You're presuming, of course, that he's being kept for the estates. In fact he's Halicos' personal trader. Try ordering a Duke to wander into Zuma lands with 300 bushels of food, I doubt that's going to go down well
Estate support isn't that big a deal. Fatmilak doesn't need much estate help and I've managed before with only Halicos. Might be a little harder now that Halicos gets only 5 hours a turn, but I'm sure it'd still be possible.
