The next morning, Hermione slowly blinked her eyes open.
Dazzling sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting several golden patches across the floor. Outside the window, the pleasant chirping of birds drifted into the room.
Ignoring her messy, bushy hair, Hermione rubbed her bleary eyes and looked around. She found herself in an extremely luxurious bedroom, decorated with an intense French flair. At that moment, she was sitting in the middle of a large four-poster bed draped with heavy curtains.
Taking in the unfamiliar surroundings, Hermione's brain stalled for a good moment before it registered: she was still on vacation in France. The only difference was that her residence had shifted from a hotel in Paris to Kyle's castle.
Rolling out of bed, Hermione walked to the window and pulled the curtains open with a sharp tug.
Golden sunlight flooded the room through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, the intensity of the glare forcing her to squint. She realized the sun outside was already quite fierce. Glancing at the wall clock, she saw the hour hand pointed somewhere between the "9" and the "10."
She had spent the entire previous day sightseeing and was so exhausted that she had accidentally overslept. A flash of embarrassment crossed her face; she was a guest in Kyle's home, yet she had slept in so late. She wondered if she had made a bad impression.
Fortunately, by the time she finished freshening up and hurried to the dining room, she found Kyle looking as though he had only just woken up himself, leisurely eating his breakfast.
"Morning, Hermione."
Kyle's daily routine was usually extremely disciplined. At school, he woke up at six every morning to go for a run, though his bedtime was anyone's guess. During the summer holidays at home, however, he went to bed at exactly midnight, but his wake-up time was anyone's guess.
Today was clearly a case of waking up late.
Hearing Kyle's greeting, Hermione desperately wanted to retort that it was hardly "morning" anymore. But remembering that she had also overslept, she swallowed the remark and quietly sat down at the table to begin her breakfast.
"Any plans for today?" Kyle asked after finishing his meal.
"Originally, I planned to visit Notre Dame and the Louvre," Hermione said with a bright smile. "But now... I'll leave the arrangements to you."
The ball was back in his court. Kyle scratched his chin awkwardly; he truly didn't know where the best places to take her were. His knowledge of France was limited. During his few holidays back here, he mostly stayed cooped up in the castle like a magical shut-in, rarely going out to explore.
Even when he did go out, it was usually Konan who took him.
Generally speaking, when two people travel together, a specific dynamic emerges: one person researches the destination and guides beforehand, plans the route in detail, and settles all the logistics of food, lodging, and transport. The other person is a pure "dead weight"—a "thigh-attachment" who does nothing but wander around behind their high-level teammate.
Kyle belonged to the latter category.
Furthermore, when Konan took him out, he wasn't content to just be a quiet tag-along; he was always causing trouble. For instance, on a trip to the local wizarding shopping street, he had completely cleaned out the inventory of a certain Mysterious Circus. Since last Christmas, there hadn't been a single report of a Mysterious Circus performance anywhere in Europe.
The Scamander household had been in an uproar for a long time because of that incident—mostly due to that beautiful Veela he brought back.
Being a "Jealousy King" wasn't just a Grindelwald family trait; it was a Goldstein tradition as well. Back when Newt's older brother, Theseus, was engaged to Leta Lestrange, a "naive" and unscrupulous media outlet had made a factual error in their reporting, mistakenly claiming Newt was the one engaged to Leta.
Because of that, Tina, who hadn't yet entered a formal relationship with Newt at the time, cut off all contact with him. Even though the misunderstanding was later cleared up, every time Mrs. Scamander heard the name Leta—or even just the surname Lestrange—she would still get incredibly jealous.
Not to mention the fact that Kyle had directly gifted Newt a breathtakingly beautiful Veela.
Ahem, getting off-topic.
In short, Kyle really had no idea which places in France were worth visiting. His understanding of the country was limited to a certain game he played in his previous life: Assassin's Creed: Unity.
Therefore, the heavy responsibility of entertaining the Grangers was best left to Alfred and Konan, the two "All-Powerful Butler" types.
Seeing Kyle's expression, the clever Hermione immediately guessed what he was thinking. She let out a little giggle.
"How about you just take me to see the castle library?"
In the letters they had exchanged during previous holidays, Kyle had mentioned that his home had a massive library. How could a knowledge-thirsty girl like Hermione miss such an opportunity?
Kyle's lip twitched. So you came all the way to France just to find a different place to study? What's the point?
However, since his guest had made a request, he led her toward the library.
When Hermione followed Kyle into the castle's library, her heart was instantly captured by the vast ocean of books. Gazing at the thousands of rows of bookshelves housed within a space expanded by Undetectable Extension Charms, she nearly lost control of her joy and broke into an obsessive grin.
For a fleeting moment, the thought even crossed her mind to marry Kyle right then and there, just so she could soak in this library every single day.
Ahem. Indeed, what she truly wanted was the Grindelwald family library. The man was merely a bonus.
Running to the shelves in a few quick strides, Hermione was immediately struck by a severe case of "decision paralysis." With so many books, which one should she read first? As for her original vacation plans, she had tossed them completely to the back of her mind.
After much agonizing, Hermione finally selected a few books. Kyle glanced at the volumes in her arms; every single one was a massive tome of six or seven hundred pages.
Kyle helplessly accompanied Hermione in the library for over two hours. It wasn't until Konan came to call them for lunch that Hermione reluctantly closed the magic book in her hands.
Compared to the magic books sold in bookstores that anyone with Galleons could own, the knowledge recorded in the books within the castle library was incredibly rare. It was no wonder a Muggle-born girl like Hermione was so immersed.
"Ahem... so, Hermione..."
Seeing her looking back at the library with every step she took, Kyle couldn't help but remind her: "You came to France for a vacation, not to attend a Nurmengard Summer School."
Hearing Kyle's words, Hermione finally snapped out of it. She stuck her tongue out sheepishly; it was Kyle's library's fault for being too attractive, making her forget her original purpose for coming to France.
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