A person could be competent and still be a complete bastard, apparently, which was a lesson that seemed to come up surprisingly often in this world.
There was still something that he seemed hesitant about, but I believed it was something that needed to be done if this place was ever going to flourish beyond what it had been before. Simply removing the former duke from the equation would not automatically make everything better, because someone still needed to make sure the farms were functioning, the trade was moving, and the people actually had a reason to believe that their situation was improving.
Once they saw actual results for themselves, I believed they would eventually become much more willing to accept my involvement and the changes I was proposing. Trust was probably going to take time, but time was something we had as long as nobody decided to ruin everything again.
***
Anna was someone I had not seen for quite some time.
