Formal dinners have many storied traditions to uphold, few of which anyone actually enjoys. Unfomfortable clothing, strange food, endless posturing and preening... Kuro wanted any excuse to get out of it...

Book 4 Chapter 17 - Glass Slippers

Living in secret and stealing to eat is a hard life, but it's all Kuro has ever known. Fear and necessity forged him into the finest young thief in the wizard kingdoms. Nobody can hide forever, though, and a run of poor luck lands Kuro in a place where his quick hands and quiet feet count for nothing: Avalon Academy, school of magic.