APPEARANCE

Oliver is a boy of average height, with a slightly sun-tanned skin. His limbs are long and lean with his feet looking lightly scrawny compared to the rest of his body, but this is merely a result of him still being in the process of growing and developing. He has a light brown hair that reaches his neck, thin eyebrows and two differently coloured eyes, hazel green right eye and brown left eye. His face is somewhat round but his features are sharp, and he has two light scars on his left cheek as a result of being attacked by a rooster.

Oliver is seen wearing the Lottenberg uniform, usually with band-aids here and there on his body. He is usually also seen wearing a hat even indoors as a mean to hide his eyes under the shadow of the cap.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

• Growing up on the countryside, Oliver has spent a very active childhood roaming out on the fields and helping his single mother taking care of the household chores. As such, he’s quite strong and physically agile
  
  
• Knows how to deal with most farm animals and is particularly used to horses and taking care of them. He’s also a good horse rider and riding horses is one of his only genuine joys when he’s living in the Blackwood estate.
  
  
• Good physical endurance, but he bruises easily

TRIVIA

• He’s allowed to visit his mother during summer and winter holidays, but it’s clear the Blackwood family doesn’t take kindly to this and tries to keep the mother and son separated from one another.
  
  
• Oliver is somewhat touchy about his eyes and doesn't like when people mention them, hence why he usually wears a cap: the shadow tends to make his eye colour less visible.
  
  
• Well aware he was taken in only because he’s the only member of the family the elders feel like they can control to their liking, unlike the other noble children. They try to hide the fact Oliver is but a pawn in their family politics, but Oliver is perceptive enough to have it figured out.
  
  
• Despite sharing a likeness to his classmate Edmund, their personalities, at the core, are very different: rather than blindly following others, Oliver has a questioning nature and higher sense of responsibility and duty. He is high likely to either do things his way or not at all if he is told to do something he personally disagrees with, whereas Edmund doesn't usually question much. Oliver is also considered somewhat analytical and even philosophic at times, usually thinking and wondering about larger scale things and contemplating his existence.
  
  
• His back story is a nod to Oliver Twist and Little Lord Fauntleroy, as well as a Finnish classic Tottisalmen perillinen that follows the similar rags-to-riches plotline.

PERSONALITY

Oliver, much like Edmund, is strongly characterized by his habit of getting into trouble: he’s curious and free-spirited, enjoying testing the limits of adults and bending the rules of the school he attends. Friendly and social, Oliver is generally liked by others, and his earlier life as a servant shows in the way he often addresses other people, always preferring to be a little too formal over being too friendly and clingy. That being said, Oliver is also proud and doesn’t like to bow down to people he dislikes, and doesn’t like taking orders from people he doesn’t consider to be above him. His moral compass is certainly stronger than Edmund’s is, and Oliver, knowing he isn’t under anyone’s servitude anymore, usually refuses to obey orders he personally disagrees with.

Despite his rowdiness and taste for adventure, Oliver is very perceptive and usually wants to think things through rather than blindly rushing into them. He has a habit of questioning the things people take for granted, and he usually prefers to understand the weight of his decisions and actions, which is why decision making can sometimes be difficult for him. He’s also known for his somewhat stern and stoic basic expressions, and because of them it doesn’t come as a surprise when Oliver ends up being the voice of reason to others, although it’s true his curiosity often gets the best of him regardless. And although social, Oliver has been taught to hide his feelings, and so he tends to bottle them up, refusing to deal with them or telling about them to other people. He’s also known to mull over things and overthink quite easily.

Loathing the Blackwood family and how they have treated his mother, Oliver purposefully gives them a hard time and likes to rebel against them and their expectations. However, knowing his mother’s livelihood and even life are often out in jeopardy because of his father’s side, Oliver knows he can’t push the buttons of his elders too far or he’ll be forced to deal with the consequences of such actions.

He can come across as respectful and cooperative when he wants or needs to, but he usually still remains proud, showing with his expressions that he isn’t doing what is expected of him out of duty, but out of necessity. His sense of pride is often strong, although not enough to make him arrogant, but can oftentimes lead to Oliver speaking with his fists if he feels like he or someone he cares for has been insulted. Most of the time, however, Edmund’s temper flashes faster than his, and so Oliver is often the person who has to hold his classmate back.

Because of the fact he was raised a servant and he despises being an aristocrat, Oliver doesn’t usually like to give others orders or lead them despite having the qualifying traits of a leader: he doesn’t feel like he has the right to command others, and doesn’t want others to think he think of himself as better than others. When needed to, however, Oliver is capable of taking control over others, but only if absolutely nobody else is willing to do that.

HISTORY

Oliver was born as a result of an affair between a man of a noble household and his servant woman. In the fear of this relationship being discovered, he fired Oliver's mother and she was forced to fend for herself, settling down in a small village in the countryside. In order to save face she would lie about her husband having died tragically to avoid talking about him, and to eventually have an excuse to give to poor Oliver when he’d be old enough to ask about his father.

Oliver grew up in a small house, but eventually he and his mother moved to serve under a wealthy landowner, as she was unable to pay the rent for the house. He loved his mother dearly and from a young age understood her difficult situation as a single mother with no living relatives nearby, and so Oliver grew up dutiful and helpful, although also very free-spirited. At the age of 7, when he and his mother moved to serve a family, he also became a servant himself and would take care of the stables and look after the children of the family, although he spent majority of the time with older servants who taught him the trade. He was treated well, almost like the family's own child, and Oliver was more than content with the life he lead.

However, his tranquil life came to an end when at the age of 12 Oliver learned he was an illegitimate heir to the Blackwood family. Although the Blackwood family did have other heirs that weren’t illegitimate like Oliver, his father was the first in line for succession, and the family didn't want to take the risk to let the less than competent other children of the family take it away from them. As such, Oliver was forcibly taken in by his late father's side so that they could shape him to become a pawn to their family politics, and to make sure the family business didn't go to the less liked family members.

Oliver had no say in this family dispute and he was separated from his mother, whom the Blackwood family refused to let in to their premises as someone who had once been fired from their household servitude. Because of the way his mother was treated, Oliver grew bitter and angry at the Blackwood family, doing his best to resist them and their teachings until they threatened to hurt his mother if he didn’t comply. Oliver then proceeded to learn the proper etiquette of his standing.

Initially the Blackwood family tried to keep Oliver’s bloodline a secret, but when it was later found out and caused a huge commotion among the nobles, they did their best to proceed on with what they had started. Oliver was always aware others didn’t take kindly to his lineage and found him unsuitable to inherit the family, and he very much agreed with this. However, to say he didn’t suffer from the insults and mean words whispered behind his back would be an understatement, and Oliver only became more uncomfortable with his father’s side and the life of nobles, disgusted by the frivolous lifestyle.

Oliver was sent to Lottenberg as a compromise: his relatives wanted him to attend a proper, good school, but Oliver didn’t feel good about the private schools for nobles he was offered, and Lottenberg was the closest thing to an ordinary school while having a great reputation. During his first year he had something of a crush on Claude, but nowadays, similarly to Edmund, just simply wants to be his friend. Oliver is also very fascinated by Claude and enjoys observing him and his antics, and to some degree he also tries to learn from Claude how to “be a proper noble”.