Lewd Skill Stealing System-Chapter 19: The dusty book helped me.

Nathan kept talking with Lina, which, of course, made Karl's stomach churn. Disgusting.

But Karl, being the gracious man that he was, allowed it. After all, he knew something Nathan didn't.

Go ahead, Greg. Enjoy your little conversation. Laugh at her jokes. Steal a few extra seconds of her attention.

Because soon enough, Karl was going to take Lina far, far away from him.

Like, "never see her again" far.

So, Karl simply leaned against the wall, arms crossed, exuding an aura of supreme patience. Occasionally, he'd glance at Nathan with a deadpan look, wondering how long it would take for the pest to scurry away.

Eventually, mercifully, Nathan finally left.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Lina turned her attention back to Karl, as if remembering he existed.

"Oh, right," she said, brushing her hair behind her ear. "As I was saying, we'll start with the basics today."

Lina turned toward the bookshelf, her fingers gliding over the spines of the books like she was some kind of mystical librarian searching for ancient knowledge.

Karl, ever the opportunist, stepped forward until he was standing right behind her. Uncomfortably close.

Lina, too focused on her quest, didn't notice—at least, not at first. She finally spotted the book she needed... on the top shelf. She stared at it, calculating her odds of reaching it without looking ridiculous.

Karl smirked. My time to shine.

Before she could even think about tiptoeing or—gods forbid—asking for help, Karl closed the last few inches between them, standing so close that if he sneezed, they'd both need new outfits.

He raised his arm, effortlessly reaching for the book while tilting his head down to look at her. "This one?" he asked, his voice just a little too smug.

Lina glanced up—only to find Karl's face way too close to hers. Her eyes flicked between the book and his face, her brain short-circuiting.

She cleared her throat. "Yeah."

Karl smirked wider.

Karl plucked the book off the shelf with all the elegance of someone who definitely wasn't trying to show off, then stepped back, casually dusting it off like it was some kind of ancient forbidden tome.

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Lina didn't waste any time. "Now read that."

A thin silence filled the room.

Karl blinked. Read?

He glanced down at the book, then back up at Lina. Read? Like... myself?

His brain screamed, Bruh, I didn't get any memories of this guy! How am I supposed to read this?!

He cleared his throat. "Uh... aren't you supposed to, you know, teach me?"

Lina raised an eyebrow. "Read first. I have some herbs to pick up for the lesson. I'll come back later to show you practically."

Karl exhaled. Phew... so she was going to teach me. I thought she was about to pull the ultimate scam move and ditch me, like that one history teacher who told us to 'self-study' but never actually taught anything.

And if she did ditch him, how was he supposed to seduce her?

With a dramatic sigh, Karl walked over to the table, pulled out the chair like he was about to make a life-or-death decision, and sat down. He placed the book in front of him, staring at it like it had personally wronged him.

Lina, having better things to do, left the room, leaving him alone with his greatest enemy, silence.