Conquering Her Heart Wouldn't Be So Easy! (Please Subscribe and Vote with Monthly Tickets)

Inside Sergei's residence, Yekaterina anxiously told Li Chen about Andrei's sudden return. "Master, what do we do now? My husband suddenly came back, and he even went to see Vasily himself! I'm afraid our plan will be difficult to carry out."

Unlike her, Li Chen remained perfectly composed, with even the faintest hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. "No matter. Plans can never keep pace with change. Since that's the case, we'll adapt and play a different game."

A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. Andrei, you delivered yourself right to my doorstep. Don't blame me for being ruthless.

The next day, a shocking piece of news spread through Winterhold like a plague: after personally visiting the cursed Vasily, Grand Duke Andrei had contracted that bizarre curse himself and fallen into the same unending coma!

According to a wizard who witnessed it, the grand duke had been infected by the terrifying power of the curse on Vasily!

At once, Winterhold-and indeed the entire fief-plunged into widespread panic and a massive power vacuum.

As Grand Duke Andrei's legitimate eldest son, Sergei did not even need to stage a coup. He simply stepped forward and announced that he would temporarily assume all his father's duties, then began handling the territory's affairs, great and small.

With legitimacy and rightful authority in his hands, he already held the greatest advantage.

Although Andrei had secretly groomed his second son, he had never publicly stripped Sergei of his inheritance rights as the eldest.

For the sake of stability, most of the Lineage elders and officials within the fief also favored letting Sergei take charge for the time being.

Of course, a handful of factions loyal to Andrei or supportive of his second son stepped forward to oppose this, questioning whether the curse