A Flat-Chest Believer Reincarnated in a World Where Women with Small Breasts Aren't Treated as Women ~ I Ended Up with a Flat-Chested Harem. - Chapter 25

Risty woke to the soft light filtering through the curtains. She turned to see Folca still asleep beside her, breathing peacefully.

A small smile formed on Risty’s lips. It was rare for her to wake up before Folca, so getting to see his sleeping face was a nice treat.

Carefully, so as not to wake him, she sat up. She realized she was still naked from the previous night, having fallen asleep right after their time together. Quietly, she retrieved some undergarments and a simple cotton dress from the chest, slipping them on.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she let out a small sigh.

Yesterday had been tiring, Risty thought. While their nighttime activities had certainly used up some energy, most of her exhaustion stemmed from the mental strain of being in a new environment. Adjusting to new surroundings was always a bit draining.

Still, Risty knew she had little reason to complain. Most brides would be jealous of her position—married to the man she loved, with in-laws who were kind and welcoming. Her father-in-law was even her father’s close friend.

She was certain she’d soon get used to this new life. There was nothing to really worry about.

Well, almost nothing. There was just one thing that nagged at her. There was someone nearby who had the same look in their eyes that she once had—a look of someone trying desperately to convince themselves that they could never have what they wanted most, that it was impossible.

(Rita likes Folca, doesn’t she…) Risty mused quietly to herself.

She wasn’t jealous, though. A typical wife might want to distance her husband from someone like that, but Risty didn’t feel that way.

Rita’s chest was slightly larger than Risty’s, but the difference was negligible; as women, they could be considered the same “type.” Perhaps that was why, instead of feeling uncomfortable, Risty empathized with Rita. She even felt a little sympathy for her.

As she was lost in thought, Folca let out a small yawn and slowly opened his eyes.

“Good morning, Folca.”

“Ah, good morning, Risty. I missed the chance to see your sleeping face today.”

“Fufufu. I got to enjoy yours, though.”

They shared a small laugh before leaning in for their usual good-morning kiss. Afterward, Folca got dressed, and they moved to the living room.

Before long, Mariel and Rita entered and began preparing breakfast for them. Today, it would just be Risty and Folca eating together in their room.

The table was set with a simple but hearty breakfast: omelets, crispy bacon, bean soup, and soft white bread.

Together, they said, “Itadakimasu,” and began eating.

Risty enjoyed the food slowly. The omelet was slightly soft in the center, with just the right amount of seasoning. The white bread was fluffy and tender.

The cooks in the Gustique family were very talented. When it came to simple, everyday meals, they might even surpass the culinary staff of the royal family.

“This soup is really delicious.”

“I’m glad it’s to your liking. By the way, I was thinking of showing you around the separate building this morning and explaining the process of ‘selective breeding.’ Does that sound good?”

“Yes, of course.”

Risty nodded. She was eager to learn the secret behind the cotton cultivation.

After finishing breakfast, they changed out of their room wear into their everyday clothes and left their room together.

They exited through the back door of the North Wing. The west side of the main building was surrounded by a small forest, with trees blocking much of the view ahead. Folca led the way, saying, “This way,” as they walked into the forest.

A short distance ahead, an iron fence came into view, with a section that had a locked gate. Folca retrieved a key and unlocked it, allowing them to proceed.

“There’s an annex beyond here? Oh… there it is.”

Not long after passing through the gate, the brown walls of a building appeared through the trees. It was a three-story brick structure.

“Beyond that gate is the restricted area. Only authorized retainers and servants are allowed entry. Risty, of course, you’re free to come and go as you please. Mariel is also permitted to accompany you.”

As they approached the entrance, a man dressed in a long white coat greeted them with a deep bow and opened the door for them.

Inside, a group of people in matching white coats stood in formation. As one, they bowed their heads and greeted, “We’ve been expecting you.”

Folca took three steps forward and then turned to face Risty.

“Welcome, Risty, to the Gustique family’s research facility, also known as ‘The Lab.’”

With a slight flourish, he spread his hands as he spoke.

“A research facility? The Lab?”

Risty tilted her head in curiosity.

“Yes, as the name suggests, this is where various research is conducted. These people are members of the research team, and they’re all retainers of the Gustique family.”

Folca explained about the white-coated individuals. It made sense that, given the secrecy of the area, the staff here would be sworn retainers rather than hired servants under regular employment contracts.

However, the group seemed notably young. Of the 20 or so people wearing white coats, most looked to be in their mid-teens to early twenties.

Folca continued.

“The reason we call it ‘The Lab’ is to maintain secrecy. If we referred to it as the ‘research building,’ people would immediately know that some kind of research was being conducted here. So, even in our family’s accounting records, we simply call it ‘The Lab.’”

“I see. ‘The Lab,’ huh? Is there any special meaning behind the name?”

“No, not really. I just picked it because I liked how it sounded. There was a proposal to call it ‘West Second Annex,’ but I thought a more random, meaningless name would be harder to decipher.”

“That makes sense. If the name had any meaning, it could give people clues. A meaningless name is harder to figure out… and ‘West Second Annex’ would have been a bit long anyway.”

“Exactly. Now, the biggest success we’ve achieved here at ‘The Lab’ is the selective breeding of cotton for domestic cultivation. Let me show you the site. Kudell, would you mind joining us? Everyone else, please return to your work.”

A petite woman stepped forward. “My name is Kudell Arschtan,” she said with a polite bow.

Kudell appeared to be around 20 years old, with brown hair and noticeable freckles. Upon closer inspection, her features were quite appealing, with large, round eyes that were rather charming. Her chest was also quite large. Risty couldn’t help but think about how convenient that size must be for various things.

…Wait. Her thoughts were starting to wander. Risty shook her head slightly to refocus and smiled at Kudell, saying, “Nice to meet you, Kudell.”

“Shall we go?”

The three of them began walking. They passed through a hallway and exited through a door that led outside. Ahead stood another building, large enough that it could easily rival the size of the royal castle’s grand hall. What stood out most was the roof. Though it was shaped like a typical triangular roof, it was transparent—likely made of glass.

Kudell moved ahead to unlock the door.

“This place is called the greenhouse. Let’s head inside for now.”

Stepping inside, Risty was immediately taken aback. The floor was made of soil, and the building’s interior looked like a farm, with various crops planted throughout. There were cotton plants in one corner.

The transparent roof allowed sunlight to stream directly in, making the interior feel almost like the outdoors. Despite the winter chill outside, the temperature inside was quite warm.

“This is amazing. The roof is made of glass, right?”

“Yes, it’s glass.”

Folca nodded with a hint of pride. The roof consisted of numerous large glass panels, all of high transparency. Creating such clear, flat glass required advanced water magic, making it incredibly expensive. While Risty understood that Folca could easily create such materials, the sight was still breathtaking.

“This greenhouse alone must have cost as much as a fully furnished noble’s mansion…”

“Yeah, it was pretty expensive. Although I can use magic to shape the glass and remove impurities, we had to buy the raw materials and the metal framing for the glass, which wasn’t cheap. I originally wanted to make the walls out of glass too, but we had to give up on that idea.”

Folca looked slightly disappointed as he said this.

“So, about the selective breeding process… It’s not that complicated, really. We gathered seeds from various regions that were related to the cotton plant, and we grew them. From there, we crossbred the plants that showed more resistance to the cold. Over several generations, we strengthened the cold resistance in the cotton. It’s the same concept as breeding horses—people crossbreed the fastest or strongest individuals to create better horses. It’s the same principle. In fact, nobles essentially do this with their own bloodlines, selectively marrying to strengthen magical abilities.”

Folca’s explanation was easy to understand. Indeed, she had heard that military horses were entirely different from their wild counterparts, and there was a significant gap in magical aptitude between the average noble and the average commoner.

“I see. But in the Rolique Kingdom, it would be impossible to grow the initial seeds, right? Ah, that’s why this building exists.”

Since they could control the temperature indoors with a fireplace or other means, they could keep the environment warm enough to grow plants, and with the glass roof, the plants would still get plenty of sunlight.

“Exactly. We kept the temperature warm enough for the seeds to grow, even if it was a bit cold outside.”

“But you had to repeat the process for several generations, right? That must have taken a long time… unless… oh!”

As she spoke, Risty suddenly realized something. There was no need to rely solely on natural growth cycles.

“That’s it! You used wood element magic to accelerate the plants’ growth! And with the water-derived ‘Cold’ magic, you could simulate the seasons and speed up the process!”

There was a form of wood-element magic that could speed up plant growth. It was highly mana-intensive and not practical for direct use in agriculture. However, Folca’s stepmother, Fiona Gustique, was a high-level wood mage, and she could easily cover the interior of the greenhouse with her magic.

“Risty… you’re amazing. That’s exactly right.”

Folca looked genuinely surprised. But it was Risty who was more astonished. This innovative use of magic had achieved something no one else had even attempted.

And—

“Hey, you could apply ‘selective breeding’ to other crops, right? Is that why the wheat production in Gustique territory has been increasing recently?”

“Yes. We’ve started cultivating a variety of wheat that we selectively bred for higher yields. We haven’t switched over completely because we’re worried about the risk of a disease wiping out the entire crop.”

“A disease wiping out the crop?”

“Yeah. If all the plants have the same traits, there’s a chance that a disease could spread and wipe them all out. After all, we’re artificially controlling their traits.”

“It’s like if a whole family of close relatives all had weak stomachs, right?”

“Exactly. If they’re all susceptible to a particular disease—oh, I mean a pathogen, which is a harmful microorganism—it could lead to a massive famine if the disease spreads.”

“So, you believe in the microorganism theory? I support it as well.”

The “microorganism theory” proposed that infectious diseases were caused by invisible, tiny organisms. The theory was supported by the fact that the spread of contagious diseases could be somewhat prevented using instant-death magic, a derivative of wood-element magic.

“Alright, let me show you the next thing. Follow me.”

Folca began walking. Curious about what he meant, Risty followed. They exited the greenhouse.

Kudell quickly locked the door and hurried to catch up with them. Despite likely being older, she had a small, almost animal-like charm about her, which Risty found adorable.

They re-entered the first building and walked down a hallway, eventually arriving at another room.

“It’s a microscope, right? I’ll get it ready.”

At Kudell’s words, Folca replied, “Please.”

Kudell began preparing the device, attaching something to it, adjusting knobs, and handling various parts of the unfamiliar equipment.

“Lady Risty, please take a look through here.”

Risty obediently peered through the tube-like part of the device as instructed. What she saw was bizarre. There were countless little oval-shaped things moving about.

She didn’t fully understand, but given the context of their previous conversation, could it be…

“Wait… are these… microorganisms?”

She looked up and asked Folca.

“Yes. So, it’s no longer just a theory. This device uses multiple lenses to magnify objects too small to be seen with the naked eye. My father and I made it together—almost all of its parts were magically crafted.”

“That’s… incredible. I don’t even know what to say.”

Risty was so astonished that she momentarily lost the ability to form words.

This was, without a doubt, a discovery that would go down in history.

“Well, with this microscope, you can only see the larger microorganisms. We have a more powerful version, but it requires the use of light manipulation through holy attribute magic as an aid.”

“So, if you can use holy magic, you can see even smaller things?”

“Yeah. If you practice, you should be able to use it too. It’s hard work, and it’s not clear what practical use it has, but…”

“I’ll practice!”

Risty grabbed Folca’s shoulders firmly as she declared her intent.