the notion that daemon did not miss rhaenyra during his marriage with laena has zero basis in the text. it actually heavily implies the opposite. daemon was exiled on the pain of death for asking for rhaenyra’s hand, and only had it lifted when he appealed to viserys through his twins. as soon as his exile was lifted he once more became inseparable with rhaenyra, this time alongside laena. they spent all their time together.
in the rise of the dragon (2022) it is specified that in this time period with the trio, all the clutches of eggs syrax laid were from matings with caraxes.
“During this period, Rhaenyra’s dragon Syrax laid several clutches of eggs, doubtless the result of matings with Caraxes.” —trotd, pg 192
we know dragons can mirror their riders feelings, like with jaehaerys/vermithor and alysanne/silverwing. this at the very least strongly implies their continued romantic feelings, which had been well established at that point in the text. here, it’s being expressed through their dragons.
daemon and rhaenyra were also married with a newborn aegon iii exactly 9 months after laena’s death. laena died on 1/6, and aegon iii was born an undetermined amount of time before 10/22. we know this as aegon is stated to be ten years old when rhaenyra dies. daemon publicly insulted laena’s memory by wedding rhaenyra so quickly, and the kicker is that it was unnecessary. they could have waited until after their mourning periods. there was no rush. their children were betrothed and they were firmly aligned on the same side. they were being propelled by their love/passion. while they found peace in their previous circumstances, they jumped and wasted no time at the first chance they had to finally be together.
