuring a few maids, causing panic amongst concerned parents who quickly quickly withdrew their daughters to continue their studies at home.

It was said; and those doing the saying, being just as unknown as those doing the doing; a foreign princess fell into a pond one night, and the king gave away property Lady Beaumont had acquired off a fishing coast as compensation.

Yet, till this date, the verdict remains amongst all who dine at Lady Fontaine's that it is unknown what pushed her off the edge as Lady Beaumont's next move caused the entire kingdom to hold their breath. She was not going down quietly.

It came down to the king's marriage ceremony. It was quite the royal affair. The capital was covered in colours by day and hugged by light at night. But the main show began when a frantic Lord Beaumont hurriedly knelt before the king and his new wife and gave up his daughter hoping for leniency.

Lady Beaumont had ordered the assassination of Lucy Wickshire.

That ball became one of the few rexorded to have dispersed so quickly; Word is, the new queen's mother even tried to run away with her daughter, the just crowned Queen of Juhntt.

Given as everyone fled so quickly, it was clear that they were not worried about the Lucy's safety. They were instead sure Lucy would be fine and will return out for blood. And they did not want to be in sight when this came down.

Even though the assassins did not succeed in taking 12 year old's life, they killed Nanny Han, who had raised Lucy Wickshire since her mother's death.

That night, many in the capital hid, awaiting Lucy Wickshire's wrath. The mere worry that a slight tear from her eyes could destroy the entire kingdom. Talk less, the capital kept many awake that quiet night.

And yes, quiet. Not a rustle came from even animals in the hunting grounds. Not even a cricket was available for the nightly choir rehearsals.

Then morning came. The fog cleared to news spread from home to home. The entire Beaumont family, estate, servant, an ant in the cupboard, even to Emily, the grounds-sweep who reportedly had been on leave taking care of her sick mother for days, disappeared. Not a stone in the Beaumont stately estate from the imported tiles to the coffee table could be found. Not even the new fence was spared.

That day, the entire kingdom and across borders recalled why Lucy Wickshire was so feared. There is none that walks the land that did not know that Lucy Wickshire had a hand in what happened that night, and that hand was later known to be the disgraced housewife of a hunted family, Mrs. Mclears. But what remains unknown is how she did it.

And Mrs. Mclears? Oh, spectacular woman. She deserves an chapter all of her own.