Capacitors in Parallel confusion

I was presented with the following question, and I want to show you my attempt to the question.

A 20μF capacitor is charged to 9.0V, then disconnected from the supply and then connected across an uncharged 10μF capacitor.
Calculate:
(a) the initial charge on the 20μF capacitor
(b) the capacitance of the parallel combination
(c) the p.d. across the parallel combination.

Attached is the page of the book showing the question diagram.

I am struggling to understand how the diagram on the bottom shows a parallel combination. I thought that this would be a series combination as the current can only go in one loop.

Can anyone offer an explanation why the diagram says this is a parallel combination?

If the two capacitors had different voltages on their connected plates, then current would flow between them. But the diagram specifies a fixed voltage drop $V$ from one side of the loop to the other. This means that the capacitors' connected plates are at the same voltage, so current can't flow in a loop; it can only flow across the plates of the capacitor.