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.
"Nothing," Ruby said hastily.
"No, Ruby was telling me a simple joke," Jade lied.
"A joke," Hugo reiterated. "Okay, if you say so."
Sofia glared at Ruby and Jade and pulled them aside to talk to them privately. "Honestly, how can you possibly be any more disrespectful?" she whispered angrily. "If Hugo finds out you've been making fun of his dad and uncle for wearing pink, who knows how he'll react?"
"Sorry, Sofia, but what kind of man wears pink?" Jade asked.
"A real man, I'm sure," Sofia frowned. "Like Mrs. Prescott said, making fun of men for wearing pink is like making fun of girls for wearing blue."
"That's not fair—I like blue," Jade said.
"And as a girl who became the first princess on Royal Prep's flying derby team, I myself find it offensive that you'd make fun of men for wearing pink," Sofia snapped.
"Sorry, Sofia," Ruby apologized.
Suddenly, Mrs. Prescott called out, "Okay, Rosebuds, ready to earn your Enchanted Gardening badges?"
All the Rosebuds got together, ready to earn their first badges.
"Let's see what progress you'll make in planting any of these flowers," Miss Nettle said, showing boxes of flower seeds. "I put colored stickers on the packets to show their difficulties. The flowers with the blue stickers are easy, the flowers with green stickers are medium, flowers with yellow are hard, orange for difficult flowers, and red for fiendish. Read the instructions carefully—otherwise, there'll be trouble."
"This should be fun," Sofia smiled.
The Rosebuds gathered some flower seeds. Meg and Peg were going for the easies flowers seeds, and Sofia and Hugo were going for the medium and hard seeds. Ruby and Jade were so busy snickering about Grimtrix and Garrick wearing pink that they didn't notice that they picked up difficult and fiendish flower seeds. Each Rosebud planted their seeds in a flowerpot. While Grimtrix and Garrick were watching, Ruby and Jade were looking at them and snickering, not paying any attention to what they were doing, let alone the instructions.
Sofia had planted a Skunky Sunflower, which was a hard flower to plant.
"Very good, Sofia," Miss Nettle smiled. "You haven't lost your Enchanted Gardening touch since you left Royal Prep."
"Congratulations, Sofia," Mrs. Prescott smiled. "You're the first Rosebud in the troop to get a badge." She put a gardening badge on Sofia's vest.
"Thank you," Sofia smiled, giving a salute.
Hugo had planted a Rainbow Rose, also a hard flower—the reason for this name is because when it blooms, it lets off a rainbow light. "Wow, this is amazing," he gaped.
"Goodness, Prince Hugo, you've got it in you," Miss Nettle smiled.
"Two Rosebuds have earned their badges already," Mrs. Prescott smiled, putting a gardening badge on Hugo's vest.
"Thank you," Hugo smiled, giving a salute.
"Wow, we barely started, and we already got our first badges," Sofia smiled.
"I'm proud of you, champ," Garrick smiled.
"I wonder if he's proud of himself for wearing that suit," Jade cackled quietly.
Ruby and Jade both started laughing, and their laughter was even louder and harder.
"Oh, man—how can King Garrick and Grimtrix be so confident about wearing pink in public?" Ruby cackled.
"The question is, how can they even think about that?" Jade laughed.
Ruby and Jade continued laughing about this until they saw that everyone else was glaring at them, and they froze in shock.
"What do you have against men wearing pink?" Hugo snarled like a lion.
"They've been making fun of your dad and uncle behind your back for wearing pink," Sofia told him.
Garrick and Grimtrix were somewhat shocked, and Hugo was beyond angry.
"How could you?" Hugo growled.
Ruby and Jade didn't know what to say, but they had to think of something.
"We just think it's funny that they had the guts to wear pink in public," Ruby said nervously.
"Making fun of a man for wearing pink is like making fun of a girl for wearing blue," Hugo scolded.
"But we weren't making fun of you for wearing pink," Jade said, trying to defend herself and Ruby.
"That doesn't mean that what you did was right," Hugo frowned. "Making fun of my family is an insult to me. My brother even thinks I started a new family legacy having to do with men having a girly streak and expressing it with pride. You know what? I quit the Rosebuds!"
"What?" Sofia gasped.
"I'll return the uniform when I have the chance," Hugo declared. He turned to Sofia and said, "Sorry, Sofie." Then he kissed his girlfriend on the cheek.
"You ready to hit the sky, boy?" Grimtrix asked.
"As I'll ever be," Hugo nodded. He turned to the others and said, "Good day to you all." Then he left with his father and uncle.
Everyone turned to glare at Ruby and Jade. If they had been more respectful of Garrick and Grimtrix wearing pink, Hugo wouldn't have gotten so upset and quit.
"Maybe as a princess, I should never be okay with the fact that you like to laugh," Sofia spat. "You're such an embarrassment!"
Ruby and Jade were shocked and hurt—they never thought Sofia would say that even if she did tell them not to laugh and talk so much at their first royal sleepover.
"Ruby, Jade, I think it's time to have a little talk," Mrs. Prescott frowned.
Ruby and Jade were shaken.