Ifia

Ifia is Von Leon's beloved wife and the queen of their kingdom. Ifia was killed by the Anti-Black Mage Alliance, leading Von Leon to join the Black Mage to get revenge. Following her death, Ifia persisted as a ghost for centuries, waiting for Von Leon to acknowledge her. After learning that Von Leon could no longer see her, Ifia vowed to remain at his side for as long as it took. After the Black Mage's death, Von Leon's curse was broken, after which he and Ifia reunited in death and departed for the afterlife together.

Ifia
Ghost Past
Title	Queen
Hometown	El Nath
Gender	Female
Race	Human
Family	Von Leon (husband, deceased)
Affiliations	Von Leon
Enemies	Black Mage Anti-Black Mage Alliance
Status	Deceased
Name (Other Servers)
KoreaMS	이피아 (Ipia)

Story

Meeting Von Leon

Ifia was a commoner who lived in a small village within Von Leon's kingdom. Since ascending the throne, Von Leon would often disguise himself as a mercenary named Lian and protect the people of his kingdom from monsters and threats alongside his knights, who would disguise themselves as a mercenary company under his leadership. On one such occasion, Von Leon and his knights traveled to a distant town, which was under the threat of a terrible monster responsible for defeating several mercenaries who had come to slay it. After Von Leon slayed the beast, he ordered his knights to bring the carcass to the villagers, believing that it would help feed them for several days. The villagers praised Von Leon and the knights as their saviors, for which they arranged a festival in the company's honor.

As the knights and villagers reveled together, Von Leon - awkwardly walking through the crowd - was approached by Ifia, who noticed that Von Leon had not a single flower on him. Ifia gave a red rose to Von Leon and explained that the village custom was for him to give a flower to someone whom he wished to partner with him for the festival, for which Von Leon gave the rose back to Ifia and asked her to be his partner. As the two spent the festival together, Von Leon grew intrigued by Ifia's kindness and positivity, while Ifia was enchanted by Von Leon's humility as he confessed his doubts about his ability to be anything more than a swordsman. As the festival came to a close, Ifia - knowing that Von Leon had to leave - grew sad at the thought and hoped to avoid him so that she would not have to see him leave. However, Von Leon - having grown enamored by her beauty and kindness - traveled to the deepest snowfields of El Nath and picked a legendary snow rose, which he brought back to Ifia before proposing to her and revealing his true identity as the king. Though Ifia wondered whether she would be fit to bring back to court, Von Leon promised her that he would handle any jealousy or resentment towards her, and that all she needed to do was to be happy in his arms. Together, the pair returned to his castle and wed, after which Von Leon built a Rose Garden for his beloved as a wedding gift before ruling together as king and queen.

As El Nath was perpetually cold and covered in snow, the kingdom had little wealth or population, and thus, the people were more modest. When the Black Mage first began raising an army to destroy Maple World, the people of Von Leon's kingdom believed that the Black Mage would not attack their kingdom, which had nothing of value. When the Anti-Black Mage Alliance, a loose coalition that attempted to resist the Black Mage's invasion, invited the kingdom to join them, Von Leon declined the offer, believing that doing so would needlessly put a target on their kingdom when he was certain that the Black Mage would overlook them. As a result of the Black Mage's forces using magical totems to warp their minds, the members of the alliance were brainwashed into attacking the kingdom after Von Leon had left to negotiate with them, resulting in the deaths of his citizens, his knights, and Ifia. When Von Leon returned back to his kingdom, he was devastated to find that everything he loved had been taken from him. In his despair and anger, Von Leon - against the repeated counsel of his Chief Knight, Luden - sought to take revenge on the alliance by joining the Black Mage. After swearing his loyalty, Von Leon became a Commander and was granted the power to transform into a large, lion-like beast. With this power, Von Leon enacted his revenge on the alliance, destroying them with ease.

Alliance Investigation

Centuries later, the newly-formed Maple Alliance of the present day sent an investigation team to the Lion King's Castle, tasking the Resistance agent J and a renowned Alliance member to learn more about Von Leon and his role in the Black Mage's army. At the behest of the spirit of Luden, the Alliance member met with the ghost of Ifia, whom Luden believed was their only hope of swaying Von Leon's heart away from revenge. Following Luden's instructions, the Alliance member arrived at the Fifth Tower, where he found Ifia's ghost near the entrance to the Rose Garden. Ifia was surprised to find a living person in the castle, and even more surprised to learn that they had come at Luden's request, realizing that Luden was also a specter that haunted their once-beautiful castle. Ifia explained that her husband had once been a blunt, yet kind, man who knew nothing except swordsmanship. Though he had been a man of few words, Ifia told the Alliance member that his goodness spoke through his eyes, though she feared that whatever the Black Mage had done to him had changed him greatly, enough so that he no longer even acknowledged her, despite her calling to him for centuries. She asked Alliance member to speak with Von Leon to see if he still remembered her, as she feared that he no longer cared for her. In the Audience Room, the Alliance member met Von Leon, who demanded to know what they wanted from him.

The Alliance member asked them whether he still remembered Queen Ifia, to which Von Leon - surprised to learn that they knew her name - warned them that he wouldn't forgive them if they blasphemed the name of the dead. The Alliance member told Von Leon that Ifia's ghost had been calling to him, though Von Leon called them a liar, claiming that he would have known if his beloved wife were a ghost, and threatened them to never speak her name again. The Alliance member returned to Ifia and told her that Von Leon still remembered her, but that he couldn't see or hear her. Elated that Von Leon hadn't forgotten her, Ifia asked the Alliance member to help her make herself known to Von Leon. She told them that he had once built a Rose Garden for her, and that there was a reminder of their shared memories still inside. She first asked them to find the key to the garden from the Grey Vultures, after which she told them the story of how she had first met him. At the time, she had been a commoner who sold flowers in the kingdom. One day, Von Leon had disguised himself as a commoner during a festival and had been roaming the grounds alone. When she had run into him, she had thought that it was strange that he didn't have a single flower on him throughout the festival. Eventually, the two had fallen in love and wed after Von Leon had proposed to her with a snow rose. Soon after, he had built the Rose Garden inside the castle in her honor.

Ifia then asked the Alliance member to find a Flower Book inside the garden and present it to Von Leon, hoping that it would help him believe that she still waited for him after centuries. The Alliance member brought the book to a surprised Von Leon and explained that Ifia had told them where to find it. Though Von Leon knew that only he and Ifia knew of the book, he still couldn't believe the Alliance member's story, as he refused to accept that he couldn't hear Ifia's voice when they could. The Alliance member then returned to Ifia and told her about what Von Leon had said. Realizing that there was only one way that Von Leon would believe her, Ifia decided that she would visit him herself using a secret passageway that only the two of them knew about. She explained that she had previously been unable to enter the throne room due to the dark energy of the castle's monsters, though she believed that she would be able to enter with the Alliance member's help. In the Audience Room, Von Leon was shocked that the Alliance member had discovered the secret passageway. The Alliance member revealed that Ifia had told them about it, and that Ifia herself was standing with them. When Von Leon still couldn't sense her, he wondered whether it was punishment for having sold his soul to the Black Mage and stained his hands with countless sins and blood. Defeated, he gave the Alliance member a pendant containing Ifia's picture and told them that now that he had completed his revenge, he didn't deserve her memory.

The Alliance member and Ifia returned to the Fifth Tower, where Ifia told them that she was touched that Von Leon still had the pendant after centuries, which made her wonder whether it was proof that he was still a good man deep down. Nevertheless, she noted that she hadn't heard him say that he wouldn't help the Black Mage anymore, which made her wonder what had caused him to change so much. She explained that she could remember very little at the time of her death, as she had blocked out the painful memories, leaving only flashes of flames and screams in her mind. Believing that Luden may still remember, Ifia asked the Alliance member to speak with him, resolving to stay by Von Leon's side so that he wouldn't be alone. She told the Alliance member that though she knew that he had committed grave sins, she couldn't allow him to suffer by himself, and that she would bear those sins with him. As a final request, Ifia asked the Alliance member to speak with Cecilia, the caretaker of the Rose Garden, believing that she must be lonely after centuries.

The Lion King's End

Following the Black Mage's death at the hands of the Adversary, the power that the Black Mage had given Von Leon disappeared, causing him to immediately begin dying with his immortality severed. Von Leon had realized that even the Black Mage, whom he had thought would exist forever, had been vanquished, and that it was a cause for celebration to be released from such bondage. As he collapsed upon the ground, Von Leon noted that the end that he had long been waiting for was coming, causing him to wonder whether he would finally see Ifia again. As Von Leon passed away, Ifia's ghost rushed to the throne room as she felt the dark energy around the castle lifting. Finding her husband's body on the floor, Ifia began sobbing profusely, though she told herself that she would not be sad if it meant that he was free at last. Nevertheless, she lamented that she had still been unable to see him one last time, even at the very end.

Suddenly, Von Leon's ghost emerged from his body, finally able to see his beloved wife in death. As the two tearfully embraced, Von Leon told her that he had waited to see her again, while Ifia affirmed that she hadn't left his side, even after centuries. Von Leon then apologized to Ifia, explaining that he had committed far too many sins in the name of vengeance for her death, adding that he had made her suffer for centuries as a result. He asked Ifia not to forgive him for his sins, to which she told him that he didn't need to apologize to her, as she couldn't blame him for anything. She then told him that he had her forgiveness, and hers alone, out of the love that she had for him. Von Leon reaffirmed his own love for Ifia and promised that he would never lose her again, with the two departing together for the afterlife alongside the remaining ghosts of the castle.

NPC

Lion King's Castle

Ifia


Function	Queen

Quests involved	[Lion King's Castle] The Weeping Queen [Lion King's Castle] The Mistrustful King [Lion King's Castle] Key to the Rose Garden [Lion King's Castle] The Deluded King [Lion King's Castle] The True Curse [Lion King's Castle] Why Did the King Change? [Rose Garden] Stop and Smell the Roses [Rose Garden] The Queen's Bouquet [Rose Garden] Back to Cecilia

Location	Roof of the Fifth Tower