The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix’s Novels Also Desires Happiness

The title is a warning label and a promise at once. The MC inherits a villain's role in what appears to be a harem fantasy novel-world and immediately starts following what he believes is the script to avoid a bad ending. His early actions, particularly toward the princess, are genuinely uncomfortable. The story doesn't hide this. Whether you read that as honesty or as an invitation to watch something objectionable is going to determine whether you make it past the opening arc.

If you do get past it, the story improves. Each heroine receives a dedicated arc, which lets the relationships develop with more room than the typical harem format allows. The MC is not overpowered from the start. He struggles, makes bad calls, and the world is written to feel genuinely threatening. His moral compass, which starts at a low point, does shift over time rather than staying fixed.

The pacing is uneven. The yandere maid arc in particular drags. The translation quality is a barrier for some readers. And the mature content is consistent throughout, so this isn't a novel that softens as it goes.

Rated 3.7, which feels accurate. The world-building is better than the setup suggests, the character work is the main reason to keep reading, and the rocky start is a real obstacle. Not everyone will clear it, and that's understandable.