I've been thinking again about why I love Laurent and Damen as characters. I see other people here talk about the tropes they fall into, or the best parts of them, and those posts often fall flat for me because I don't think they actually get at the core of who they are. Captive Prince isn't compelling because Laurent is secretly good/moral while Damen secretly isn't; part of the fun is that neither Damen nor Laurent is actually all that good at disguise. The characters they play and the personas they put on are both extensions of who they are as people. Laurent is a cast iron bitch, and that's both a coping mechanism and a genuine part of his personality. It is just as much a the part of him as the bit that remained sweet and bookish. Damen is a king, and that includes every part of kingship. He is good leader and a sincerely honorable man, but he's also prone to accidental abuses of his power—ESPECIALLY in the service of good. I always think of the time he nearly killed Makedon without a trial. In his mind it was the just thing to do, so he didn't see a reason to hesitate.
(Side note, but in the ongoing saga of "comparing Damen and Laurent to Alexander the Great," I read this as Pacat's take on the murder of Kleitus).
Another thing people often flatten is Damen's intelligence, though that tendency has already been talked about a lot on here. Again, it's not that Damen is unintelligent—it's that he is willfully ignorant, and actively ignores possibilities he doesn't want to consider. When it comes to strategy or intrigue, he's competent unless it involves something he's chosen not to think about. He figures out the major factions of the Veretian court in a single meeting; the only place he slips up is in his assessment of the Regent, who he wants to consider an ally.
(Also I'm back on my Alexander bs, but ohhhh you could read Aimeric as analogous to the pages' conspiracy... a post for another day ig).
There's just something addicting about Pacat's writing, and I think it is the fact that Laurent and Damen's flaws feel real. I've known people with similar issues. Granted most people don't have the resources to do all of the crazy shit they do, but that's what puts Captive Prince into the realm of fantasy.
