How well was this handled by Van?

In your opinion, how well did Van handle Agnès's confession? After getting spoiled a while back, I decided to look into the confession scene.

Keep in mind, I do not know the context leading up to it as I haven't played Kai. But based on what I've seen, I think overall Van handled it pretty well.

I like how he a gave a serious answer in response to her serious feelings. I also like how he acknowledged that his rejection isn't about the obvious things like the age gap, their working relationship, or even Elaine, but because he simply does not see Agnès as a romantic partner. No doubt that she's special to him, but not in that way.

Van's response was respectful and did not diminish Agnès feelings, imo. I thought it was a very appropriate response to her feelings in the same way that Rean responded to his students' confessions. I'm surprised that Van actually gave an answer since he's been dodging Elaine's feelings for three games now. Van failing to give a direct answer to Elaine makes him appear more as a jerk because why the delay? His feelings seem settled enough to give Agnès a direct answer but not Elaine? I rather he just tells Elaine that he's moved on to stop stringing her along.

I also like how Agnès took it as a champ. Clearly she's heartbroken and hurt, but she's able to accept Van's answer for the most part (she says she wont give up, but I hope Falcom doesn't make her turn out that desparate for her sake).

I'm aware of what happens in the ending, specifically Agnès erasing herself. Again, I do not know the details behind why this happens so pls don't spoil it. Although, I've seen comments talking about Agnès intentionally wearing her school uniform during the confession so that she'd get rejected and makes her action at the end easier to do. This doesn't make sense to me because it implies that Van wouldn't have rejected her if she wore casual clothes? Doesn't that mean he just lied to her face during the confession? What reason did he have to lie?

I've seen the screenshot of Van "chasing" after Agnès and that seems to be the basis of why people think Van actually do see Agnès as a romantic partner.

So, how well do you think Van handled Agnès's confession? Do you think Falcom will commit to Van's response? Why haven't they let Van give Elaine a direct answer?