Hello everyone!

I'm about halfway through DM'ing a CoS campaign and I've reached an interesting inflection point that I wasn't expecting. I'll do my best to recap below and then ask for a little hivemind assistance/discussion:

Up until now, the slow introduction of Strahd has been going perfectly. By the time he revealed himself fully to the party, they were absolutely terrified of him. I had him show up to "directly dispense justice" at St. Andral in Vallaki. The party stood shaking in their boots while Strahd executed Father Lucien and the vampire spawn (they did not even come close to starting the cleansing quest) went on a rampage on the congregation. Only one member "talked back" which earned a big backhand from Strahd while the rest of the part just watched. After this they assisted in installing Fiona Wachter as leader and visited Ravenloft for dinner.

At this point, I'm thinking Strahd will attempt to sow further dissent and watch the party tear itself apart. I decided to run the Red/White Wine Gambit (link) just to get them arguing. I got an outcome I didn't expect...three party members chose to side with Strahd. One of them got the "dummy" prompt so there was further confusion when he didn't receive the gift the others received. I had Strahd pull the favored few aside and gifted that third PC a princely gift...a certain special set of plate armor.

The party left on good terms, promptly went and got spanked by the Hags (they were returning for "revenge").

So, what direction do I take from here? I feel like a decent amount of the module kind of requires a part that is generally on a "good" path, but half the party has already expressed interest in being evil. One of the party members (ironically, the one who got slapped) has actually asked about being Strahd's heir apparent.

I have some ideas about Strahd being a quest-giver of sorts, as a way to amuse himself and to presumably "test" those who seek his favor. I'm just wondering what the bright minds of this sub think of the situation or if you just have any comments/ideas/critique/whatever.