Cherreads

The Clockwork Cipher

UrDoor
In a gaslit city where reality is written and history is curated, Silas Vorne, a disgraced mind-engineer from Earth, wakes up in a corpse. The body belongs to Kael, a murdered engineer who died uncovering fragments of the Gods’ Cipher, an arcane language that can reshape existence. But Silas’s transmigration isn’t a twist of fate. It’s part of a grand design. The Architect, a hidden manipulator of time and belief, has folded Silas and Kael into a cosmic experiment spanning lifetimes and worlds. To survive in Aetherion, a crumbling steampunk dystopia powered by the bones of sleeping gods, Silas must navigate: The Syndicate, aether-addicted oligarchs feeding a divine machine beneath the city. The Ouroboros Collective, immortals who rewrite history to erase their enemies. Kael’s ghost, a whisper in his mind warning of a sister trapped in the Architect’s game. But every truth Silas uncovers dissolves a piece of himself. His Earthly sins echo across realities, and the Cipher doesn’t just decode gods, it consumes identity, memory, and meaning itself. To escape the machine, he must first resist becoming its Architect.
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The Duke’s Bargain

“What did you say?” Félix asked. She repeated, “Name your price.” “What is that supposed to mean?” His voice had tapered off with an unreadable emotion that got her weak in her knees, but she held out her chin. “Didn't you once offer to pay me off? Now, make me an offer I cannot refuse. Otherwise, I will go in there"—she gestured toward the Ball—"and make everyone think you dragged me out here to take advantage of me. I know exactly what that would do to your reputation.” “Say. That. Again,” Félix said through gritted teeth as he inched closer to her. ====================== She hadn’t meant to upset him or, worse, blackmail him. She didn’t even know who he was; she only knew he looked important because of how regally he stood in the moonlit dark. Estella was the baron of Cleverdale’s youngest, born into a hard life and always kept on her toes. Her stepsisters hated her. The baroness loathed her. And her father, the only one she called family, shattered her heart when he sold her to Viscount Alistair Ravensdale to cover up his misdeeds. The night of Lady Agatha’s ball, she seized her chance and ran straight into … Duke Félix of Chateaûbriant. In the dark, he mistook her for Princess Coralie, his fiancée, and kissed her. When the moon revealed her face, something about her stuck with him. He couldn’t shake the image of her running wildly or how she smelled like white lotus with hardcore roots. But when she threatened his reputation, he refused to play along. She returned to her world of cruel sisters and an unwanted engagement. What she hadn’t prepared for was the Duke arriving at her doorstep, making two outrageous claims. One. He was the Duke of Chateaûbriant. And two. She had stolen something valuable from him that night. What had she stolen without knowing it? Or worse, what could he possibly demand as repayment? ✯Like it? Add to Library!
Nancy_Jim · 13.8k Views