Was I Not Supposed to Come Now?

"The person who asked me to deliver a letter."

These words drifted into the prison cell and reached Vinda's ears.

Vinda suddenly turned his head and stared intently at the simple envelope on the small round table.

The envelope lay quietly beside the teacup, made of ordinary paper, without even a proper wax seal, and seemed utterly unremarkable—but at that moment, it felt incredibly heavy to her.

There was no need for Lucien to say anything more. Vinda reached for the letter, his movements somewhat clumsy, his fingertips brushing against the edge of the envelope, almost knocking over the teacup beside him.

The pages rustled softly as they unfolded, a sound that was particularly clear in the silent cell.

Vinda's gaze moved between the lines, her expression changing several times, as if too many emotions were surging up at once, only to be suppressed one by one.

His fingertips tightened slightly at the edge of the paper, causing a few fine wrinkles to appear on the thin sheet.

Silence fell upon them.

Lucien tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping around the cell, marveling inwardly.

Sofas, tea sets, books—even a wizard bearing the surname of a Pure-blood noble family receives such treatment while in prison. The Rosier family certainly carries considerable weight, given that they are a family that has survived to this day in both England and France.

This wizard prison doesn't have Dementor patrolling around like Azkaban, so the environment can be considered "comfortable."

The letter was written by Grindelwald and entrusted to him to deliver to Vinda; Lucien, of course, had no malicious intent to peek at it.

As per his agreement, or rather deal, with Grindelwald during his last trip to Nurmengard, he was to help visit Vinda in exchange for a portion of the spellbooks collected by the Acolytes years ago.

In fact, to obtain the magic book that Grindelwald promised, one would inevitably have to come to Vinda. According to Grindelwald, only Vinda, who was standing before him, knew the exact location of the Acolytes's treasures, including those magic books.

After reading the not-so-long letter countless times, Vinda suddenly moved.

She waved her hand, and the book that had fallen to the ground seemed to be pulled by invisible threads, its pages rustling as it turned. A bookmark tucked inside floated up into the air and drifted to her.

Vinda raised her finger and traced it across the surface of the bookmark. Magic flowed from it, and delicate lines appeared and disappeared beneath her fingertips, as if light were etched onto a thin piece of paper.

Just as Lucien had manipulated the envelope, Vinda made the bookmark float out of the cell and come to a steady stop in front of Lucien.

"The location is above; follow the instructions to enter the treasure vault." Vinda's voice had returned to its usual calm, though his speech was slightly faster than before. "With this key, you won't encounter any danger."

Lucien took the bookmark and glanced down at it.

It's a temporary key, but its internal magical structure is quite complex, with nested layers and interlocking mechanisms.

To complete the crafting in such a short time with his bare hands without the aid of a wand is truly remarkable; he is indeed worthy of being Grindelwald's top lieutenant.

As for the location— Lucien's gaze swept over the key, his eyebrows slightly raised. It was hidden in a trench, quite deep indeed; it would probably take some time...

Lucien carefully put the bookmark away, intending to retrieve it after leaving.

Vinda hesitated for a moment. She wanted to ask the young man how Grindelwald was doing, and how he was faring in Nurmengard.

In that letter, Grindelwald made no mention of his own situation, yet that was precisely what she most wanted to know.

Only from the mouths of those who actually met him can we hear some vivid details.

Vinda instinctively wanted to invite Lucien over for afternoon tea and sit down to talk about Grindelwald.

But she stopped herself from speaking.

Who invites someone to their prison cell for tea?

His lips moved slightly; Vinda words and was about to speak.

Lucien, however, had already slightly turned his head and glanced at the end of the dimly lit, narrow corridor, as if he had noticed something.

"What a coincidence, someone else has come to visit you. I'll be going now."

As soon as he finished speaking, a pale golden figure Silencio appeared beside Lucien.

The movement was so light it seemed to materialize directly from the air; Vinda only had time to catch a glimpse of gold.

In the next instant, Lucien and the figure vanished together.

Vinda paused slightly, "Ignoring the prison's barrier and using Apparition directly..." she murmured to herself, her gaze still fixed on the spot where Lucien had disappeared, "... was it some kind of Magical Creatures?"

As if recalling some past events and "old friends," a complex expression flashed across Vinda's face.

But she didn't delve any deeper. She simply looked down at the letter in her hand and gently stroked its surface with her fingertips.

Vinda's lips curled into a very faint smile, as if he had finally waited for something.

About a minute or two later, footsteps came from the end of the corridor.

Laurent appeared outside the cell. Seeing his sister engrossed in reading a piece of paper, he didn't immediately disturb her, but simply stood quietly outside the iron bars.

Vinda spoke first, without even looking up.

"You certainly know how to pick your time today."

His tone was flat, no different from usual, but Laurent could clearly sense the underlying displeasure. He was immediately bewildered. Had he come at the wrong time? Wasn't this the time for afternoon tea and casual conversation? Although he usually didn't get to drink tea...