Oh, Brother

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Soon enough, the coaches landed at Miss Nettle's garden.

"Wow, this is amazing," Meg gaped.

"It's even better than I remember," Hugo said.

"Thank you, dear," Miss Nettle smiled.

"Miss Nettle, good to see you again," Garrick smiled. "This is my brother, Grimtrix the Good."

"Good to meet you," Miss Nettle smiled, shaking hands with Grimtrix. "I'm pleased to have you here. Feast your eyes upon the new enchanted flowers I've created."

"This should be great," Sofia smiled. "We wanted to thank you for letting us come over, so we brought you these." She handed the ice lilies to Miss Nettle.

"Oh, thank you, dear," Miss Nettle smiled.

Hugo was just looking at what looked like an ordinary tulip. "A tulip?" he asked. "I wonder what this does."

"Be careful with that, Prince Hugo," Miss Nettle warned.

But before Hugo knew it, the tulip's petals touched and tickled his hand.

"Hey, that tickles," giggled Hugo.

"That's a Tickle Tulip," Miss Nettle chuckled. "If you get your hands too close to that, the petals will tickle."

"I'm not surprised," Hugo chortled.

Suddenly, Sofia cried, "Ewe! What is that?" She was near what looked like a sunflower with black petals and white on the tips.

"That's my Skunky Sunflower," Miss Nettle said. "It's a good weapon to use to keep intruders away, just like skunks use their stink to keep their enemies away. Did you know that perfume contains skunk oil?"

"Well, that explains why perfume and cologne are so strong," Grimtrix remarked.

"Does that mean Sofia is allergic to skunks?" Hugo joked.

"Very funny, Hugo," Sofia chuckled.

Ruby and Jade were laughing, too, but not at the joke—they were laughing at Garrick and Grimtrix wearing pink. Sofia was aware of that, but she didn't want Hugo and his loved ones to be hurt by that.

"Another thing: when the Skunky Sunflower sprays, the stench is easier to remove with one single scrub down than skunk itself," Miss Nettle smiled. "It's just as easy to get the stench out of your clothes. I know because I tried it myself."

"That's good," Garrick smiled.

Hugo got closer to the Sunflower, and it didn't make him sneeze, but it did spray him, making him cough. "Well, hopefully, I won't have to ask Uncle Grim to make a potion to get the smell out of my clothes," he smiled, his eyes tearing up from the stench.

"But it looks like you need a potion to get the smell off your Enchantlet," Grimtrix declared. "I'll make that potion when we get home."

"Thanks," Hugo smiled. "I wonder how perfume makers get the skunk oil though."

Ruby whispered to Jade, "And I wonder how his dad and uncle can be so confident about appearing in public while wearing pink." She and Jade snickered, but Hugo barely heard that statement.

"Excuse me?" Hugo asked suspiciously.

Ruby and Jade realized that Hugo had heard them, but they didn't want him to know that he was laughing at his father and uncle.

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